Surname Saturday - Coakley family of County Cork, Ireland

According to Irish Names and Surnames by Patrick Woulfe, Coakley is an old West Cork name that means son of the blind hero or possibly son of the blind poet. There are many variations on the spellings and origins of the name, but the only one I've seen for my family is Coakley or Cokley.

 

My 3x great-grandparents were Patrick Creedan and Mary Coakley of Clondrohid, County Cork, Ireland. Patrick and Mary had three children shown below. I haven't been able to find a marriage record for Patrick and Mary or a baptism record for Mary, so I don't have a date of birth for her.

Julia Creedan was born in 1842 and baptized in Clondrohid. Her baptism sponsors were Daniel Cokley and Hanora Creeden and the townland was Carrigapooca. Timothy Creedan was born in March 1846. I've never been able to find a baptism record for Timothy, but his birth year is confirmed on census records, his tombstone and his obituary. Hanora Creedan was born in August 1848. Baptism sponsors were John Keeffee and Johanna Toomy and the location was Carrigapooca.

Timothy is my 2x great-grandfather and the only child of Patrick and Mary to have children. From Timothy's obituary written in 1899, Patrick came to Clinton County, Ohio in 1849 to make a home for the family. Shortly after he arrived, he got word that Mary had died. He sent for Timothy and Julia and they came to New Orleans and up the river to Ohio. Patrick remarried in 1851 and had several more children with Hannah Hoover in Clinton County. Julia entered the Sisters of Charity convent in Ohio around 1870 and took the name Sister Mary Felix. Her death certificate in 1918 named her parents as Patrick Creedon and Mary Coakley. I haven't found any further mention of Hanora, so most likely she died in Ireland.

So far, Mary's Coakley family is a brick wall. The Daniel Coakley named as a sponsor on Julia's baptism was probably a relative and possibly a sibling. I've turned up a couple of families that had both a Mary and Daniel in that time period, but haven't found any other info on them yet. 

On the same page as Patrick Creedan's baptism record in 1814, there is a Daniel Coakley born to Timothy Coakley and Honora Crowly in the Rahallusk township of Clondrohid. Daniel's birth is marked as illegitimate and the sponsors are Michael Buckley and Catharine Coakley. I couldn't find a daughter named Mary with a father named Timothy in this location though. 

 

A Daniel Coakley and July Leary had four children baptized in Inchigeelagh, shown below. July's name is given as Julian in some of the baptism records. I haven't been able to find any other records for this Mary. Baptism sponsors are as follows:
Daniel - ? Leary and Julian Coakley
Mary -   ? Leary and Cath P?
Denis -  ? Leary and Narry Henissey?
Narry -  Joh or Jer Leary and Mary Leary  

  

There was a Coakley family in Clinton County, Ohio that had close ties to my Creeden family, but that hasn't turned up any leads on Mary's family either. There are a lot of descendants of this Coakley family, but I haven't identified any DNA matches to my family or any connections in the records in Ohio or Ireland. 

I also have several DNA matches to a Coakley family in Ireland, but haven't found a possibility for my Mary in that family. Other possible Coakley DNA matches are through my direct line from Mary's son Timothy, but most of those seem to be on the Creeden side so far.

I'd love to hear from anyone else researching the Coakleys!

Sunday's Obituary - Sister Mary Felix/Julia Creedon

Sister Mary Felix was the sister of my 2x great-grandfather Timothy Creeden. Her name was Julia Creedon before she took her religious vows with the Sisters of Charity in Cincinnati in 1872. This article appeared in the Wilmington Clinton County Democrat on February 28, 1918.

Mr. and Mrs. John P. Georges, Mr. and Mrs. Joseph Kuebler and Miss Julia Haley were in Cincinnati Monday to attend the funeral of Sister Mary Felix, a sister of charity connected with a religious order in that city. Sister Mary's surname was Creedon and she was related to the Keefe, Haley, and Regan families of this county.

Sister Mary died on February 22, 1918 of pneumonia and is buried at the Sisters of Charity cemetery in Mount St. Joseph, Ohio. I'm wondering if she was still in touch with some of the Creeden family, but many of them had moved on or passed away before her. It's good to know that she was still in touch with family from Clinton County.

I found two more articles about Sister Mary in the Clinton County Democrat that provided more names. These articles were a great find since I finally have some proof of links between my Creeden family and other families in Clinton County. I had noticed before that there were quite a few Creedens in Clinton County and they were all from the same area around Macroom and Clondrohid in County Cork, Ireland.

