MORAN - Denis Moran of Rossena, Co. Laois

Please Note; not all the information on this page has been officially verified with Parish or Forces records.

GENERATION No. 1

1. DENIS MORAN was born c.1800 in Rossena, Co. Laois, and died 16 March 1865 in Tirernan, Co. Laois.

He was alive in 1824 and living in Rossena, Co. Laois according to the Tithe Applotoment dated 12 October 1824. He was a Labourer by trade and he was renting land from The Estate of Lord Kenmare. By the time his son James was married in 1869 Denis had disd in 1865.

Children of DENIS MORAN is:

JOHN MORAN, b, ???? See picture below dressed in the uniform of the 3 Dragoon Guards.

John Moran in the uniform of the 3 Dragoon Guards and
wearing a Pill Box cap which were abandanded in 1901.

Notes on John Moran:

This picture was taken in Ludgate Hill London EC in uniform sometime between 1881-1901.

He served in the British Army during the second Boer War which was during 1899-1902 in the 3 Dragoon Guards, and was stationed at Canterbury, Kent in England around about the 1880's After completing his service in the army he returned to Carlow where he married twice. His second wife (name unknown) died as she stepped outside the back door of their house in Sleaty.

Child of Denis Moran:

This headstone is located in Arles Graveyard

2. JAMES MORAN, b. 1847, Tirernan, Co Laois; date of death 24 April 1913, Arles, Co Laois. He married MARY KELLY on the 17 May 1869 in Sacred Heart Church, Arles, Co Laois, daughter of JOHN KELLY.

MARY KELLY was born 1846 in Ballickmoyler and died in Cooper Hill, Co. Laois on 29 November 1916. Source 1901 Irish Census

Children of JAMES MORAN and MARY KELLY are:

JAMES (JIMMY) MORAN, b. 17 May 1869, Arles, Co Laois; d. 1930, Kilkea, Castledermot, Co Kildare.

DENIS MORAN, b. Abt. 1870, Sleaty Street, Graigue Cullen, Co Laois. He was married to Elizabeth Quinlan.

THOMAS (TOMMY) MORAN, b. 26 May 1873; d. Sleaty St, Graiguecullen, Carlow.

MARY ANNE MORAN, (My Grandmother) b. 27 September 1875, Arles, Co Laois; d. 23 February 1960, The Cottage, 112 Cooper Hill, Ballickmoyler, Co Laois. Source 1901 Irish Census

JOHN MORAN, b. Abt. 1880, Arles, Co Laois; d. 13 February 1963, Sleaty, Graigue.

ELIZABETH (LIZZIE) MORAN, (picture below) b. 1884, Cooper Hill, Co Laois; d. 27 October 1935, Laois County Hospital. Portlaoise, Co. Laois.

Notes on Mary Anne Moran:

MARY ANNE MORAN was born on 27 Sep 1875 in Arles, Laois, Ireland. She died on 23 Feb 1960 in The Cottage, 112 Cooper Hill, Ballickmoyler, Co Laois. She married Thomas (Tom) Brennan, son of Mark Brennan and Catherine (Katie) Lalor on 20 May 1908 in Cathedral of the Assumption, Carlow. He was born on 09 Jul 1876 in Ballynagall, Co. Laois. He died on 26 Nov 1957 in Portlaoise Hospital, Co Laois.

More notes for Mary Anne Moran: Born on 27 September 1874. Married Thomas Brennan in Carlow on 20 May 1908 Aged 34. She died on 23 February 1960 aged 86. God Parents were - Ellen & James Brennan. Started work at the age of 11years (1884) as a Ladies Companion / Cook working for Gentry somewhere in the County of Laois. There were times when she came home from work she had to dip her hands in hot oil and then wrap them up in a cloth to get them warm after they had been in water all day. She won several prizes for her cottage garden in Cooper Hill. She loved to grow Roses and she was able to read and write and she would sit in front of the open fire in the kitchen reading the newspaper to her husband Granddad (Thomas Brennan).

She was also very good with figures and managed all the finances for the family business which was selling Fruit and Vegetables from the garden. Mr. Paddy Jackman from Tullow who married Mary Anne's sister Elizabeth (Lizzy Moran), used to come to Cooper Hill to buy apples by the barrel from Granny and they used to spend hours talking to each other when he visited.

There was a Mrs. O'Brien who was a Gypsy and had a handicapped son. They used to walk from Graigue to Cooper Hill with a basket full of trinkets selling them locally. She used to visit Granny and they sat around talking to each other a lot but she wouldn't let her into the house so they sat outside in the garden.

She used to do a lot of her shopping for clothes at Doran's in Tullow St, Carlow.

As Children we used to watch her bake the best soda bread around. It was done on an open fire. She would mix the dough then put it into a large black round metal pot which was hanging over the open fire from a crane. She would then put the lid on upside down and transfer hot ashes, using a shovel, from the fire, and place them on top of the lid.

She probably worked at some time for Mr. & Mrs. Bayley at Coolrain House. We used to get out milk and freshly made butter from Bayley's. She also did some work for the Brennan's of Cooper Hill House. When Granddad was out working she had to look after the orchard and tend the vegetable patch sowing all sorts of vegetables such as cabbage, onions, carrots and potatoes. She was known for miles around as "The Lovely Lady in Black" In 1957 she received a letter from Mr. Oliver Flannagan TD offering his condolence on the death of her husband Thomas Brennan.

