Thomas and Honora England: Fourth Child ... Anne England

The Fourth Child of Thomas England and Honora Lordan was Anne.

Anne England                                                Michael J Barry

   (16.2.1794 – 1832? 1864?)                                 m 1813            (? – 1849)               

                                                               ↓

       Thomas Finbar    Michael Joseph   Eliza    Cath    John    Francis John    Mary Anne

Facts known

The sponsors at her baptism were Tim Lordan and Mary Benson. We don’t know much about Anne herself except that she married a merchant, Michael Joseph Barry, in 1813, at St Mary’s Cork and probably died quite young. The witnesses were Mary Ann Barry and Michael England. John England, who became Bishop of Charleston, was the celebrant. (This was not the first mingling of the families as Ellen England had married a James Barry on the 9-2-1779 at St Mary’s, Cork. The witnesses then were James Barry and John England.)

Anne's life was short if she died in 1832 at 38 having had seven children! We haven't been able to verify her death date which is why there is a question mark after it. It was recorded on another tree related to the Barrys. [1] However, one of her children was destined for fame and then notoriety in a strange set of circumstances. (See her son, Michael Joseph Barry below).

Michael J. Barry, Anne's husband, lived, or had premises at, 72, Grand Parade, Cork.

Queen Victoria in Grand Parade 1849 [via www.corkcity.ie]

In 1840,

in premises lately occupied by Michael J. Barry, 72 Grand Parade opposite Great George St,” a new firm, Vance and Co, wanted to, “inform the ladies of the city and County Cork that the business of British silks, shawls, ribbons, flowers, lace, hosiery, gloves etc. will start on April 6th.[2]

Anne is likely to have died in 1832, but her husband Michael J. Barry died in 1849 from cholera.

"At Cork, from cholera, after a few hours illness, aged 70, - a well known and esteemed patriot.” and
“Death of M. J. Barry – Senior – at Great George St. in the 70th year of his age."[3]

Anne and Michael Barry had seven children. It is obvious that their children mixed with the 'movers and shakers' of Cork society at this turbulent political time from their second son's story, but this was also a time of contagious diseases as seen from Michael dying from cholera - and this might have been the reason for the other deaths in the family, including Anne herself, during the 1830s.

Historical context:

Cholera struck Cork in April 1832 and in the city nearly 500 died in the fever hospital. The outbreak was part of a European - wide pandemic in that year. By 1833 the outbreak in Ireland had claimed some 50,000 lives. Cholera returned to Cork in the winter of 1848 and reached its peak in May 1849.

The first child of Anne and Michael.

Thomas Finbar

Thomas was baptised on the 24-9-1814. The sponsors were Charles McCarthy and Mary Daly.

He probably died early as his younger brother, Michael Joseph Barry, was often described as the eldest child in writings describing him. See also the note below concerning the Bishop.

The second child of Anne and Michael.

Michael Joseph Barry  (26-3-1817 - 23-1-1889)

Michael was baptised on the 28-3-1817. The sponsors were Thomas Tinn and Cath Nunan [Noonan?]

Trinity College, Dublin. Probably taken 1930s.

Educated at Carlow, Trinity College, Dublin and at Grey’s Inn, London, Michael was an Irish poet, barrister - called to the bar when he was twenty two – author, song writer and political figure.

In 1843 he won a first prize of £100, offered by the Repeal Association, for his essay titled: Repeal of the Union. The Cork Examiner of the 28th of March 1845 praised him.

Mr Barry in his present honorable triumph when contending with so many competitors of first rate ability has only realized the promise of his boyish years. At an early age he was remarkable for an extraordinary degree of talent which study and reflection have since matured. Mr Barry is a true-hearted, honest, single minded patriot who believes he is right, who feels what he says and who has never shrunk from the manly avowal of his opinions which are strongly and distinctly marked. Cork may be proud of claiming him as one of her most intellectual citizens.

 The essay detailed a proposed plan for a new constitution for Ireland. Michael was associated with Daniel O’Connell’s Repeal movement which wanted to repeal, by peaceful means, the Act of Union between Britain and Ireland.

Barry attended the first banquet of the ’82 club, in April 1845, so named in honour of the era of legislative independence which was achieved in 1782. Daniel O’Connell was also present as was Gavan Duffy. At this time Barry was living at 8, Lower Dominick St, Dublin. However, two years later his political association with O’Connell had ended. He and the Young Ireland movement had become impatient with what they saw as over-cautious policies.
Not everyone was enthused about the movement or its leaders.

