Courtesy Irish Times:

https://www.irishtimes.com/life-and-style/people/annie-stephens-obituary-one-of-ireland-s-first-female-newspaper-editors-1.3795193

Her fathers homeplace:

Re: Annie Roycroft, this is what I have regarding her family line:

GG-Grandfather: John Roycroft of Ardravinna.

>G-Grandparents: Thomas Roycroft (b. Jan. 11, 1824 in Ardravinna; d. Oct. 17, 1898 in Ardravinna) m. Elizabeth Roycroft  (b. 1827 in Lissacaha; d. bef. 1898). They were married Feb. 5, 1852 in Schull Parish Church. Elizabeth Roycroft’s parents were William Roycroft (b. abt. 1800 in Lissacaha) and Mary (or Margaret) Connell.

>>Grandparents: John Roycroft (b. Nov. 7, 1853 in Ardravinna, Schull; d. Feb. 18, 1941 in Ardravinna) m. Sarah Johnson of Ardravinna in 1877.

>>>Parents: Thomas Roycroft (b. March 15, 1881 in Schull; d. Dec. 29, 1962) and Annie Stephens (b. Aug. 31, 1891, from Milltown, Co. Kerry; d. Dec. 29, 1977). Thomas enlisted in the R.I.C. in 1906, and settled in Bangor, Co. Down in the 1920s.

>>>>Annie Roslyn Roycroft m. Joseph Stephens

Grandmothers homeplace

1907, Evidence of Councillor Ned Roycroft, Mount Gabriel Schull to The Royal Commission On Congestion in Ireland.

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1oFxY_yQmV2Vf2xp4Jh2TY67R4Ue-47uQyT3JtWmfGQE/edit

Roycroft Wills

https://docs.google.com/document/d/19vqQffa3YQZuXOjCw8gTa44dxK_KL082bLOVIzLnGdQ/edit

Roycroft Magistrate, both Catholic

Charles Racraft/Raycroft (Roycroft), (1824-1900), Possible relatives. 1857 stamp distributor, Macroom.  1878, Gurteenroe House, Macroom, Resident, £21. Native Bountenagh, Bantry. Attending the funeral of his sister Mrs. Thomas Dillon Bantry 1892. Started in Welplys Drapery, Macroom then went to Dublin but on the death of his former boss he took over and expanded the business.   Married to the daughter of Dr. Barrett, Macroom, he is a Landlord 1890s in the greater Bantry area probably from his brother Edward Barrett whose wife inherited a substantial amount of her father’s property; he was William O’Sullivan, Esq., Carriganass Castle, Kealkil. Director Cork to Macroom Railway. Ex-Officio Poor Law Guardian, Macroom. Uncle of the Catholic Bishop of Waterford,  Dr. Sheehan. Probate to son in law Henry B. Minihear, Bank Manager, £7,457.

..

Edward (Ned) Roycroft (1850-1937), 1894, Mount Gabriel, Schull, farmer, listed 1913. 1892 Poor Law Guardian.  Attending the funeral, Bantry Jane Dillon nee Roycroft (1843-1892). 1899 Chairman Schull Board of Guardian and District Council. Farmer 1901 has one servant. One of the first to be elected to Cork County Council. Signed Requisition   1905. Cork Junction Railway Bill.  Requisition to the Right Honourable The Earl of Bandon K.P., to Call a meeting for the purpose of Approving the Cork Junctions Railway Bill. 1907 Evidence Of Ned Roycroft, Mount Gabriel, County Councillor, Magistrate, Merchant at Schull to Royal Commission on Congestion in Ireland.  Widespread Congestion and Poverty, Fisheries, Half Cottiers Half Fishermen, Minerals and Mines, The Rev Hinks, Landlord cut Down 100 acres of Forestry before he Sold to the Land Commission, Proposes Central Bacon Curing Station for West Cork.  1911 executive committee Carbery Show.    1913 attending funeral of  Mrs. Mary O’Sullivan nee O’Driscoll, Kilthomane, Crottees, Durrus. 1914 County Council election assentors Dr. John Shipsey and Rev. G.B. Fairbrother. Vice President Carbery Show 1915.  Married Kate McCarthy associated with the Irish Parliamentary Party, probably ancestor of spouse of Michael Pat Murphy, TD, and spouse of John O’Donoghue, TD and former Cathaoirleach Dáil, Co. Council 1910, listed 1921.  West Cork Roycrofts according to family lore descend from two Cromwellian brothers who came to Bandon.  His son William who succeeded him on the Co. Council.  Quite a number of the extended Roycroft family were employed at the workhouse or Union.  Chairman Schull Board of Guardians, Skibbereen to Schull Railway, Committee member Cork Mental Hospital. Supported Treaty, nominated and supported Jasper Wolfe as a TD.  Partner with his son in a drapery shop in Schull.  Huge funeral.

