John Snr: The astounding discovery from inspection of the certs is that GGF John got married three times. He was a widower when he married Annie Nolan in 1882 (who later died in 1886), and when John died in 1895, the informant of his death was his current wife at that time; a lady called Anastatia.  This wife's not-so-common forename has permitted me to identify the "third" marriage in the civil registers. Her maiden name was Anastatia Dunne, and the marriage took place in 1886 .... about 6 months after poor Annie was buried. Anastatia was aged approx 49 when she married John - so she was no spring chicken! The marriage did not take place in Carlow.  My wild guess that GGM Annie may have died due to a pregnancy complication has been proved right. My educated predictions are not usually this accurate.

Stephen McRea

10 years ago

John McRea Snr Died In 1895 at the age of 75 Great Grandfather John died at Strawhall from Stomach Cancer Present was Anastasia who signed the death certificate and almost certainly Grandfather John who was then 11 years old.

Stephen McRea

10 years ago

More: A Word about GGF John and GGM Annie Nolan: Great Grandfather John was about 36 years older than Great Grandmother Annie!

GGF John was born around 1820 and Annie was born around 1856.

So if they got married in 1882 then John was 62 years old and she was only 26.

This sets off a memory... I remember my Dad saying that my Great Grandfather was much older than my Great Grandmother.

GGF John and Annie were married on May 9th 1882 at Carlow Cathedral. You can also see that Annie's Dad is John Nolan. But probably more interestingly is that GGF Johns Dad is listed as Robert McRea a Dead Laborer. This makes Robert my Great Great Grandfather (GGGF) Note the mis-spelling of McRea.. but we as McRea’s are used to people spelling our name incorrectly!  and the certificate is correct and authentic! Also note that it was witnessed by Bridget McRea who it looks like is GGF John's sister. Bridget is married to Thomas Kelly.

You may notice that on GF John's Birth Certificate you can see that GGF Johns occupation is Land Steward. In Fact GGF John was the Land Steward for Strawhall. Strawhall was a very prestigious home. Apparently Strawhall had some famous owners. GGF John and Annie lived at the Gate House. The Gate House was using a small holding with several building. Being a Land Steward in those days was considered a very good job indeed!!

Stephen McRea

10 years ago

John and Margaret leaving Craans 1846: John & Margaret had a second son in 1847, Richard, born on the outskirts of Carlow town. This event verifies that John left *Craans circa 1846, and then (probably) spent the rest of his life working on estates around Carlow town. This fact also supports the theory that patriarch Robert may have had to give up his lease on the *Craans farm circa 1846, or he died and his descendants were unable to continue farming at *Craans. There is no guarantee that Richard (1847) survived infancy. It was 50/50 back in those days.

Dr Henry Bruen MP: A Brief History about Dr Henry Bruen MP and Landlord of Strawhall.

Dr Henry Bruen, MP for Carlow.was the owner of Strawhall. His Steward was Mt John McRea. Our Great Grandfather. During the elections of 1880 there were many riots.  Bruen was a Tory (conservative), and the locals wanted him out in favor of a Home Ruler, i.e. someone who stood up for the rights of the downtrodden tenant farmer. A few days before the election riots, it was claimed that dynamite had been found hidden underneath the platform from which the Home Rule candidates were about to make their speeches to the Carlow voters. The Tory candidates were not blamed directly, but the plotters must have been Tory supporters.

The angry tenant farmers retaliated by attacking Bruen whenever he appeared in public. It appears that our GGF John as well as his Steward appears to have been appointed as Chief Security Guard for Bruen as the election loomed. In all fairness, GGF John was in a difficult position as a rich man's country estate Land Steward in this era. John got his decent wages from a landlord every other working man was growing to hate. In 1880, times were a-changing in Ireland. Bruen lost his Westminster seat. The Home Rulers were victorious.

The momentum of the Irish Land League could not be stopped - although it took another two decades before the ownership of Irish land was handed back to ancestral tenant farmers. Looking back, we all support the Irish rebels, such as our Lyons ancestors (Uncle Dennis) - but also we should  have a little sympathy for landlords like Bruen. Even though Bruen was well-educated and wealthy, he did not actually own his estates in Carlow outright. He had bought them from even wealthier (English) hereditary landowners who were awarded Irish land after Cromwell brutally conquered the island centuries earlier - after the Irish threatened one uprising too many. To buy his estates,

Bruen took out hefty mortgages, on the basis that tenant farmer rent collections would always leave him comfortably off. When the tenant farmers got organized, nationwide, and refused en masse to pay exorbitant rents, landlords like Bruen couldn't pay their mortgages. Lending institutions started repossessing estates, and the Irish economy got in an awful mess. By 1887, Bruen was fronting an Irish Landlords group, asking the banks and British government to go easy on mortgage defaulters. Places like Strawhall went up for sale (in 1881) as we know from earlier research. The 1880's is now seen as the start of the end of Landlordism in Ireland.

Great Grandfather John

Up until now I’d imagined our Great Grandfather John to be a rather simple farm laborer type of person. However these recent discovery’s about him trying to find his son in New York by placing Newspaper Adverts etc and now him as the guy in-between an angry rioting mob and a Member of Parliament paints him in a totally different light. He obviously saw much sadness in his life with the death of his first and second wives Margaret and Anne. Then his sons Robert and Richard running off to America. I think he was a much more refined and complicated man than I first thought. It looks like he stood up for what was right and was a very dignified man who did what was right and wasn’t scared of a fight.. I think that this is probably where our Grandfather John got this from and probably Grand Uncle Robert.