THE LANE FAMILY.

From

Shravokee

County Clare – Ireland

 

 

 

 

 

No event in Irish history had a more emotional effect on Irish national feeling than the Great Famine of 1845-1849.

The continual disastrous failure of the potato crop, due to a killer tuber-rotting fungus Phytophthora infestans , had by February, 1846 struck every county in Ireland and destroyed three-quarters of the country's crop.

Conditions in Ireland up until that time were poor and travelers often commented on the extreme misery of the poorest Irish peasant. He lived off a tiny piece of land for which he paid such a high rent that almost all, and sometimes all, the cereal crops he grew on it had to be sold to pay the rent, with the result that the farmer and his family subsisted on a plot of potatoes which became the staple diet for the people of Ireland.

This situation had become increasingly precarious during the first four decades of the nineteenth century, which had seen a vast population explosion in Ireland. The population of Ireland in 1800 was estimated at 4.5 million however this had increased to 8 million by 1841.

The pressure of this vast increase of people on the land became a serious problem as land became subdivided into smaller and smaller plots on which increasingly people subsisted mainly on potatoes.

The crop failed due to the disease for four successive years.

Deaths from starvation in Ireland during the Famine years 1845-1849 have been estimated at approximately one million people. These were mostly peasant farmers and their families, who starved to death.. 

In County Galway, it was reported that there were dead bodies everywhere and that every village had bodies lying unburied for many days. The streets were daily thronged with moving skeletons and the fields were strewn with the dead. Food riots were occurring in every County due to the population starving. Typhus was soon raging throughout Ireland resulting in many deaths.

It was in this context that mass emigration occurred with people leaving from every port in Ireland. In 1847, some 250,000 people left Ireland and the rate was to continue at that level and sometimes higher for the next four years. Many of them traveled to the United States, Canada and also Australia where they were to profoundly influence the societies into which they were absorbed..

The Lane family came from the town land of Shravokee near Clonlara, County Clare in the south west of Ireland, a few miles north of Limerick City overlooking the River Shannon. Clonlara was once known as Doonas and many places in the village and surrounds, including the Falls of Doonas on the River Shannon between Limerick and Killaloe, are still called by this name.

Doonas or Dun Easa means the Fort of the Rapids. In 1841, the population of the rural districts was 4016 with 629 houses.

Various newspaper obituaries of the early Lane families in Australia indicate they came from Shravokee in the Parish of Doonas in County Clare. The English ruled Ireland in those days and had a number of unusual terminology’s relating to the areas of the country and of course, many of the people used the old Catholic Church Terminology.

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• The town land is the smallest and most ancient of the Irish land divisions. There were 60,462 town lands in Ireland. Shravokee was the old local name for the official town land of Srawickeen.
• The Civil Parish is in effect a group of Town lands which in our case was Kiltenanlea.
• The Roman Catholic Parish was Donnas. Due to the imposition of the English System of Local Government in the 16^th Century, Ireland had to adapt to a different Civil Parish system centered on towns and villages. The local people continued to use the Roman Catholic system.
• The Poor Law Union – Ireland in 1838 was divided into unions or districts to which the local ratable tenants were to be financially responsible for the care of paupers or poor people in their areas. These areas were generally centered on a large market town. In this case, the Poor Law Union was Limerick.
• Ireland was divided into four provinces and Clonlara was in the province of Munster.

   

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The circumstances of the Lane Family before and during the famine period are not known.

We know from Michael Lane’s obituary that his father Thomas Lane b1818, wanted to settle him on a farm prior to him coming to Australia in 1861, but he came to Australia instead, leaving us to think they were in reasonable circumstances.

