Shiels | Sheils Family History
from Cavan, Ireland to Australia & New Zealand
Surname Origins
The Shiels (or Sheils) surname, also found in Ireland rendered with other phonetic spellings such as Sheals, Sheills, Shiells, has its origin in the celtic patronymic O’Siadhail (pronounced O’Sheeail). It was borne by two old Septs (the Irish term for a Clan), one in Leinster and the other in Ulster, but whether both sprang from the same Siadhail is uncertain. The lands of the O’Shiels of Leinster were in the present County of Wexford and their chieftain was hereditary Chief-physician to the kings of Leinster.
The O’Shiels of Ulster are one of many Septs descended from Mani, sixth son of Niall of the Nine hostages. Their principal seat was in the present barony of Carey in the north of the County Antrim. By reason of closer geographic proximity it is perhaps more likely the ancestors of William Shiels, the progenitor of the Australian Shiels family of Manning River, would have been from the Mani line than from the Leinster O’Shiels.
Many distinguished O’Shiels are mentioned in Ireland’s ancient records. As a proper name Siadhal, better known to ecclesiastical scholars by its Latinized form Sedulius, was first rendered popular by having been borne by a famous and learned Irish saint who lived about the middle of the fifth century. According to The Annals of the Four Masters the following are some of the distinguished Siadhails who figured in Irish history long before the introduction of surnames:Siadhail, abbot of Liun-Duachail, d. 752, Siadhail, abbot of Duibhlin, d. 785 or 790.
Siadhail of Disert-Charain, (now Castle-Kieran, near Kells, county Meath), d. 855.
Siadhail, abbot and, bishop of Ros & mdash ; Commain, died 813.
Siadhail, son of Fearadhachd, died 828.COUNTY CAVAN
The Breny plains are wide, there are banners where we ride 1 The Irish origin of the County Cavan name is cabhán, meaning ‘hollow’ or ‘little hill’. The main feature of the Cavan landscape is the proliferation of drumlins - oval mounds 80 to 100 feet high, which alternate with small lakes. The horizon is usually no more than a few hundred yards away making the countryside feel small-scale and intimate. Before the seventeenth century Cavan, along with County Leitrim, was part of the kingdom of Bréifne. Leitrim became known as Bréifne O’Rourke, while Cavan was Bréifne O’Reilly. The O’Reillys maintained their independence from English rule until the rebellions of the early 1600s. Cavan was then incorporated into the province of Ulster, having previously been considered part of Connacht, and was included in the plantation of Ulster from 1608.
There were six of the Sheils/Shiels/Sheals name listed on farms in County Cavan in the 1796 List of Flax Growers in Ireland - viz. Hugh Sheils in Annagah parish, James and Luke Sheils in Larah, a Sheils widow and Hugh Sheils in Lavey and Bryan Sheals in Killashandra. There may have also been others on farms in the county who were not listed as the list was comprised only of the names of the 58,000 farmers who grew a flax crop in Ireland that year large enough to qualify for the receipt of a free spinning wheel. No offical census from the 19th century covering eastern County Cavan has survived. Land valuations provide somewhat of a subsitute. The earliest available for the Parish of Killinkere are those done in 1833 that are known as the Tithe Applotments. Their purpose was to provide a basis for the imposition of an annual tithe on the occupiers of agricultural lands payable to the Church of Ireland. No occupier with the Shiels / Sheils surname was at that time listed in Coolnacola townland in Killinkere. The only persons of these variants noted in Killinkere were Patrick and Francis Shiels, each occupying three acre farms in Kilmore townland, located about 3 kilometres to the south of Coolnacola.