The above article was in the Clinton County Democrat on July 27, 1899, a few months before Timothy Creeden's death. An article about Timothy's illness said Timothy was visited by his niece, Mrs. Isabelle Regan and from the July 1899 article, the Regan family was in touch with Sister Mary too. Rosa Belle Regan was the daughter of Timothy's sister-in-law Elizabeth Matson, although I'm wondering if there is a Creeden link to them too. Mamie Regan was the daughter of Rosa Belle and Thomas Regan.

There is a Kate Regan in the 1880 census living with her parents Bat. and Julia Regan in Clinton County. In later census records, Kate is living with her brother Patrick Regan and it doesn't appear that she ever married. She might be the Aunt Kate mentioned in the article.

Mrs. J. P. Georges is mentioned in both articles. From records on FindAGrave, she was Louise Catherine Kuebler Georges and was the wife of John Peter Georges. Louise was the daughter of  Francis Xavier Kuebler and Janie Eulia George. Francis was the brother of Joseph P. Kuebler who was married to Julia Keefe. According to the 1915 History of Clinton County, Julia Keefe's grandparents were John Keefe and Johanna Creedon, so there is at least one link between the Creedons and Keefes. Johanna Creedon would be about the right age to be an aunt of Sister Mary Felix, but that's just a guess.

I couldn't find any records for Samuel Creeden, so that one's a mystery for now. I think the Miss Julia Haley mentioned in the first article may be a granddaughter of John Haley and Catherine Creedon. John's parents were Dennis Haley and Julia Creedon. Catherine was the daughter of Timothy Creedon and Hanora Creedon and they were married in 1854 in Clondrohid Parish, County Cork, Ireland. This Timothy died in 1865 shortly after the family arrived from Ireland.

Clondrohid Parish is where Julia was baptized and it's interesting that a Honora Creeden was a sponsor at her baptism. Timothy and Hanora's marriage record and Sister Mary's baptism records were found on the RootsIreland site. The rest of the information on these Creedons is from trees available online, so I'll have to do more investigation to verify the information.

One more article about Sister Mary Felix appeared in the Clinton County Democrat on July 8, 1914.

Mrs. J. P. Georges is mentioned again along with Miss Leonie Regan. Leonie was another daughter of Rosa Belle and Thomas Regan. The Sisters of Charity told me that Sister Mary worked at St. Mary's Hospital in Pueblo, CO from 1888-1902 and St. Vincent's Hospital in Santa Fe, NM starting in 1905. They didn't have any other information on her assignments, so it's possible that she was working in Fayetteville in 1914. That was only one county over from Clinton County.

These articles provide more evidence that Timothy Creeden and Sister Mary Felix were brother and sister and also provide some good clues on the links to other families in Clinton County, Ohio. I'd love to hear from anyone researching the Haley, Keefe, Regan, or Creeden families from Clinton County.

Surname Saturday - Keefe

I first got interested in the Keefe family from Clinton County, Ohio while looking at the Creedon references in the 1915 History of Clinton County. I found an article that mentioned a Johanna Creedon married to John Keefe with children Timothy, Mary, James, Hannah, Patrick, and Julia. All of these names also appear in my 2x great-grandfather Timothy Creeden's family in Clinton County.

Excerpt from 1915 History of Clinton County, Ohio

The article in the history was about Joseph Kuebler and Julia Keefe. Julia was the daughter of James and Ann (Shea) Keefe, both natives of Ireland. Julia's grandparents were John Keefe and Johanna Creedon who came to America in April, 1858. James and Ann Keefe were both born in 1844.

Constantine passenger list, May 1858

The passenger list shown above is from the Constantine arriving in New York in May 1858. It shows a John and Johanna Keefe with a younger Pat, Honora, and James. They were all listed as being from Ireland with a destination of Ohio. That looks like a possible match, but where are Timothy, Mary, and Julia?

An 1876 atlas of Clinton County, Ohio shows that T. Keefe's property is very close to my 3x great-grandfather Patrick Creedan's land. I figured the families at least knew each other even if they weren't related.

When I found my 3x great-grandfather Patrick Creedan's will, there was a definite connection to the Keefe family. The executor of his will was Timothy Keefe and one of the witnesses was Bridget Keefe. Now I was really interested! I wondered if Johanna (Creedon) Keefe could be a sister or other relation of Patrick since they would be in the same age range.

