A
fallen white marble block in St. Finian’s Churchyard marks the resting place of Thomas Merriman, my 3rd great-uncle.
Born in Lucan to Michael and Anne Merriman during the Great Famine in 1845, Thomas was the fourth of eight children all born in Lucan between 1838 and 1856. Sadly, not all baptism records survive for Lucan for this time period so there may well be further family to be discovered.
Thomas was employed as a Butler in the household of Physician Dr Blyth in “The Slopes” in Monkstown, Co. Dublin. A fine “1st class house” with 10 front windows, stables, 2 Coach Houses and a Harness Room according to the 1901 Census return. 
Thomas never married and when he died in St. Michael’s Hospital in Dun Laoghaire, then Kingstown, on 13 December 1909 aged 64 years, his brothers and sisters arranged for him to be brought back to Lucan to be buried alongside his parents Michael & Anne Merriman.
Thomas’s eldest brother William Merriman was born in Lucan in 1838, he married Mary Riordan there in 1865 and raised their family of six children. Their daughter Catherine Merriman married William Brougham in Lucan in 1893. The newlyweds left for America two days after their wedding and settled in Bennington in Vermont where William Brougham worked as a “Mill Hand” in the Woollen Mills.
Catherine’s brother Daniel Merriman joined them in Vermont in 1895 where Daniel worked as a “spinner” in the Woollen Mills. Their father William Merriman died in Lucan in 1905 and is buried with his parents Michael & Anne Merriman alongside his brother Thomas in St. Finian’s Churchyard, in Esker, Lucan.
Thomas was pals with a local lad James Comiskey and was best man when James married Thomas’s sister Mary Anne Merriman in Lucan in 1865.
James & Mary Anne Comiskey are my 2nd great grandparents. They moved from Lucan to Dublin City for a couple of years and then on to Kingstown in 1870 where they raised their 10 children. James was working as a Coachman, perhaps also at “The Slopes”.
Their eldest son John Comiskey, born in Esker in 1867, was a “Footman” but himself and the “Ladies Maid” Elizabeth fell head over heels, decided to leave their jobs, get married and immediately set sail for America in 1890. Their three children would go on to be School Teachers in Massachusetts.
James & Mary Anne’s son James Comiskey junior served an apprenticeship to become a Surgical Boot Maker as did his own son Harry Comiskey.
His daughter Kathleen Comiskey, my beloved grandmother, was born in 1916, during The Troubles as her father would always remind her when being scolded, as her father would always remind her when being scolded. I will be forever grateful to her for instilling in me my love of family history.
A snapshot of some of the lives linked to Thomas Merriman.
Caroline Lawless.
(SOL Member)
All images are the property of Caroline Lawless and cannot be reproduced in any form, without permission. Email OldLucan@gmail.com with any queries on this article. Many thanks to Caroline for sharing this interesting research on her family history with us.
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