It is possible John Shiels Sr., who was most likely born between 1800-1810, father of ca. 1832 born William Shiels who emigrated to Australia in 1855, and John Shiels (Shields) who emigrated to New Zealand in 1866, was a son of either this Patrick Shiels or Francis Shiels who were both in Kilmore townland. However he could just as likely have been a brother of either, who whilst he had married, had yet to obtain the tenancy of a farm. The next available valuation is known as the Griffith General Valuation of Ireland. It was done for Killinkere Parish in 1857. In it John Shiels is listed as one of 15 land occupiers in Coolnacola townland leasing farm number five of 16 acres from the landowner Moore-Smith.
When his son William Shiels died in Sydney, Australia in 1859 his death certificate gave his mother’s name as Ann O’Hara. This indicates William and his wife Jane O’Hara were cousins. Additional to son William, John Shiels of Coolnacola has been identified as the father of at least four other children whose identities have been ascertained from the marriage registrations for the area covered by the Bailieborough Poor Law Union. It is likely there would have been other unidentified children, some of whom may not have survived An Gorta Mor (the great Irish famine), which had its worst year in Co. Cavan in 1846 when many died of starvation following the total failure of that year’s potato crop. A sixth child would likely have been ca. 1849 born Joseph who accompanied John Jr. and his wife Martha O'Hara to New Zealand in 1866. It is not known for certain when John Shiels Sr. died but a John Sheils with a registered death in 1877 at the age of 96 in the Bailieborough district years may well have been him 13. If so he would have been much older than wife Ann. The date of death of Ann is also uncertain. She likely was either the Anne Shiels who died in the Bailieborough district in 1884 aged 74, or the Anne Jane Shiels who died there in 1912 aged 100 years! 12 However she may have died earlier. As her death date is unknown, of the five children identified from their marriage records, it is certain only the first two named Nancy and William were her children. If it was the case that Ann Shiels née O’Hara was a sister to Joseph O’Hara, and their father was the Thomas O’Hara in occupation of the 22 acre Coolnacola farm in 1833 at the time of the Tithe Applotment valuations, it follows both William Shiels and his younger brother John in eleven years apart marrying daughters of Joseph O’Hara would have married their first cousins.
The evidence suggests the children of John Shiels and Ann O'Hara were of the Presbyterian faith although as indicated by the ancient Irish surname, anglised by the removal of the O', John's ancestors would have once been Roman Catholic. Accordingly family burials most likely would have been in the nearest Presbyterian graveyard located in Seefin townland associated with the Gola / Seefin Presbyterian Meeting House or in the nearest large town of Bailieborough. However there are no Shiels / Sheils tombstones in the Seefin Graveyard. The Presbyterians did not keep burial records so no church parish records are available. There are also no instances of the Shiels /Sheils name in the surviving burial records for Billis C of I Church which date from 1851, or on the headstones in its graveyard, or in similar records for Killinkere C of I Church which date from 1877. Thus any burial records for this particular Shiels / Sheils family will likely only be found on headstones in the graveyard of the Bailieborough Presbyterian Church or perhaps on headstones in the graveyard at the Killinkere Church of Ireland.
It is understood there are some other Gola Presbyterian Meeeting House records dating from 1831. They have not been consulted but may record the births of some of the Shiels/Sheils children. Listed below in birth date order are the five known children of John Shiels of Coolnacola as ascertained from the Ireland marriage records. In addition there would likely have been at least one other child - circa 1849 born Joseph Shields (sic) who accompanied his brother John and his wife to New Zealand in 1866. Surnames and townlands are spelt as they appeared in the Bailieborough Union marriage register. Where they vary they are followed by the offical spelling used in the 1851 census of Ireland 2Nancy Sheals b.ca 1831, of Kolnagola townland (officially Coolnacola townland), on 5 Apr 1854 3 married Thomas Wilson b. ca.1829, a farmer of Drumlun (likely Drumlon townland in Bailieborough Parish, or perhaps Drumlom townland in Shercock Parish - latter is abt. 6 miles from Coolnacola), son of William Wilson a farmer (by Rev. Patrick White in Bailieborough Presbyterian Meeting House - witness George Gibson & David Gilmore).