I did a search on the RootsIreland.ie site for John Keefe and Johanna Creedon and found one possible match. John O'Keeffe was married to Johanna Creedan on February 23, 1830. Witnesses were William, Denis, and John Creedon and the marriage was performed in Clondrohid parish, County Cork. This is the third Creedon family in Clinton County with ties to Clondrohid! The first is my Patrick Creedan and the second is a note from another researcher that a Hannah and Timothy Creeden were married in Clondrohid in 1854. This Timothy died at sea on the passage to America in 1865.

I searched for children born to John and Johanna Keefe to see if they were a match for the Clinton County couple. I found the following baptisms listed: Patrick (1836), twins Julia and Peter (1840), Honora (1842) , and James (1844). I still didn't find anything for Timothy or Mary, but there was a Peter baptized on the same day as Julia. Patrick was baptized in Macroom and the O'Keeffe spelling was used. The other children were baptized in Kilnamartyra which borders the Clondrohid parish. Macroom is also a few miles away from Clondrohid. With those records, I can fill in a little more information on the family.

With the Creedan and probable Clondrohid ties, this family definitely needs more investigation. I'll follow up with posts on what I've found in the Ohio census and vital records for the Keefe families. Johanna and John are living with Timothy Keefe in some of the census records, so I have found a link to their son Timothy. This is a new family for me, so I'd love to hear from anyone else researching the Keefe families.

Amanuensis Monday - Index to the O'Kief, Coshe Mang, Slieve Lougher and Upper Blackwater in Ireland collection

The O'Kief, Coshe Mang, Slieve Lougher and Upper Blackwater in Ireland collection by Albert E. Casey is made up of 16 large volumes containing a huge collection of Irish records covering parts of County Cork and County Kerry. The Casey volumes were printed in the 1950s-1970s and are out of print now. They are in a few libraries around the world and show up on used booksellers sites from time to time.

The collection includes a separate index volume that can help narrow down which book contains the information for a topic and date range. I posted previously about Finding Aids for the volumes, but one thing I haven't seen is a Table of Contents for the index volume itself.

The index isn't quite what you'd expect. While it contains a Table of Contents for each of the 16 volumes in the collection, it also has additional data. Following is the Table of Contents for the index volume.

                                            TABLE OF CONTENTS
                                                                                                                
Introduction

Ireland - maps of provinces and counties - Pages 1-2

Table - the 100 most common surnames in Ireland, 1890 - Page 3

Munster province - map with counties and cities - Page 4

County of Kerry - maps, baronies, parishes, townlands - Pages 5-26

County of Cork - maps, baronies, parishes, townlands  - Pages 27-68 

Map and Table - baronies and parishes in North Cork and East
Kerry along the Blackwater River with identifying numbers
(includes adjoining baronies in Limerick, Tipperary) (see
index pages 8-9 & 29-38 for maps of over 1000 townlands)  - Pages 69-70

Map - streams and places in North Cork and East Kerry - Page 71

Map - North Cork and East Kerry, AD 1602  - Page 72

Most common surnames in North Cork and East Kerry (Griffith's
Valuations 1851) according to heads of families - Page 73

Frequency Distribution of surnames in North Cork & E. Kerry
1851 by parish - those indigenous (P.01) to a parish are
underlined  - Pages 74-77

Tax lists counties of Cork, Kerry, Limerick, Tipperary
1851-1852 (Griffith's Valuations)  - Page 78

Tax list North Cork and East Kerry 1823-1834 (Tithes) - Page 79

Landowners, leaseholders counties of Cork and Kerry 500-1908 - Page 80

Diocese of Cloyne, Co.Cork Anglican Church of Ireland 568-1965  - Page 81

Religious Society of Friends in Ireland 1623-1863  - Page 81

Births, Baptisms, Marriages - Cork, Kerry 1291-1900  - Page 82

Diocese of Kerry (Roman Catholic)
   Marriages and Baptisms 1785-1900   - Page 83

Tombstone Inscriptions Cork, Kerry 1237-1908 - Page 84

Wills, Deaths, Administrations 3100 BC - 1900 AD - Page 85

Births, Deaths, Marriages, Events, Newspapers 1749-1948 - Page 86

Lineages and Family Data  - Page 87-93

Miscellaneous data in the O'Kief Series - Page 94

Tables of Contents Volumes I-XVI  - Pages 95-138

Books,Ledgers,Manuscripts Photoprinted, Reprinted or Abstracted - Pages 139-143

The index starts off with some high level maps and a list of the 100 most common surnames in Ireland in 1890. My Creedon and Coakley surnames aren't common outside of County Cork, so not surprising that they didn't make the list. The top five surnames are Murphy, Kelly, Sullivan, Walsh, and Smith. I think I'm lucky mine aren't that common!

