KINSALE SETTLEMENT
(Now known as North Tetagouche)
“Kinsale” and nearby “Youghal” Beach and the community of New “Bandon” – are also all community names in County Cork, Ireland. This suggests that some of the new settlers were from that same area of southeast Ireland.
The change of name from “Kinsale” to “North Tetagouche” is reported to have been the result of an administrative action on the part of Her Majesty’s Royal Mail (or whatever name Canada Post went by in years past). “North Tetagouche” suited their post office placement and mail delivery route needs… and so North Tetagouche it became.
In 1866, Kinsale Settlement was a farming community with 35 families and in 1871 it had a population of 200, but by 1898 it had been reduced to a population of 1502
From the original land grant map3 the following surnames were found east to west along the road. The current spelling is used first and variations on the name spelling is in brackets and if the families are still found in the area they are in bold:
Connelly, Kirby, Dempsey, Kelly (Kelley), Cowig, Alexander, McKernin, George (Gorge), Haggerty (Hagarty), Driscoll, Murphy, Maloney (Malouny), Collins, Calnan (Culnane, Calhlan, Calman, Calahan, Calden, Celnan), Power, Gain, O’Kane (Kean, Kane), Reardon (Riordan), Stack, Knight, Ferguson, Hall, Hays, Brennan, Canty, Sumner, Boyle, Dorane (Doren, Doran), James, Wood, Baldwin, Allison, Stevens, McNair, deBlois, Fergusson, McNutt, Hart, and Elhatton.
Here they are again in alphabetical order:
Alexander, Allison, Baldwin, Boyle, Brennan, (Culnane, Calhlan, Calman, Calahan, Calden, Celnan), Canty, Collins, Connelly, Cowig, deBlois, Dempsey, Dorane (Doren, Doran), Driscoll, Elhatton, Ferguson, Gain, George, Haggerty (Hagarty), Hall, Hart, Hays, James, Kelly (Kelley), Kirby, Knight, Maloney (Malouny) McNair, McNutt, Murphy, O’Kane (Kean, Kane), Power, Reardon (Riordan), Stack, Stevens, Sumner, and Wood.
Subsequent censuses include the following names (alternative name-spellings are in brackets):
The remaining families are now just beginning to gather community genealogical information. A community works project a few years ago collected a few stories from some of the elders in the community and the work is ongoing. Here are a few of the interesting stories.
William Boyle, originally from Cork, first landed in Pennsylvania, USA. He probably came here because he had a relative (Edward Boyle?) already in this area. His great-grandchildren are still living here.4
James Brennan came from Ireland. When he arrived dockside for passage to British North America, the Captain of the ship refused passage to his toddler daughter. So Brennan returned home with the child to get his ‘gear’. He returned with a butter-churn and was allowed passage. The Captain didn’t know that inside the churn was the toddler he had refused. His descendants still live in the area and his daughter Mary (of the butter-churn) married and her descendants live in Balmoral, near Dalhousie, in Restigouche County.5
Timothy O’Kane was reported to be a teacher in Ireland and one of his sons (my grandfather) was a fiddler of some renown in this area.
John Culnane (present day spelled Calnan) came from Kinsale, County Cork. Mr Culnane (Calnan) was a Justice of the Peace for the area, and for a number of years, his house served as the local post office. His great-grandchildren still live in the area. The family has the original letter of reference from the “Sovereign of Kinsale dated 22 April, 1823. It says:
“I certify that I know the bearer John Culnane that he is a former resident in the Barony of Courcy in the County of Cork in Ireland where he holds a farm under the right honourable and reverend Lord Kinsale and that his character is that of a sober honest quiet and industrious manGiven under my hand at Kinsale the 22nd of April 1823And signed William Newman, Sovereign of Kinsale.6
There are still a number of houses standing in the area and are entered here in order of age:
Henry Hall/Patrick Power family home:
This house is over one hundred and fifty years old and is still a working farm. It is currently owned and operated by Margie and Peter deGraaff.
John and Elizabeth (Lordon) Power family home:
The log home burned the same day the couple’s first son was born – The ‘new’ house was then built and later expanded – it is over one hundred years old. Renovated and restored, it is still inhabited by descendants of John and Elizabeth Power.
Timothy Riorden home:
Jack and Mary (O’Kane) Murphy family home:
Patrick and Nelly (O’Connell) O’Kane home:
Built around 1913 by the teenage/adult sons, for their mother, it is currently uninhabited and is suffering the ravages of unrelenting break and enters.
Patrick Brennan home.
Mike Murphy home.
Patrick Landing Bridge |
This project is ongoing and will be added to from time to time. I still would like to write on notable people from the area – including Monsignor Varrily and Father John Knight as well as the major bridges, grist and saw mills and legendary animals (horses) bred in the area. Also, more work is ongoing on the first families to leave the community and where they went from here.
Bibliography
Department of Natural Resources, Province of New Brunswick, Land Grant Map 28.
______, Journal of the House of Assembly of the Province of New Brunswick-1st Session of the 12th Assembly-16Feb1938.
Kane, Gordon, Family Kane Genealogy, Unpublished manuscript.
Power, Josie (Brennan), oral history interview.
www.newirelandnb.ca, Community Histories.