William Sheals b.ca.1832, of Coolnacola townland, on 1 Mar 1855 4 married Jane O’Hara b.ca.1837, of Drumfomina townland in Killinkere Par., dau. of Joseph O’Hara a farmer (by Rev. Walter C. Peyton in Billis Church of Ireland, Billis - witness John Wilson & Henry Elliott). Two months after their marriage they emmigrated to New South Wales, Australia. For their subsequent history see this web page.
Jane Shiels b.before 1838, of Kilnacola townland (old local usage spelling - officially Coolnacola townland), on 29 June 1859 5 married Robert Colman (likely Coleman) b. before 1838, a farmer of Cordoagh townland in Knockbride Parish, son of William Colman a farmer (by Rev. James Clarke in the Presbyterian Meeting House of Seefin - witness John Bell & William Colman).
John Shiels b.ca.1841, a baker of Coolnacohla townland (officially Coolnacola), on 15 Jan 1866 6 married Martha O’Hara b.ca.1842, a dressmaker of Billis in Killinkere Parish, dau. of Joseph O’Hara, a farmer, (by Rev. Walter C. Peyton in Billis Church of Ireland - witness Joseph O’Hara & Jane Jackson). Two months after their marriage they emigrated to Christchurch, New Zealand - for their subsequent history see this web page.
Margaret Shiels b.ca. 1844, of Kilnacola townland (officially Coolnacola townland ) on 16 Jul 1862 7 married George Diell (there are about 50 known phonetic variants of the surname) b. ca.1841, a farmer of Killesherdiney Parish (the C of I parish was actually spelt Kilsherdney - the civil parish is officially Kildrumsherdan, aka Kill ), son of George Diell a farmer (by Rev. James Taylor in Killinkere Church of Ireland - witness George Diell & Thomas Wilson). After their marriage they emigrated to New Zealand.
NEW ZEALAND EMIGRATION
The first of the known Shiels children to emigrate to New Zealand was ca. 1844 born Margaret. With husband George Diell she arrived as a government immigrant on the Mermaid from County Cavan, Ireland, at Port Lyttleton, Christchurch on the South Island on 26 Dec 1862 under the variant surname spelling of DEYELL (sic) which was how the family surname was subsequently spelt in New Zealand. They had a family of four sons and seven daughters 14. According to probate records, and a Canterbury biographical dictionary, George Deyell was born in 1840 and died on 24 May 1901 aged 61 years and he resided in Spreydon (a suburb of Christchurch). He is buried in Sydenham Cemetery. In Co. Cavan he was a ploughman and in New Zealand a contractor and founder of the Deyell cartage firm. His daughter Annie married in St. Saviours Sydenham on 8 Feb 1894, Thomas Guy, a cab proprietor, formerly of County Longford, Ireland, and resided Sydenham. Another daughter Margaret married in St. Saviours Sydenham on 21 Aug 1895, Christchurch born John Cusack, a boot finisher, and resided Sydenham. A son William G. married Rebecca McWilkin. Son Pat. C. was a tailor 15. Another likely son was George Deyell of Christchurch, a contractor 16.
Three and a half years later Margaret's elder brother John and wife Martha O'Hara also arrived at Port Lyttleton. Two months after their marriage on 10 Mar 1866 they departed from London, England on the John Temperley , and arrived on 21 Jun 1866 at Port Lyttleton which was the port of entry for Christchurch located about 10 kilometres inland. On the passenger list their names appeared under the suranme of Shields and thereafter that has been the family surname spelling in New Zealand. They had eight known children between 1867 and 1880. Accompanying them on the voyage was Joseph Shields who was listed on the passenger list as aged 17 years (so born ca. 1849) who was likely one of John's brothers 17.