Pages 4-72 contain lists and maps of the baronies, parishes, and townlands in County Cork and County Kerry. Each parish is assigned a number which is used on the various maps where that townland appears.

Page 73 lists the top surnames in 1851 in the areas of County Cork and County Kerry covered by the volumes. This time Creedon made the list and is listed as an Irish surname with 90 families.

Pages 74-77 have tables showing the frequency of a surname in each parish in 1851. Those that Casey deemed indigenous to the parish are underlined. This is probably one of the more useful items outside of the Tables of Contents, since it gives a quick overview of the parishes where a surname is most common.

The last line in the example above shows that the Creedon surname had 29 families in Clondrohid parish in 1851. The same numbering system used on the maps is used to identify the parishes and Clondrohid was given number 13. Since the 29 is underlined, that also means Casey identified Creedon as "indigenous" to the parish, but I'm not sure what Casey's guidelines were for that designation.

The next sections identify the Volume number and page ranges for various topics, including a fairly large list of lineages and family data. Finally, on pages 95-138, the actual Table of Contents for each Volume is listed.

The index ends with a couple of long, detailed "scientific" articles by Casey that aren't even mentioned in the Table of Contents. The first of these is called  Odyssey of the Irish Documented by Blood Group and Craniometric Analysis. I wonder what Casey would think of today's DNA analysis!

In future posts, I'll detail some of the individual sections in the index.

Amanuensis Monday is a daily blogging theme which encourages the family historian to transcribe family letters, journals, audiotapes, and other historical artifacts.

The Liebster Award

Thanks very much to Heather at Leaves for Trees for nominating me for the Liebster Award! Heather's blog is one of my favorites, so this was a nice surprise.

Liebster is a German word that means friend, dearest, adored, beloved, chosen one. The Liebster Award is given to bloggers who have fewer than 200 followers, to encourage them to keep at it and to help spread the word about interesting blogs to a new audience.

The rules for the award vary, but I'm going to follow Heather's rules. This is all optional of course and just for fun!

• Thank the one who nominated you by linking back.
• List 11 random facts about yourself/your blog.
• Nominate five blogs with less than 200 followers.
• Let the nominees know by leaving a comment at their sites.
• Add the award image to your site (optional). 

1. My Christmas tree is still up.
2. My favorite color is blue.
3. Starting this blog was a total impulse. (one of my better ones!)
4. I'd love to do some time traveling, preferably in the TARDIS.
5. I'm still in touch with two childhood BFFs that I met when I was four.
6. I don't know of anyone in my family who reads my blog. If you do, surprise me and leave a comment!
7. I'm a chocoholic.
8. My most viewed post by a large margin is about the Creedon surname.
9. I love Tallahassee, but haven't been there in years.
10. I've been to my parents' home states, but not their hometowns.
11. I prefer Baked Cheetos to Cheez-Its!

Here are my nominees for the Liebster Award:
1. Leaves & Branches
2. The Stephen Sherwood Letters
3. Fantastic Electrisoil
4. Desperately Seeking Surnames
5. Genealogy By Ginger

Surname Saturday - Creeden families in Clinton County, Ohio

The Creeden (or Creedon) surname isn't that common, but there were quite a few Creedon families in Clinton County, Ohio in the 1800s. I've wondered what the connections were between them and if any of them are related to my Timothy Creeden.

The first record I found for Timothy was the 1870 census where he is with his wife Mary Ann Matson and their newborn son Patrick in the Richland Township of Clinton County. They don't own land and are living with or next to John Matson and his family. The box for US Citizen is checked for Timothy which indicates he may have been in the US for a few years. The earliest record I have for him is his marriage to Mary in 1868. My great-grandfather said that Timothy served in the Civil War and was from County Cork, Ireland, but I haven't been able to find any records to prove that.

A Patrick Creedan, wife Hannah Hoover and family lived in neighboring Wayne Township. This family has intrigued me since some of the same names run through the families and some of Timothy's children were born in Wayne Township. Also, Patrick's son John last lived in Mercer County, Ohio where my Timothy moved around 1884. Patrick's daughter Rosanne may have also lived in Mercer County.