The Tithe Applotment Books list the holders of agricultural land in Ireland who had to pay tithes to the Established Church of Ireland i.e. the Protestant Church. It was a tithe resented by the Roman Catholics.
 It  is interesting to note that in the Tithe Applotment Books for the Parish Of Kiltonanlea, which lists occupiers of land in the Parish as at October 24th, 1824 that a Thomas Lane occupied land at Isleland possibly sharing with Roger Moloney and Daniel Shaughnessy.
There is another entry for a Thomas Lane occupying land at Mt. Donnell possibly sharing with Pat and John Mulqueeny.
These names tie in with the Griffiths Valuations of 1851.

We do know from the Griffith Valuations of Rateable Property in Ireland of 1851, that various Lane families  were farming at that time in the Parish of Kiltenanlea. including -:
1. Patrick Lane at Garraun who occupied 31 acres of land with Michael Madden.
2. Thomas Lane (Moloney) at Srawickween with 38 acres of land, house and offices,
3. Thomas Lane (Mulqueeny) also at Srawickween with about 30 acres of land, house and offices.
4. James Lane at Srawickween with 23 acres of land, house and offices.
 
All of these properties are in close proximity with each other. Refer Griffiths map.
It is also not known as to how or if these families were related.
In the case of the two Thomas Lane properties it is likely that there were two Thomas Lane's at the time and that the name in brackets may be the spouses maiden name being used to differentiate between the families. 

The father of Michael Lane, Thomas b1818, could not have owned land at the time of the Tithe Applotment in 1824 due to his age and as Thomas's  father, who was also named Michael b1788,  is not listed in the Tithe Books it could be assumed that the father of Michael Lane b1788 may have been one of the above Thomas Lane's.  As Michael Lane born 1788 married Catherine Moloney he could be from that Thomas Lane family.

We also know from the Griffith Valuation that Patrick Lane and Michael Madden at the Garraun property had a graveyard right next to their property, which also contained the ruins of an old church (Templemorcullar)
It is in this graveyard that many Lanes and Maddens of the area are buried. 

From the Griffiths Valuation we also know that Reference 3(a) on the map related to the 38 acres of land, house and offices occupied by Thomas Lane (Moloney) valued at 30 pounds 10 shillings.
 Other parts of the property had houses and offices with valuations paid as follows-:
3(b) John Shaughnessy, house and offices - valued at 14 shillings.
3(c) Bridget Malone, offices - valued at 10 shillings.
3(d) Thomas Lane(Mulqueeny), house and offices - valued at 2 Pounds 2 shillings.
3(e) Michael Moloney, house and offices - valued at 1 pound 10 shillings.
All of these people occupied substantial land holdings nearby but it appears they all grouped their houses and offices close together.

It appears that the Thomas Lane (Moloney) and the Patrick Lane - Michael Madden properties are still in possession of descendents of the two families.

 

Click here for photographs of Shravokee House taken in 1973 where some of the Lane's lived, which also show some of the outhouses on the property where the original Lane's probably lived. Shravokee House was demolished about 1990. This was replaced by a new home built by Noel Madden whose mother was Patricia Lane.

Irish family history is difficult to trace due to the lack of records, however the following gravestones were located on the Madden farm near Shravokee.

Lane Family cemetery.

Lane Cemetery on Madden Farm.

Old Lane Family Cemetery.

James Lane Headstone d1855

Lane Headstones.

Thomas Lane (Rivers) d1914

One of the headstones in this cemetery relates to our Michael Lane b1788 and his wife Catherine. This headstone was erected by Father Tom Lane and father Michael Lane, who are sons of John Lane d1934, with most of the detail taken off old headstones.

 

CLICK HERE

 

(This is a replacement tombstone)

In loving memory of

Michael Lane b1788

His wife Catherine

Thomas died 25 Aug. 1891, aged 73 yrs.

His wife Elizabeth died 29 Nov. 1895, aged 75 yrs.

Thomas died 23 Oct., 1895, aged 56 yrs.

His wife Mary died Feb. 1923, aged 80 yrs.

Rev. James Lane (brother of Thomas), died 24 Jan. 1877, aged 31 yrs.

John died 27 Feb. 1934, aged 54 yrs.