AUSTRALIAN EMIGRATION
Emigration to Australia from Ireland in the 19th century is estimated to have numbered around 400,000. About ten times that number went to the United States. In addition to New Zealand some of the John Sheils / Ann O’Hara children could have emigrated to England, the United States, Canada. Following his 1855 marriage to Jane O’Hara in Billis Church of Ireland William Sheils is the only one known to have emigrated to Australia.
William and wife Jane O'Hara embarked on the world’s longest migratory journey about seven weeks after the marriage. Following a relatively short steamer trip across the Irish Sea they left from Plymouth in the south of England for on the 22 April 1855 aboard the 1100 ton Mangeton in company with 373 other New South Wales government assisted immigrants, who included a younger sister of Jane’s named Margaret, cousin Eliza O’Hara and cousins and purported sisters Jane and Eliza Kellett. The following report of the voyage of the Mangerton to Australia appeared in the Sydney Morning Herald on Monday 30 July 1855:-The Mangerton, with 375, arrived from Plymouth on Saturday evening .....There were nine deaths, including a child who was unfortunately lost overboard, and a young lad who was killed by the fall of a block which struck him on the head. Another fatal accident occurred to one of the seamen, who was killed by lightening while on the foretopmost yard. The Mangerton’s passage has been somewhat retarded by the foreyard having been carried away. No vessels have been spoken, and although some cases of small pox occurred during the voyage, there is no sickness on board at the present, and the immigrants appearing very healthy. She has on board 160 single women, 30 single men and 93 married couples & their children.Immigration records disclose William Sheils was not on board this ship under his own name 9. The records show his wife Jane travelled to and entered Australia under her maiden surname of O’Hara. However there is no doubt, as would be expected for a newly wed husband, that William Sheils was aboard the vessel. He travelled to and entered Australia under the alias of a cousin Samuel O’Hara accompanied by an unknown female person posing as his wife Martha. The real Samuel and Martha O’Hara née McAuley, of Greaghadossan townland, Killinkere Parish, who married the previous year, had already arrived in Australia as assisted immigrants, arriving at Moreton Bay (Brisbane) nine weeks earlier on the 694 ton Truro which left from Liverpool in England on the 14 Feb 1855 10. A child recorded in the immigration records of the Truro as Martha (later known as Eliza) was born to this Martha O’Hara during its voyage.
It is presumed the real Samuel would have originally intended to travel to Australia in company with his female cousins, but when it became clear wife Martha’s pregnancy could result in the birth of the child at sea with an attendant well known high risk to its survival, he must have made application and was permitted by the immigration office to bring forward their departure to the earlier departing Truro. It is presumed, that even though they had already departed on the Truro, through a bureaucratic bungle an authority for the couple to travel on the Mangerton must have still issued, thus permitting William Sheils and the unknown lady to travel on the Mangerton by assuming the identities of the real Samuel and Martha O’Hara. Such identity subsitutions were not uncommon. Indeed it seems highly likely there was another identity substitution in the Mangerton party. Aboard were the two Kellett sisters Jane aged 18 and Eliza aged 17 who were cousins of Jane O’Hara and the others. Whilst there is no doubt about Eliza Kellett who married in Sydney in 1857 it is most improbable Jane Kellett was who she purported. The same Jane Kellett, a daughter of Charles Kellett and Margaret O’Hara, is also recorded arriving in Sydney 2½ years later with her brother Samuel Kellett aboard the Peter Maxwell ! 11 For a fuller exposition on the Mangerton identity subsitution see Deception Unmasked.Thy heath-covered mountains are fresh in my view
Thy glens, lakes and rivers, Loch Conn and Kilkerran,8What a contrast to their Irish homeland of County Cavan, where the countryside has the feeling of being small-scale and intimate, the vast expanses of Australia with its mild winter climate and trees not stripped by autumn must have presented to the party of six wide-eyed young emigrants when they arrived in Sydney in July 1855 after their fourteen week sea voyage from Plymouth.