Patrick Creedan and family in 1860 census in Clinton County

Patrick's family in the 1870 census in Clinton County

The following Creedon families lived in Wilmington, Clinton County. These are from the 1870 census unless otherwise noted:

• Hannah age 40 with Kate 16, Mary 11, Maggie 9 and Johanna 6. All were born in Ireland except for Johanna who was born in Ohio. From a message board post, Hanora was born in 1834 in Millstreet, County Cork and was married to Timothy Creedon, born 1837 in Ireland and died 1865 in Ohio. Hanora's maiden name was also Creedon and she died on 2-27-1918 in Clinton County.
• Johanna Credon, 35, born in Ireland, working as a domestic servant for the Sayrs family
• Catherine Credon, 16, born in Ireland, working as a domestic servant for the Ficher family
• Margaret Creadon, 48, born in Ireland, working as a domestic servant for the Nichols family. From a message board post, Johanna, Catherine, and Margaret may be sisters from the Macroom parish in County Cork, Ireland.
• Daniel Credon, 34, born in Ireland, working as sexton of cemetery, with wife Julia, 30, born in Ireland, daughter Jennie, 8 and son Jerry, 2. Both children were born in Ohio.
• From a message board post, John Haley and Catherine Creedon (b. 1854) from Ireland lived near Wilmington for many years. All of the children were born there: William, Margaret, Dennis, Sylvester,  Francis, and Patricia.

Daniel Creden, 50, wife Catherine, 47, sons Patrick, 14 and John 10, lived in Liberty Township in the 1870 census, all born in Ireland.

There are several Creedon mentions in some of the histories of Clinton County:

• William Haley, born April 9, 1841, in County Cork, Ireland was the son of Dennis and Julia (Creedon) Haley.  William and his wife came from Ireland to Wilmington in 1868 and eventually settled in Wilson Township in Clinton County. Their sons William and John Haley also came to the US from Ireland.
• John Keefe and Johanna Creedon came to America in April, 1858, and located on a farm near Wilmington, Clinton County. They were the parents of six children, Timothy, Mary, James, Patrick, Hannah and Julia. (Another family with very similar names to mine.)
• Patrick Creeden was at the first Catholic mass served in Clinton County in 1852.
• Frank Murphy was born in Clinton County to parents Patrick Murphy & Bridget O'Donnell. Bridget was born in 1850 and still living in 1915. Her father died young and her mother remarried to Daniel Credan. Bridget's mother and Daniel Credan followed her to the US. (This is possibly the same Daniel Creden in Liberty Township in 1870.)

Macroom, Ballyvourney, and Millstreet in County Cork, Ireland are the places mentioned for possible origins of these families.These are are all within a few miles of each other, so it seems likely that at least some of these families are related.

Note: Clinton County Township map is from wikipedia.

Genealogy Road Trips - 52 Weeks of Abundant Genealogy Week #10

Week 10 – Genealogy Road Trips: No two genealogy road trips are the same but they’re always fun and meaningful. Describe a memorable trip in your past. Where did you go? What did you find (or not find)? Did you meet any new cousins? What did the trip mean to you and your family?

I haven't been on too many genealogy road trips, but one I was really fortunate to take was my first trip to Ireland in 1990. My father and I were very interested in where our Creeden family came from, but all that had been passed down was "County Cork". We arrived in Dublin and took a tour of Trinity College. There was a large volume of surname information in a library there and my father copied the Creedon entry. I believe this was from "More Irish Families" by Edward MacLysaght.

One possible clue on my Creeden origins is that my father thought he remembered his grandfather mentioning Macroom. Since this turns out to be one of the places that the Creedon name is most common, I've always kept that in the back of my mind while searching. We saw the Creedon name several times in County Cork. There was a Creedon shop right before we got to Blarney Castle and a big red truck passed us with "Creedon's" painted on the sides and back of it. I wish we knew more about our exact origins, but it was exciting to at least be in the part of the world where my Creeden family came from.

My uncle in front of Macroom Castle

Grounds of Blarney Castle

52 Weeks of Abundant Genealogy by Amy Coffin is a series of weekly blogging prompts (one for each week of 2012) that invite genealogists and others to discuss resources in the genealogy community including websites, applications, libraries, archives, genealogical societies and more.