The Young Irelanders have had a night in Cork. Disliking the light of day ...they named half past seven as the hour of meeting and the Cork Theatre as the arena of evolutions...The house was full. Seldom are the visual orbs of Seymour, the owner of the theatre, feasted with such a throng. On the stage were the actors...Smith O'Brien...and Barry and Denny Lane...Varian and Brady...and high above, exalted to the ceiling were the multitude - cheering, hooting, groaning, laughing, scolding, scoffing, scuffling and uproarious. Truly there was high excitement...The curtain rose; the performance commenced... Then there was Michael J. Barry. He was heard with some degree of patience, he is a native, and for the natives there is a fellow feeling...He is fluent but there is a mincing namby pambyishness about him that destroys the effect of some few good passages. When he does attempt to soar, you picture to yourself a butterfly or humming bird trying to ascend...He may have ambition but I am an erroneous calculator if he ever shews [shows] the power and the purity.[3a]   

In 1847 Barry spoke at the Formation of the Desmond Confederate Club. He was greeted with, “the loudest cheers,” and argued that the first principles of the Confederation should be concerned with, “the necessity of educating the people.” He stated that, “our organisation is the opposite of (Daniel) O’Connell’s ... he trusted more to the physical rather than the mental force of the people.”

Also present were Denny Lane, Isaac Varin, Charles D. Murphy, Felix Mullan and a Thomas England.[4]

At first, the club was concerned with cultural and educational elements. For example, there were classes in drawing and the Irish language. However, by 1848 there were revolutions in Europe and the lecture programme switched from topics such as The Ancient Civilization of Ireland to The Life of Wolfe Tone, The Rebellion of 1798 and Contemporary political movements in Europe.

In 1848 there was talk of an ‘uprising’ in Ireland and in July a proclamation was issued for the arrest of the leaders.

Barry and Denny Lane were imprisoned in Cork gaol on the second of August, 1848 and then discharged, on bail, on the 14-11-1848. Upon his release Michael Barry disassociated himself from any further activities and was convinced that the cause of Irish Nationality was lost. This caused huge bitterness with former friends.

One evening when my house at Rathmines was the place of a meeting, Barry in passing the canal at Portobello Bridge slid accidentally into the water and was drawn out with some difficulty by his companion Denny Lane. In later years when Barry renounced his earlier opinions, an indignant friend assured Lane that all the good works of his life were counterbalanced by [the] sin of having saved a man from being drowned, who proved in the end not worthy to be hanged.[5]

For a much more detailed analysis of the individuals most closely associated with Young Ireland in Cork see Dr Maura Cronin’s work.[6]

Cover of modern edition of Barry's 'Songs of Ireland'

Barry became editor of The Southern Reporter in 1848. He had earlier composed famous songs such as Step Together and The Green Flag which was a great favourite with the 1916 volunteers.

In 1855 The Southern Reporter reviewed his poems concerning the Crimean War named The Lays of War.
 
"The poems are graphic, vigorous, earnest, passionate, spirit stirring – they are really very superior to anything we have seen on the same subject."[7]

In 1863 the same paper noted that,

"The London Daily Telegraph and The Tablet both have lengthy notices of Mr. Barry’s pamphlet on Irish Emmigration."[8]

In 1871 he was living at 13, Rathgar Road, Dublin and was appointed a Divisional Police Magistrate in the same year.

On January 23rd 1889 Barry died at 109, George’s St, Cork aged seventy two. He was buried at St Joseph’s Cemetery, Cork. The grave was "unmarked, unhonoured... but it adjoins the pathway about twenty yards on the right of the entrance to the inner burial plot."[9]

Historical Context

Daniel O'Connell (1775-1847) was an Irish political leader. He campaigned for Catholic Emancipation including the right for Catholics to sit in Westminster, the home of the British Parliament. He also wanted the repeal of The Act of Union which combined Great Britain and Ireland. He was a barrister and despite his opposition to the use of violence he was willing to defend those accused of political crimes.

Gavan Duffy (1816-1903) was a journalist, poet, Irish Nationalist and Australian politician. He was one of the founders of The Nation newspaper.

Denny Lane (1818-1895) Lane and Barry were the most prominent Young Irelanders in Cork. Both went to Trinity College, Dublin, both were born and lived in Cork and they wrote to each other regularly. Many of their letters are in the Cork city archives.

Wolfe Tone (20-6-1763 – 19-11-1798) was a leading Irish revolutionary and regarded as the father of Irish Republicanism.

1916 Volunteers: The Irish Volunteer force was a military organisation established in 1913 by Irish Nationalists. They fought for Irish independence in the Easter Rising of 1916. From 1919 it took part in the Irish War of Independence becoming known as the Irish Republican Army.

The third child of Anne and Michael.

Eliza Barry 

Eliza was baptised on the 29-12-1818 at St Finbarr’s, Cork. The sponsors were Maurice Lane and Joanna England.

