The Kilnaleck, Cavan Boylan's

So after leaving Dromin we decided to travel to Kilnaleck in County Cavan before going into Northern Ireland. As I wrote before, DNA tests had shown that I was related to two separate Boylan's from Kilnaleck. Both of these Boylan's connect somewhere before the paper trail as well. Upon searching Griffith's Evaluation it became clear that Kilnaleck and the surrounding area had one of the largest numbers of Boylan's in the area. DNA had given a very strong rationale for believing my Boylan's had migrated at some point from this area to Dromin.

I knew about Boylan's Bar before I traveled to Kilnaleck. Unfortunately, when I got to town it was still to early so I wasn't able to grab a pint here. We did go the pub across the street to grab breakfast and that pub's walls were covered in football pictures; many of these pictures showed local Boylan's through the years.

This clothing store was just a few storefronts down from the Boylan Bar.

Since I had not found a single Boylan grave in Dromin I decided to go to a cemetary in Kilnaleck to take some photographs of some Boylan headstones. A local told me there was no graveyard in Kilnaleck but there were two nearby. I decided to go to the one at the Catholic Church in Crosserlough. When I got there I happened upon this stone by a happy coincidence. You see, I've been corresponding with one of my "DNA cousins" and he was a direct decendent of Matthew and Marcella Boylan. Therefore, this family is related in some way to me. The gentleman I was corresponding with had never seen the grave so I was happy to share these photos.

Here is a close up of the names.

This stone was located near the other Boylan stone as well. Maybe these images will help someone else.

My Upcoming Irish Adventure

In exactly one month I will be back in Ireland - I can't wait. I will be spending a couple of days exploring Dromin from my home base in Ardee. I hope to go to mass at the local church, St. Finian's, and explore its graveyard. I hired a researcher to pinpoint the land my ancestor rented in Dromin at the time of the famine so, hopefully, I will be able to find that plot. Somewhere near the church there is a well where emigrants would go to wish for a safe return to Ireland that I also hope to visit. If all goes as planned it should be both informative and reflective.

I'm hoping the graveyard yields some clues to family mysteries pre-1800 and allows me to move my family tree back one more generation. We shall see.

Right after Dromin we will be driving through Cavan (where my DNA test seems to show my ancestors might have moved from). My two Boylan genetic "cousins" are from Kilnaleck. As luck would have it, there is a Boylan Pub in this village so I plan to stop and have a pint. It's supposedly still owned by Boylan's though I doubt I'll be so "American" as to tell them we could be related...but you never know!

I'm hoping to do some blogging from Ireland so you should be able to follow my trip and any new discoveries here.

DNA: Boylan or McMahon?

So what do we know about the Ancient Boylan clan? We know that a Fourteenth Century poet commented on their horsemanship, we know they came from Flanagan stock, we know their blue eyes were famous, and we know they warred with the McMahons who eventually shrunk the Boylan territory.

I had my Y chromosone tested a year and a half ago when I still couldn't locate my family's last place of residence in Ireland. I hoped it might link me to other Boylan's and, therefore, yield some clues - up until very recently it hadn't helped much. But in the last two weeks I had reasonably close genetic matches to other Boylan's from an area of southern County Cavan (only about 25 miles from Dromin).

But what I find even more surprising is a probable genetic link to the McMahon clan who warred in ancient times with the Boylan's. Whenever I used to see these clan tales in heraldry books I would consider them fables. However, now that I (and I assume my other 2 genetic Boylan "cousins") have shown a strong link (albeit roughly 1000 years ago) to the McMahon clan I am left wondering how many of these stories passed from generation to generation may be true. I am told that in ancient Ireland clans would "foster" the children of their enemies killed in battle. Was this a case of fostering? And if it was who "fostered" who? I guess only time will tell as more Boylan's and McMahon's get genealogical DNA tests. Its amazing what DNA can show!

Oh, and by the way, I don't see any ties yet to the Flanagans!