Roycroft County Surveyor Bantry 1920s probably of Mount Gabriel.Schull line, among his grandchildren, the late Kevin Feeny, High Court Judge:

https://www.independent.ie/irish-news/death-of-kevin-feeney-deprives-state-of-a-great-judge/29510170.html

His brother John, journalist, died in an aircrash 1984:

http://www.ricorso.net/rx/az-data/authors/f/Feeney_J/life.htm

Funerals West Cork, Roycrofts included here:

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1A8vkAzsRVEhpiP2EOryWiYcEryJw0ic4DmnKe6vZEqI/edit

The Holmes Justice of Kanturk may have West Cork roots. The Secretary Nicholson of Cork may be of the family that controlled Woodford Bourne’s wine merchants.

What Is a Tontine?

Tontine is the name of an early system for raising capital in which individuals pay into a common pool of money and receive dividends based on their share of returns from investments made with the pooled money.

As members of the group died, they were not replaced with new investors so the proceeds were divided among fewer and fewer members. The surviving investors profited from the deaths of people they knew, a feature that many considered macabre.

KEY TAKEAWAYS

• Tontine is the name of an early system for raising capital where individuals pay into a common pool of money.
• In the U.S., tontines were popular in the 1700s and 1800s, then faded in the early 1900s.
• Tontine investors paid lump sums upon joining and received annual dividend-like payments until death.
• Shares of a deceased tontine investor were divided among the surviving members, and the shares for remaining members increase as more members die.

Understanding a Tontine

Although they seem alien today, tontines have a storied pedigree that reaches back at least half a millennium. The name comes from a 17th-century Italian financier, Lorenzo de Tonti.1 It is not clear whether he actually invented the tontine, but Tonti did famously pitch a tontine scheme to the French government in the 17th century as a way for King Louis XIV to raise money.

For this reason, historians suggest that Tonti’s idea originated with the financial folkways of his native Italy. The idea didn’t catch on at first, and Tonti eventually landed in the Bastille.

A few decades later, in the late Middle Ages tontines became widespread in Europe as a financing tool for the royal courts. Because levying taxes was often out of the question, European monarchs borrowed, predominantly via tontines, to fund their internecine wars.

At the height of their popularity in the 1900s, tontines represented almost two-thirds of the insurance market in the United States and accounted for more than 7.5% of the nation’s wealth. By 1905, there were an estimated nine million active tontine policies in the U.S., in a country of only 18 million households.2

courtesy pat liddy.

Proposer probably

Sampson Stawell (1741-1819), 1768, Kilbrittain, m. Hester Bernard, Castle Bernard, Bandon.  Freeman of Cork 1768.Probably Timothy

Timothy Deasy The Elder (c 1739-), 1793, Barry’s Hall, Timoleague, 1793, Son Timothy and Ann Donovan m Honoria O’Donovan d Cornelius 1759, she had been housekeeper to her brother Rev. Daniel O’Donovn Parish Priest of Clonakilty their grandfather was Daniel O’Donovn of Glandore Castle who in the reign of King James 2 was an MP for Baltimore. His father held lands at Aghamonister, Lissycremin in the Parish of Lislee under the Earl of Shannon,  when he was convicted of possessing arms around 1745 and jailed at the South Gate Prison in Cork.  His lease was forfeit and the family moved to Clonakilty.  Shown 1788 as owner of Pookeen townland, Parish of Drimoleague, adjoining lands Carbery Estate map of Sir John Freke, Bart. Listed supporter of Act of Union, 1799 Son Morgan Deasy Doctor of Physic joint owner of brewery concern with brother Richard his executor Dr. James Donovan M.D. Barry Hall.  First Catholics to be J.P.s since the Treaty of Limerick.  Family fortune is reputed to be based on smuggling. Daughter Ann married Dr. James Donovan son of Alexander of Squince head of the Clann Lochlann branch second in seniority to the Clann Cathal Sept.  Founded brewery in 1807 at Shannon Square, Clonakilty.   Superseded 1810-30. Author unpublished memoir re atrocities in Clonakilty in 1798 in particular Captain Hungerford of The Island, Clonakilty..  Son Timothy the Younger 1792 party of pre marriage deed with Anna Maria Barry of Leamara, Tim Deasy, the younger  of London and Barry’s Hall, witness Charles McCarthy, Gortnascreena. Related to O’Donovans of Squince, Skibbereen, O’Donovans, O’Donovan’s Cove, Durrus