Surname Saturday - A Dictionary of English and Welsh Surnames

I recently ran across A Dictionary of English and Welsh Surnames With Special American Instances, written by Charles Wareing Bardsley while searching for information on my English surnames. I found the book on Ancestry.com, but the full text is available on Google books at A Dictionary of English and Welsh Surnames.

I've looked at several books with surname derivations, but this one adds some interesting records and commentary to many of the surnames. The book was published in 1901 after the author's death, so captures research done during the 1800s. This collection represents a lifetime of compiling and collecting information by the author. I can only imagine doing something on this scale before computers!

Here are a few examples from the book for some of my surnames. The numbers at the end of each entry are a count of each surname variation found in city directories such as London and New York.

Variations on my Chilcutt surname

My family spelled this name Councill, although I have seen Counsell and Councell in some of the earlier records. Council with one "l" is also common. I wish he had put his guesses here! This is one of those names that can be especially hard to search for since it has many variations and instances of the word council come up.

Family lore says that we have some Welsh ancestry, so perhaps it is through our Meredith line. I don't know too much about them yet. My ancestor Francis Councill married Mary Ann Meredith in Queen Anne's County, Maryland on July 8, 1840.

My family spelled this name as Sparks, but it's interesting to see that the name may have originated from Sparrowhawk. The earliest records I have on my Sparks family are from Queen Anne's County, Maryland.

I looked Creed up to see if it made any references to my Creedon/Creeden surname. The Irish Creedon surname was sometimes abbreviated to Creed, but I believe it has different origins than the English Creed. Bardsley's book did not include any references to Creedon.

Week 4 - Free Offline Genealogy Tools - 52 Weeks of Abundant Genealogy Week #4

Week 4 – Free Offline Genealogy Tools: For which free offline genealogy tool are you most grateful? How did you find this tool and how has it benefited your genealogy? Describe to others how to access this tool and spread the genealogy love.

For a completely free tool, I'd have to say the library. I'd also have to admit that I don't use it nearly enough! For my Irish research, several people referred me to the O'Kief, Coshe Mang, Slieve Lougher and the Upper Blackwater in Ireland series. This is a huge collection of Irish records compiled by Albert E. Casey covering parts of County Cork and County Kerry. The closest library to me with this collection is a couple of hours away, but I finally got the chance to take a look at them when I was in town for a concert. I was able to use the indices for the volumes to look up the references to my Creedon/Creeden surname in the short time we had there. I didn't find anything I could tie to my Creeden ancestry, but I wouldn't have even had the chance to look without the free access provided by the library.

The newsletters published by local genealogy societies are another tool I'm grateful for. I suppose these aren't technically free since you have to join the society to receive them, but they are provided as one of the services to members. These newsletters are printed out the old fashioned way on paper and for the societies I belong to, they aren't available online. The newsletters often include local records and histories that aren't available anywhere else. It would be great if the newsletters and the Casey volumes were digitized and available online, for so far that hasn't happened!

52 Weeks of Abundant Genealogy by Amy Coffin is a series of weekly blogging prompts (one for each week of 2012) that invite genealogists and others to discuss resources in the genealogy community including websites, applications, libraries, archives, genealogical societies and more.

Surname Saturday - Top 100 Irish Last Names Explained

Today's Irish Central has an article on the Top 100 Irish Last Names Explained. My Irish Creedon surname is not that common, so I wasn't surprised that it didn't make the list. The explanations are short, but might provide a bit of info when you run across a new name.

The MacCarthy name is associated with some of the same areas as the Creedon name. That name is much more common, so it did make the list:

"MacCarthy - Mac Ćarthaigh (cárthach, loving). The chief family of the Eoghanacht and one of the leading septs of Munster, prominent in the history of Ireland from the earliest times to the present. MacCarthy is the most numerous Mac name in Ireland."

The full article is here: The Top 100 Irish Last Names Explained. If you click on the Print button above the article text, you can bring the entire article up on one page.

Fearless Females - Newsmakers

March 14 — Newsmakers? Did you have a female ancestor who made the news? Why? Was she famous or notorious? Did she appear in the social column?

We don't have any newsmakers in our family as far as I know, so I will feature someone with the same surname that has piqued my interest. Siobhan Creedon Lankford was born in 1894, Mourne Abbey, County Cork, Ireland to Patrick and Mary Creedon. Her memoir The Hope and the Sadness was published in 1980, but is now out of print. At the outbreak of World War I, Siobhan was working in the Mallow post office and joined the IRA as an intelligence officer. She was eventually dismissed from her position in the post office because of her intelligence work. The memoir recounts her childhood growing up on a small farm in Ireland with her Creedon family as well as her activities as a spy for the IRA. I am on the lookout for a copy of the book since I'd really like to read about her Creedon family in Ireland. As of now, it is not available and there are no libraries anywhere nearby that have a copy.

