This week genealogist/blogger Donna Moughty has written an easy-to-understand explanation about Tithe Applotment Books. I find it's often worthwhile to go back and take another look at sources previously reviewed - and now's a good time to reconsider this important set of records (1823-1838). I recommend reading Moughty's blog on the subject: www.moughty.com/blog/the-tithe-applotment-2.html.

I'd previously queried Tithe Applotment Books by surname but not by location. Today I found the 1826 record for County Tipperary, Toem (sometimes spelled Toom) Parish, Carnahalla (also with varied spellings) townland -- and 52 names.

Among the names are two Hickeys; one is James (my husband's 2X great-grandfather), the other is Batt. Batt is a common nickname for Bartholomew. James Hickey and his wife named their third-born son Bartholomew.

Might the 1826 Carnahalla farmers named James and Batt Hickey be brothers? 

Another fact overlooked on my earlier query: On the last page of the Carnahalla report is the signature of James Hickey as "Dep. Reg." which I assume means Deputy Registrar. I didn't expect James to be literate. And has he signed with a middle initial or just a calligraphic H?

How did we learn James Hickey was Bill's 2X great-grandfather in the first place? Or that the townland was Carnahalla/Cahernahalla/Cahernahallia? In 2010 my husband Bill and I visited Ireland on an Irish Genealogical Society Intl (IGSI) tour. (A great time with wonderful traveling companions but that's not the principal subject of this posting.) After the IGSI bus tour, Bill and I rented a car and spent another week visiting places of interest to us, including Tipperary Town where we happened upon the Tipperary Family History Center. "Might as well give it a try," I said to Bill. Ten minutes and some Euros later, they'd found the 1810 marriage record of Bill's great-great grandparents, James Hickey and Margaret O'Dwyer of Cahernahalla. Also found were the baptisms of four of his great-grandfather's siblings, one of whom was Bartholomew born May, 1822. (From Bartholomew Hickey's 1900 obituary, we conclude James Hickey had died prior to 1844 when surviving members of the family emigrated to America and eventually settled in Minnesota.)

On that 2010 evening, after dinner at a local Tipperary restaurant, our waiter noted my husband's name on the credit card and said, "Oh Mr. Hickey, we share the same surname." Despite follow-up emails with his family, we were never able to confirm ancestral Hickey linkage. (The young waiter's grandfather Patrick still resided near the village of Toem, just a few miles from Cahernahalla.) Might the Irish branch of the Hickeys have descended from Bartholomew Hickey? Interesting possibilities from my latest review of the Tithe Applotment Books.

Before I leave the path down which the Tithe Applotment Book entries sent me, a few notes about the O'Dwyers. According  to Tipperary Family History Research, Margaret O'Dwyer married James Hickey on 6 Mar 1810 at Cappawhite Parish, County Tipperary. When their children were baptized in later years, James and Margaret were living at Cahernahalla. The 1826 Tithe Applotment records show three Dwyers living at Carnahalla: Thomas Dwyer, John Dwyer, and Margaret Dwyer (who lived with Patrick Ryan). Inconclusive.

A total of thirty Dwyers are recorded in Toem parish in 1826; five are named Thomas. The first name of Thomas never appears in the Hickey family in America. Ditto Edmund, Denis, Daniel, Phill, and others. The Irish naming convention has not been helpful in the Dwyer line.