His wife Ellen died 12 Dec. 1978 aged 90 yrs.

John died 22 May, 1982, aged 55 yrs.

The following table illustrates the Lane Family involved in this headstone-:

 

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Michael Lane, b1788, of Shravokee, Clonlara, Co. Clare married Catherine Moloney and they had at least four children, James b1816, Patrick b1817, and John b1825, all of whom came to Australia and Thomas b1818, from whom we are descended stayed in Ireland.

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Thomas Lane, b.1818, was a farmer. He married Elizabeth Gleeson of the Glen, Killaloe, Co. Clare. Elizabeth Gleeson had a brother a priest, possibly in the Killaloe Diocese.  She brought Peggy Moloney, a blind person, cousin of her husband Thomas Lane, to Shravokee, from what is now Heffernan's near Larkin's Pub (at crossroads to Parteen/Garraun) on the Limerick/Broadford Road.

They had four children, Thomas b1839, James b1844 and Patrick b1849. Their other son, Michael Lane b1838 at Shravokee, was the first in our direct line to immigrate to Victoria from Co. Clare, Ireland together with his future wife Ellen Maloney (Moloney). 

 

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Michael's brother Thomas Lane, b1839  married Mary Ward, b1843, of Annaholty, Birdhill, Co. Tipperary.  Thomas apparently remained at home on the farm at Shravokee, Clonlara. Co. Clare.  They had six children: - Thomas, James, Mary, William, Michael and John.

Thomas Lane, born13th Jan 1874, died 25th February 1908.  He was a Grocer's Assistant. 

James Lane, born 14th March 1877, died 6th September, 1894 at the early age of 17 years.

Mary Lane, known as Babe, born 8th May 1876  remained on the farm and died in 1947 at the age of approx. 71  years.

William Lane born on 12th January 1884 and died in 1954.  He immigrated to America and married a Miss Spaight of Derryfadda, Clonlara, Co. Clare. It is believed she was the daughter of David Spaight and Margaret O'Shaughnessey. Their children were James, who stayed on the farm at Derryfadda, David born 1886 who went to the USA and sisters Bridget, Margaret, Nora, Johanna and Mary.  William Lane and the Spaight girl that he married had a daughter Margaret who resided at 232 Warren Street, Brooklyn, New York.

John Lane, born 2nd May, 1879 and died 27th February, 1934.  He married Ellen McMahon of Redgate, near Limerick in February 1923.

Michael Lane, born 12th Nov 1881 died on 2nd August, 1915 of Consumption.  He was a Bachelor farmer.  

  

 

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His brother James Lane, b 1844, became a Priest.  He entered Mount Mellory and from there went to All Hallows College, Dublin in 1865.  He was then destined for the Maitland Diocese in Australia, but was finally ordained in the Cathedral Church of Green Bay, U.S.A. on 26th September 1870 and served in that Diocese until his death on January 25th 1877.

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His other brother Patrick Lane, b. 1849, had a Butcher's Shop in 8 Roches Street, Limerick and a farm at Shravokee.  (This is now Buckley's farm).  He married Mary Lynch of Co. Limerick and appears to have died because of an accident in the slaughter of cattle.  There were four children of this marriage: Agnes, Kathleen, Michael and Tom.

Agnes Lane immigrated to America and married a Mr. Neville of Co. Limerick.  There are two boys of this marriage - one was killed in the war and the other is now married and lives/lived in Chicago.

Kathleen Lane lived at 4 Killuran Terrace, Catherine Street, Limerick and married a Mr. Coleman.  She died in 1958.  She supplied most of this information.  She had no family but one of her brother Tom's children, Joe, lived with her. He worked at Boyds of William Street up to about 1956. ( Joe had a sister Angela).

Tom Lane married and had at least two children, Joe and Angela.

Michael Lane, no details known.

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If you can add or correct any of this information

Please email Ray Lane

rjlane@netspace.net.au

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