Notes for Thomas (Tom) Brennan: Born 9 July 1876 in Coopers House, Ballickmoyler, Co Laois He married Mary Anne Moran in Carlow on 20 May 1908 aged 32. He died on 26 Nov 1957 (Michael's 11th birthday). Age 81. Godparents were- Patrick Dargan & Mary Bourke. Grandfather to Betty & Michael Brennan. On his birth certificate it states that Catherine Lalor is his mother and yet on his brothers and sisters certificates she is named as Catherine Lawlor and sometimes Katie Lawlor.

Thomas Brennan was a Stonemason and Slater by trade. He carried out a lot of repairs on property belonging to the Feehans of Ballickmoyler who ran the local Post Office and general store. In 1913 after he got married and while still living in Coopers House, Ballickmoyler he was offered a new house in Cooper Hill (now the Lawlor's) but turned it down and waited for the second house to be completed before he and his family moved in on 1st April 1913. The reason could have been because there was more land with the second house and it had access to the Fishoge river which ran the full length of property.

Thomas worked for himself and he travelled great distances on foot carrying his bag of stonemason tools to his work and was in constant demand because of his skill with stone.

According to Mary McDonald as told to her by her Mum (Mary Brennan), Thomas used to set out on a Monday morning and walk to Monahan's of Castletown, Carlow to carry out repairs to the stone work of the Castle of Castletown which was owned by Louis Monahan (1932) and John Monahan (1942). He would return to Carlow on Friday's and meet his wife Mary Anne Moran in town to do the shopping and then walk back to Cooper Hill.

After he finished a job he would always leave a trade mark of his work which consisted of a hand tool buried in the brick or stone work. In the 1950's when Mum (Lily Brennan) was in hospital, at least once or twice a week after I (Michael) came home from school we would go with Granddad to get wood for the fire. We would walk for what I thought was miles following the course of the river (The Fishoge). We would cut down a tree then we would chop it up and carry it home between us.

He used to tend the garden and sow potatoes, carrots and cabbage and lots of other kinds of vegetables. There were three apple trees and a good acre and a quarter of meadow land which was allowed to grow as hay and this he would cut by hand with a scythe and then we would make hay cocks. These were then sold to a local farmer, Mr. Joe Bambrick, who had a horse drawn Hay bogie trailer and we loved to ride on the trailer when the Hay Cocks were been taken away We would collect the apples and store them in wooden boxes with straw and Granny used to make lots of Apple jam and pies with them.

During the Blackcurrent season we would collect them from the local hedges and bring them home to be made into jam. We kept chickens which provided us with fresh eggs every day and when they were finished laying eggs they ended up as food on the table. We had three apple trees, which provided us with fresh apples all year round including some lovely apple jam. We also had a number of gooseberry bushes which was also turned into jam

It was reputed that he was a member of the local Irish National Volunteers movement in Ballickmoyler. It is also reputed that he was involved with others from the local area in activities in and around Ballickmoyler. One such incident was the attemped blowing up of the Garda (police) station in Ballickmoyler. We have no documentary evidence of this incident only hearsay. (Source - Kitty (Pat) Brennan)

He often walked to Keenans of Carlow for work. He used to smoke a pipe and always wore a hat. Towards the last years before he died he used to suffer very badly with his eyes and had to have his eye bathed every day. He wore an eye patch over one eye and couldn't bare to have any strong light in the house. Even after we had the electric light installed he wouldn't allow it to be turned on at night while he was in the kitchen so we had to wait until he went to bed before we could turn on the light. The only light source we had then was an Oil lamp and some candles until he went to bed. The kitchen was also the sitting room.

THOMAS (TOMMY) MORAN was born 26 May 1873, and died in Sleaty St, Graiguecullen, Carlow. He married BRIDGET KELLY in Carlow. She was born 1874, and died in Sleaty St, Graiguecullen, Carlow.

Tommy & Molly Moran (nee Kelly),

Children of THOMAS MORAN and BRIDGET KELLY are:

ESTHER MORAN, b. Graiguecullen, Carlow; d. Surrey, England; m. ARTHUR FOX, from Surrey. England.

JAMES (JIMMY) MORAN, b. Graiguecullen, Carlow; d. 28 May 1969, Sleaty St, Graiguecullen, Carlow.

MARY (MOLLY) MORAN, b. August 1896, Graiguecullen, Carlow; m. THOMAS BYRNE of 201 Maher Rd, Graiguecullen, Carlow. in 1921 in Carlow.

PATRICK (PADDY) MORAN, b. September 1898, Graiguecullen, Carlow; d. St Killians Crescent, Carlow.

CATHERINE (KATE) MORAN, b. 1892, Graiguecullen, Carlow; d. Surrey, England.

ELIZABETH (LIZZIE) MORAN, b. 13 November 1904, Graiguecullen, Carlow; d. 4 March 1991, Tullow, Co Carlow. Married Paddy Jackman (c1900-1970) from Tullow, Co Carlow.

BRIDIE MORAN, b. May 1909, Killeshin, Co Laois; d. 16 March 1962, Sleaty St, Graiguecullen, Carlow. Married Michael Lyons (1910-1989) from Clonmore, Killeshin, Co Laois.

Elizabeth (Lizzie) Moran c.1906s sister of Many Anne Moran.

Please Note: Not all of the information has been verified by official parish records.

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