Then, in December 1833,

“Died: On Saturday at her father’s house, Grand Parade, in her 14th year, Eliza, daughter of Mr Michael J. Barry.”[10]

We can see that Michael's address as quoted here in 1833 was the same they had just vacated in 1840 for the new firm, Vance and Co, so Grand Parade, right in the heart of Cork, was the centre of the Barry family's lives for quite a long time.

The fourth child of Anne and Michael.

Cath Barry  

Cath was baptised on the 22-4-1820. One of the sponsors was Edward England. The other was Eliza Hawks.

In April 1833,

A Kate Barry, daughter of Michael Joseph Barry and niece to Dr. England, died in Cork.[11]

She was thirteen and died seven months before her older sister, Eliza. It seems that the two girls deaths might be linked as they died within a year in their early teens and their mother might have died in 1832, so was her death linked too? Although we haven't been able to establish precisely what caused their deaths, their actual death certificates might explain.

However, from a History of Cork [12] it is clear that cholera caused many deaths in the city in the 1830's. Michael therefore very tragically lost his wife and two children within two years. It might be ironic that cholera claimed Michael, himself, in 1849. The history of Cork explains further epidemics of typhus, relapsing fever and dysentry that were related to the poverty and starvation during the dire famine in the mid to late 1840's. Cork was not such a peasant place to live at this time.

A little more light is thrown upon the question of how many children Michael and Anne actually had as Bishop John England recorded in his Diurnal, 10-10-1820, shortly after his consecration, that,

my sister Ann was married to Mr. M. J. Barry and had three children.

From the above, there were four children born before October 1820. This seems to confirm that the eldest died before 1820 and then the further deaths followed in 1833.

The fifth child of Anne and Michael.

John Barry  

John was baptised on the 10-3-1822. The sponsors were James Smith and Hanna Goold.[13] We know nothing else about his life or death.

The sixth child of Anne and Michael.

Francis John Barry 

Francis was baptised on the 1-2-1823 at St Finbarr’s, Cork. The Rev. Thomas England was the celebrant. The sponsors were Thomas Lyons and Margaret Leary. Francis is as mysterious as his brother John as no records appear for him.

The seventh child of Anne and Michael.

Mary Anne Barry

Mary Anne was baptised on the 22-9-1827. The sponsors were George Waters and M. Anne Goold.[13] It is probable Mary Anne became an Ursuline nun in Charleston, USA. [See Honora England daughter of The Fifth Child.]

Foootnotes


[1] Notes about the Barry family sent to Michael England from Andre Souble - source unknown. 

Elaine England sent me the following in 2022 from the Ireland Civil Registration Indexes:

 

A Mary Ann Barry died in Cork in 1864 aged 70. The birth year was estimated as 1794. Volume 5 Page Number 141. Look again at one of the witnesses at Anne's marriage - a certain  Mary Ann (without the E) Barry!

[2] Southern Reporter, 7-3-1840

[3] Tipperary Vindicator, 7-7-1849 and Cork Examiner, 6-7-1849

[3a] From The Limerick Reporter quoted in the Cork Examiner, 29-9-1847.

[4] Cork Examiner, 13-9-1847. This is most probably Thomas the architect, son of Michael England.
[See Denny Lane above.]

Sources used for this short summary of Barry’s life include Wikipedia, Cork Past and Present and Cork City and County Archives – all websites. Also, see [3]

[5] Duffy.C.G.The Young Ireland: a fragment of Irish History 1840-1850. London: Cassell, Peter, Galpin and co. Published in 1880. This concerned an incident in relation to Denny Lane as reported by Gavan Duffy.

[6] Young Ireland in Cork 1840-1849. An essay on 'The individuals most closely associated with Young Ireland in Cork'  by Dr Maura Cronin, Mary Immaculate College, Limerick. This can be found on the internet.

[7] Southern Reporter, 27-12-1855

[8]Southern Reporter, 29-12-1863

[9] See unnamed journal under mjb file in Carol Jones information.


[10] Cork Constitution,5-12-1833

[11] The Clare Journal, 22-4-1833

[12] The History of Cork - Cork in the 19th Century: Economic Developments 1800-1850 www.corkcity.ie

[13] The prosecuting counsel at the first child's trial was a Mr Goold! There were Cork Barrys who were lawyers.

Place names mentioned

Grand Parade: one of the main commercial streets of Cork

Great George St: originally named in honour of King George the third. It was renamed Washington St in 1918 as a tribute to George Washington

Rathmines: a suburb on the south side of Dublin nearly two miles south of the city centre. It stretches along the Rathmines road as far as Rathgar to the south.

Rathgar: now a suburb of Dublin. It lies about two miles south of the city centre. Thomas Alphonsus England and his wife Elizabeth [Reynolds] lived in Rathgar after leaving London.