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Once again, in honor of National Women’s History Month, Lisa Alzo of The Accidental Genealogist blog presents Fearless Females: 31 Blogging Prompts to Celebrate Women’s History Month.

Creedon - Surname Saturday

Creedon is an Irish surname and is seen most often in Country Cork, Ireland. There are many variations in spelling such as Creeden, Creedan, Credon, but in Ireland, the name is now almost always spelled as Creedon. The Irish spelling of the name is Críodáin (O'Críodáin or Mac Críodáin). The name has sometimes been abbreviated as Creed. My great-great-grandfather Timothy Creeden was born in 1846 in County Cork, Ireland and settled in Clinton County, Ohio by 1868 when he married Mary Ann Matson. My family continues to use the Creeden spelling.

The earliest origins of the name may have been in Northern Ireland. From the Book of Irish Families, Great & Small by Michael C. O'Laughlin: According to "Keatings History", the name is given to the chief of the parish of Magheramisk, in the barony of Massareene, in the province of Ulster.

A similar reference is in "Irish Pedigrees; or, the Origin and Stem of the Irish Nation" by John O'Hart, Fifth Edition, 1892: Down and Part of Antrim, THE Chiefs and Clans of Ulidia, and the territories they possessed in the twelfth century, as collected from O'Dugan's Topography, are as follows:-- ... 9. O'Criodain (Credan, Creden, and Creed), chief of Machaire Maedhaidh, now the parish of "Magheramisk," in barony of Massarene.  

Crest displayed at the Creedon Hotel

From an article by Joe Creedon, owner of the Creedon Hotel: The name of O’Criodain (or possibly MacCriodain) seems to have derived from an eminent early Bishop called Cridan. He was buried in 638 AD on Island Mahee in Strangford Lough in nearby County Down.
See complete article here: Uibh Laoire Families - Creedons

There are several early references to Creedon harpers in the Fiants of Elizabeth.

From Joe Creedon: One court where they were welcomed was that of FitzGerald of Cloyne. He was a distinguished member of the family of the Earls of Desmond, who for some time lived at Castle Martyr Castle. In 1621 AD there were two Creedon Harpers at his court, Patrick and Jeremiah. One of the harps which they played survives to our time.

From "More Irish Families" by Edward MacLysaght:
"CREEDON, Creed, a West Cork name, is now called O'Criodain in Irish (i.-e. Tomas O Criadain the 19th century Gaelic-Irish scribe) but formerly and properly it was Mac Criodain... Creedon has been abbreviated to Creed to a considerable extent - even as early as 1659 when Francis Creed was a titulado in the parish of Kilquan, Co. Limberick.  About that time the name occurs as Mac Creed in the Irish army lists preserved in the Ormond manuscripts. Both Creed and Creedon appear in the marriage licence bonds of the diocese of Cork, Ross and Cloyne from 1682 and among the names of larger landowners in Co. Cork in 1878. In 1866 there were 40 Creedon, Creedan and Creeden births registered (37 in Co. Cork) while Creed was only 8, the figures for 1890 were Creedon 15 (all Co. Cork or near) Creed 9 (5 Co. cork). In the Macroom districts, where these names are most numerous, cases have been recorded of their synonymous use by one family in registering births."

The earliest Creedon reference I have seen in the US is for a Cornelius Creden, born in the 1750's in Massachusetts. He is listed as a wagoner in Soldiers and Sailors of the Rev. War. Comp. By Secy. Of the commonwealth, Ms. Boston. The earliest Catherine Creeden I have seen is from Record of Indentures of Individuals Bound Out as Apprentices, Servants, etc. City of Philadelphia, October 3, 1771 - October 5, 1773, where she was listed as an indentured servant.

As you can see, I've collected a few Creedon crests along the way. I wouldn't put too much stock in any of them being authentic, but they're fun to look at!

Questions on the origins of the name remain. Are the Creedons connected to the distinct Creed surname or was the name simply abbreviated to Creed? Another variation that occurs in early Ireland and the UK is Credan. Are they connected?  I would love to hear what other Creedon or Creed researchers think.