Rickard Deasy, Superseded 1822, Clonakilty, Brewing family.  Deasy, Rickart, Esq., of Clonakilty, to Miss Cotter, at Millstreet – (CMC 8/9/1802).  Father Collins, PP Bantry evidence to Parliamentary Enquiry that he had £2,000 per annum when half pay Protestant Officers on £40 per annum were preferred for Quarter Assizes Juries in Bantry. 1828 seeking reform of the House of Commons. Reinstatement supported by Dr John Richard  Elmore, Clonakilty. 1822 local fishery committee.  1822 insisted that inquest be held into the killing of Patrick Buckley on a poteen raid commanded by Lieutenant Hungerford of Clonakilty later Yeomanry Sergeant acquitted.  1822 with Dr. Elmore and John Molony seeking Chief Secretary; support for harbour works for poor relief at Ring. Attending dinner Devonshire Arms Hotel for Daniel O’Connell 1839 listed as J.P. Chairman of meeting of Independent Liberal Electors thanking electoral personnel for Impartiality in 1835 elections.  The Reformers of the West Riding of Cork to Daniel O’Connell MP to Dinner in Bandon, Co Cork, with 200 Liberals in attendance including, Francis Bernard Beamish MP (1802-1868), Rickard Deasy (1766-1852) Brewer Clonakilty, James Clugston Allman Distiller Bandon, James Redmond Barry J.P., Commissioner for Fisheries, Edward O’Brien, Masonic Lodge Bandon, John Hurley Brewer, Major E. Broderick, Henry Owen Beecher Townsend (1775-1847), Major Mathew Scott J.P. (1779-1844), Philip Harding, Carrigafooka, Macroom, Richard Dowden (1794-1861) Unitarian, Frances Coppinger Esq., Parkview, Bandon.  1849 Dunmanway Union publicly notified that he did not avail of a grant under Land Improvement and Drainage Act 1847 to improve his townlands at Pookeen, Gurrane, Inch and Cilleraine with over 200 paupers.

1812. All forgotten.  One of a Group Including the Earl of Bandon Offering a Reward  for the Apprehension of Those Responsible for House Burnings at Desertserges. Probably Timothy’s son Rickard.

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.

..

Henry Wintrop ‘The O’Donovan’ (1812-1890),  TCD, MA, DL. Pre 1910, Clann Cathal, Lis Ard, Skibbereen, son Rev. Morgan, Cork ed Dr. Coughlan, m Amelia d ‘The O’Grady’, Courcy O’Grady, Kilbollyowne, Co.Limerick.  Son Colonel Morgan William MA, J.P., ‘The O’Donovan’ and Alicia Jones. 1864 Cattle Show West Carbery Agricultural Society, Lissard, Skibbereen held in his grounds.  Attending 17 Grand Jury presentments. Supporter Nicholas Leader, Conservative,  1865 County Cork Election.  Interest in antiquities. Donor to the church bell fund, 1869, St. Nicholas, Cork.  (Cork Daily Southern Reporter 26th March 1869).   1884, signed a protest against the dismissal of Lord Rossmore, head of Orange Order, Monaghan.  Probate to Morgan O’Donovan, Lissard, Bishop Gregg, Cork, John Carson, Fellow Trinity College Dublin, £30,292.