After debarkation the immediate destination for the Mangeton party would have been the hotel of their sponsor and relative by marriage Hugh Wauhop named The True Irishman. It was situated in Sarah Ann Street, renamed to Dawson Street in 1889, in the Strawberry Hill locality of inner city Surry Hills. Their immigration records named Hugh Wauhop as their relative in Sydney. Hugh and two brothers arrived in Sydney in from Knockbride Parish in County Cavan fourteen years earlier in 1841. Following the death of his first wife Jane Edmonstone he married Mary O’Hara in 1852. Mary was a daughter of Samuel and Elizabeth O’Hara of Greaghadossan townland, Killinkere Parish whose eight known children all emigrated to Australia. She was a sister to Eliza O’Hara and cousin to Jane and Margaret O’Hara of the Mangerton party.
William Shiels and wife Jane O’Hara next appear in Australian records as William and Jane O’Hara, in the Manning River Presbyterian Church of Scotland baptism registers, when their first Manning River born child Margaret was baptised on 27 Feb 1856 as Margaret O’Hara. The baptism record gives William’s then occupation as ‘farm servant’. Their second child, who was born shortly after the introduction in NSW of compulsory birth registrations, was registered in late 1857 phonetically as Anna Shields. However she was baptised Hannah O’Hara.
The baptisms of their first two children, with surname appearing as O’Hara instead of Shiels, indicate that after his arrival on the Manning River William continued useing the O'Hara surname alias under which he had travelled to Australia. His reason for doing so may have been a concern as to the potential legal consequences of having travelled to Australia under a false name as a government assisted immigrant without having been approved and accepted as such by the responsible authority in London who had met most of the cost of the fare. His continued usage of the O’Hara alias after his arrival at Manning River could have followed simply as a consequence of having been initially engaged in Sydney by his Manning River employer under the surname of O’Hara. In such a small and isolated a community he would have been thus known when his two children Maragret and Anna were baptised in 1856 and 1858 by the local Established Presbyterian Church of Scotland minster the Rev. J.T. Carter who had commenced his posting at Manning River in 1851.§
SOURCES:
1 Line by poet Pardric Colum
2 General Alphabetical Index to the townlands and Towns, Parishes and Baronies of Ireland
3 LDS Ireland Marriage Records, film #0101352, 1854 Vol. 1, p. 537
4 Ibid #0101362, 1855 Vol. 1, p. 513
5 Ibid #0101402, 1859 Vol. 1, p. 540
6 Ibid #0101488, 1866 Vol 2, p. 565
7 Ibid #0101432, 1862 Vol. 1, p. 489
8 Lines from The Exile of Erin by an anonymous Irish convict from penal station of Emu Plains, NSW, written in 1820s
9 NSW Immigration, Persons on Bounty Ships, NSW Archives, (Mangerton), Reel #2137 & #2471
10 Ibid (Truro), Reel #2472
11 Ibid (Peter Maxwell), arrived in Sydney on 10 Jan 1858 - Reel #2138 & #2478
12 Ireland Death Indexes - Anne Jane Shiels "aged 100 yrs" reg. Bailieborough PLU March Qtr. 1912 Vol. 2, page 290. Other Bailieborough PLU registered deaths which may have been Ann Shiels née O'Hara are: Anne Shiels aged "74" March Qtr. 1884, Vol. 2, page 246 OR Jane Shiels "aged 73" Dec. Qtr. 1881 Vol 2, page 256.
13 Ireland Death Indexes - John Sheils "aged 96 yrs." reg. Bailieborough PLU 1877 Vol 2, page 307.
14 Email advice dated 5 Jan 2005 from descendant Frances Parnell of New Zealand.
15 GR Macdonald Dictionery of Canterbury Biographies (as advised by Jean Price)
George Deyell probate number 4156 filed 12 Jun 1901
16 George Deyell probate number 25692 filed 21 Oct 1946.
17 Emigration and family details provided 5 May 2009 by Margaret Smith of Whangaparaoa, New Zealand.
