Category: Genealogy
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The Elizabeth Vesey’s of Lucan by Aoife Tierney
Elizabeth Vesey 1715-1791 Elizabeth Vesey was the daughter of Rt. Rev. Sir Thomas Vesey, 1st Bt. and Mary Muschamp. In 1731 at 16, she married William Handcock, (son of /William Handcock and Susan Warburton) who died in 1741. In 1746, she married her cousin, Agmondisham Vesey, (son of Rt. Hon.…
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The Release of the 1926 Census by Mary Jackson
It’s fair to say that no one in my family was surprised to hear that, at precisely 12:01 a.m. on Saturday, 18 April 2026, I was sitting with my laptop open, ready to dive into the newly released 1926 Census records the very moment they became available. And I was…
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Who Lies Beneath? The Purefoy Family Vault in Lucan, by Raymond Stallings
In a quiet medieval graveyard associated with the ruins of the Church of the Blessed Virgin Mary (BVM) in Lucan stands a substantial rectangular, flat-roofed stone vault surmounted by decorative iron railings that discourage access to the roof slab. Its presence in a graveyard and its form makes clear that…
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BEWLEY AVENUE, LUCAN: What’s in a name? – by Barry Mahady
Last week I stood in Lucan Garda Station looking at an old map of Lucan on the wall. I couldn’t help noticing how much the landscape has changed in Ballyowen from rural hinterland to a major residential district. The latter half of the 20th century saw a population flight from…
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Woodville House Archive: an update from Dave Power, SDCC Local Studies
Last year I reported here about Lucan’s Woodville House Archive which had, over the years, ended up in Yorkshire in the custody of a descendant of the Scott family who offered us the archive. I can now report its arrival in Tallaght Library, and can share some random examples of…
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A will from 1474: St. Finian’s, Esker, Lucan by Helen Farrell, SOL.
There are probably hundreds of people buried at St. Finian’s Esker church site & graveyard, Esker, Co. Dublin under the ground as it has likely been in use as a graveyard for a millennia or more. Two such people buried at St. Finian’s are the (very wealthy) couple, Reginald Weston…
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Lucan Inn and its’ owners (Reeves / Fahy / Magee / Murphy ) by Joe Byrne
Recent discussions in our private Facebook Group, Society for Old Lucan (SOL) (free to join & open to all) brought up discussions around a beautiful photo of an Edwardian woman and children standing outside what looked to be the Lucan Inn. One of the children was the grandfather of the…
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Catherine Kelly: my genealogy story
Catherine Kelly: genealogy story download “While research of my mother’s family tree hit a roadblock due to Government regulations on the release of State records, I decided to try my hand at my father’s side, accompanied by some help from my niece, who is as passionate about genealogy as myself and…
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The Merriman Family in Lucan: research by Caroline Lawless
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…