Richard Henry Hedges Beecher Esq., (1799-1882), Pre 1838, listed 1838,  Hollybrook, Skibbereen,  sitting Skibbereen, 1835, Came into possession pre 1833 very neglected set about improving.  In re organising compensated tenants according to Ulster Custom.  Engaged in road building.  Abolished rundale system. Grand Jury Presentment Sessions Schull, 1834. Subscriber Lewis Topographical Dictionary of Ireland 1837. Attending Protestant Conservative Society meeting 1832. Bandon Brunswick Constitutional Club 1828.  Non resident Freeman voting in Cork 1837 election. Attending Dunmanway Conservative and anti Repeal Meeting 1845. 1845 promoter Bandon to Bantry Railway. 1843 Freemason, Skibbereen. Anti-Repeal Meeting, Dunmanway 1845.  Skibbereen 1847 distress meeting. Presentment sessions Ballydehob 1845. Signed ‘No Popery Petition 1851’. 1866 Freemason Skibbereen 15th Lodge.  Long litigation with Lord Bandon added to financial woes over the townland of Rathooragh near Mount Gabriel.  Imprisoned but later freed by his creditors 1848.  The Hollybrook estate was sold in the Encumbered Estates Court in 1851, 17,000 acres, 42 townlands, 8 parishes, debts in 52 charges amounting to £52,275. The sale realised £52,080.  It was estimated that the rent of £4,500 per annum represents only 25% of the value of market rents but two thirds  were given long leases on low rents  with a capital sum in 1794 to families such as the Ballydehob Swantons.  1839 Freeman’s Journal 15 Feb 1839 “Marriages~On Tuesday last, in Cork, Richard H H Becher, Esq of Hollybrook in that Co., to Melian, daughter of the Rev Morgan O’Donovan of Montpelier (Ronayne’s Court, Douglas, Cork).  Freeman of Cork. Melian, daughter of the Rev Morgan O’Donovan of Montpelier (Ronayne’s Court, Douglas, Cork).  Freeman of Cork.  He became the O’Donovan as did his son Henry Winthrop.  1864 officiated Cattle Show West Carbery Agricultural Society, Lissard, Skibbereen.  He became the O’Donovan as did his son Henry Winthrop. Niece Susan Emily Becher Hungerford, informant of death, probate to Richard Becher Hungerford, £217.   

1836-1970 West Cork Agricultural Societies and Shows

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1yoNjmDNQKT_pk3nvlCsT72YWYoDENcs–uaJxh2ber8/edit

Click here:

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/193TpfHYRXIBQb0nzVLTs_Cl-oebYYnFAebmtxvDiYzY/edit#gid=0

This is only scratching the surface.

Over 90,000https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/193TpfHYRXIBQb0nzVLTs_Cl-oebYYnFAebmtxvDiYzY/edit#gid=0

Over 90,000 Irish people served in the RIC. Mostly Catholic although the senior ranks were mostly but not exclusively Protestants.  The pay was not great but the pension arrangement suited a lot of men who could retire early maybe from their lump sum buy a farm or a business.  Men were allowed to go out with a girl after 5 years service and marry after 7 years.

The personnel files before photography contained a sketch letter of recommendation, family background and confirman from a priest or minister of birth,  Prior to marriage the bride’s famu was checked out.

After independence more the 90,000 personnel files were removed to Ealing in West London.  They were used to deal with pension queries and all but 4 were shredded in 1938.

In 1902 it is likely that a fair proportion of the older people west and north of Dunmanway were either Irish speakers or bi lingual

1902 Irish Day Dunmanway addressed by Pádraig Pearse

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1epwrrLWqweGO7gQJF-xycNKqqBwaeD9a2B6wFShhqfU/edit

Pádraig Pearse

Born in Dublin to an English father and an Irish mother, Padraig Pearse was a teacher, barrister, poet, writer, nationalist and political activist who was one of the leaders of the Easter Rising in 1916. Pearse joined the Gaelic League in its third year, in 1896, and between 1903 and 1909 served as editor of the League’s journal, An Claidheamh Soluis. He held a degree in Modern Languages and a B.L. from the King’s Inns. He worked as a teacher in various colleges until he and his brother Willie founded St Enda’s in 1908, a bilingual secondary school for boys. Pearse published several didactic short story collections in Irish as well as poems, plays and political pamphlets. These include Poll an Piobaire (The Piper’s Cave), 1905, Iosagan agus Sgealta Eile (Little Jesus and other Stories), 1907, and the play, An Rí (The King), which was produced in 1912. Pearse was a member both of the Irish Volunteers and of the secret Irish Republican Brotherhood, which he joined in 1913. As a member of the IRB’s Supreme Council, and its secret Military Council,he was involved in the planning for a rising during the First World War. On Easter Monday, 24 April, 1916, members of the Irish Volunteers, led by Pearse, and of the smaller Irish Citizen Army of James Connolly seized key locations in Dublin and proclaimed an Irish Republic from the steps of the General Post Office. The Rising was suppressed by the British military after six days of fighting, and Pearse as one of its fourteen leaders was court-martialled. He was shot at dawn on 3 May in the stonebreaker’s yard in Kilmainham Jail.