Below is a brief outline of the lives of my ancestors dating back to about 1800 in Ireland and tracing the subsequent migration of family members across the generations to the United States and Australia during the 19th Century.

This research forms part of a world wide Lysaght project which aims to link all branches of this surname and its variants back to a common ancestor. For further details on the Lysaght surname and this project please use the following link:

Scroll down the page or follow the links below to read about "my" Lysaghts:

The Lysaght family from whom I am descended lived in the townland of Stonepark in the civil parish of Ludden, County Limerick in the Republic of Ireland where their ancestry can be traced back to the early 19th Century. Stonepark is located in the Roman Catholic parish of Ballybricken, in the Archdiocese of Cashel and Emly.  The parish church - shown below - is dedicated to St. Ailbe. Many of the Lysaghts' vital records are to be found in the Ballybricken Parish registers. There are also records in the neighbouring parish of Hospital.

Click on the link below (off-site) to see a map of the civil parishes of County Limerick:

The earliest mention of the Lysaght family shows William Lycet and his wife Mary Carrol baptising two of their children at St. Ailbe's Church. At this time it seems that they were living in the townland of Rochestown in the civil parish of the same name which is immediately adjacent to that of Stonepark.

When land holdings were assessed in County Limerick in 1826 (Tithe Applotment Books), a William Lysaught, most likely the son of William Lycet, was living at Stonepark where he was leasing almost 13 Irish acres (about 1.62 Irish acres constitute a statute or English acre). His neighbours included Patrick Lysaght and John Sixpence. It is believed that Patrick was his brother whilst John had married William's sister Ellen.

From the parish registers it appears that William Lysaght had a number of siblings, many of whom lived in the 129 acres which constitute the townland of Stonepark. These were Patrick (married Honora Howard), Ellen, (married John Sixpence), Catherine (married David Shine and lived in the townland of Srahane, civil parish of Carrigparson), Honor (married John Carroll), John and Mary (married Thomas McMahon).

William also married and raised a family.  His wife was Bridget Halpin, the daughter of John Halpin and Mary Boyle also from the parish of Ballybricken.  William and Bridget's family included the children Bridget, Joseph, John and Michael born between 1824 and 1829.  Their son John married Hanora Hayes in the neighbouring Roman Catholic parish of Hospital and Herbertstown in 1869.  John and Hanora's children were Mary, Bridget, Michael, Joseph, Ellen, John, Hanora and William, born between 1869 and 1890*.

By the time of Griffith's Valuation of Ireland (1851 in County Limerick) it appears that William Lysaght and his brother-in-law John Carroll, along with their families were the only ones still living at Stonepark. Upon William's death in 1864, the Lysaght farm passed to his eldest son Joseph.  Two years earlier Joseph had married Bridget Leahy.  Their children - Bridget, Mary, William, Patrick, Honora and John - were born between 1863 and 1871.  Joseph died in 1875, leaving behind his widow Bridget and their six young children.  Following his death the farm underwent a complex series of changes in tenancy which seem to have involved Joseph's brothers - John and Michael - and possibly also John's daughter Bridget.  Whether Joseph's family remained on the farm throughout this period is unclear, however the Stonepark property passed eventually to Joseph's second son, Patrick, and from Patrick to his wife Kate (nee Smith). Patrick and Kate's only child, John Joseph, inherited the property in 1959, but sold it soon after as his health did not permit him to run the farm.  John Joe died unmarried in 1960.

Of Joseph's remaining children, William, Bridget and Hanora (my great-grandmother) migrated to Queensland, Australia (see below).  His youngest son, John, married and raised a family at nearby Herbertstown where his descendants still live. John's only daughter, Ciss, married Patrick Barry and raised a family.  None of John's sons had children.

*By 1901 Hanora Lysaght (nee Hayes) was a widow, living with several of her children in the civil parish of Caherelly, neighbouring Ludden.  What became of her children is not known at this stage.

NB.  It is also likely that a descendant of either John Lysaght (brother of Joseph Lysaght) or John Lysaght (son of Joseph Lysaght) became a priest - known as Father Adrian - who migrated to the US where he was a member of the Carmelite community in Oakville, California.  Father Adrian died of a heart attack whilst on retreat in 2000.

Mary Lysaght (daughter of William Lycet and Mary Carrol) and her husband Thomas McMahon were married in the parish of Ballybricken in 1826 and in subsequent years baptised the following children: Catherine, Patrick, Michael, Mary, Honora, James and Ellen. It is believed that some members of the family migrated to the United States, probably in about 1859, where they lived in Chicago, Illinois.

Mary's son Michael was naturalized in about 1864 in Cook County, Illinois, while his sister, Ellen, married John Duggan (whether in Ireland or the US is as yet, unclear).  Their sister Nora probably also migrated to the US as did their mother, Mary, however Thomas McMahon most likely died before the family left Ireland. 

It seems that for a time, the family lived together at 5336 Tracey Avenue, Chicago, where Mary died in 1890.  She was buried at Calvary Cemetery following a ceremony at St. Anne's Church.  Michael McMahon does not appear to have married.  He died at 5336 Shields Avenue in 1899 and was buried with his mother.

Ellen McMahon and John Duggan are known to have had at least three children.  Their daughter Katie died at the age of 25 in 1901 and was buried in the family plot at Calvary with her grandmother and uncle.  Nothing is known about their son Michael, however a second son (Thomas J.) is known to have married and raised a family.

Thomas' wife was Ellen M. Davis and their children known so far were:  Mary E. (died in infancy), Thomas F., Aileen C., Bernard J. and Ann Rita (married William Lynch), all born between 1909 and about 1920 in Chicago.  Of their surviving children, Aileen married Edward A. Anderson and raised a son, Edwin A., who may have married Edna (maiden name unknown) and who predeceased both his parents.  Aileen herself died in 1970 and is buried in St. Mary's Cemetery, Chicago as is her husband who died a year prior to Aileen.

Thomas F., the eldest of Thomas J. and Ellen Duggan's children married Emily the daughter of Edward and Josephine Mitchell.  Later in life it seems they lived in Downer's Grove, DuPage County, Illinois where Thomas died in 1993 and Emily almost 6 years later in 1999, at a nursing home.  She is buried at the Queen of Heaven Cemetery at Hillside, Cook County.  Thomas and Emily had a daughter (Kathleen) who married Salvatore Napolitano.   Their three sons are Brian, Jason and Steven.

Thomas' younger brother Bernard also married.  His wife was June (maiden name unknown).  Bernard and June's two children (Bernard J. Junior and Patricia A.) were most probably born in Chicago, but at some point after 1951 the family moved south to Phoenix, Arizona.  Bernard J. Senior worked as a postal clerk and also served in the army.  He died in 1998 at the age of 80, described as the grandfather of 7 and great-grandfather of 1.  His son, Bernard Junior's wife is Margaret whilst Patricia married James A. Machtemes.  Bernard and Margaret (Marge) lived first in Phoenix then in Scottsdale whilst Patricia lives in Phoenix.

David Shine married Catherine Lysaght (daughter of William Lycet and Mary Carrol) in about 1828. They lived in the townland of Srahane, civil parish of Carrigparson, not far from Stonepark. David was a dairy farmer - probably working for one of his relatives. Their surviving children were Patrick, John, Joseph, Mary, William, Michael and Ellen.

Patrick Shine, their eldest son,  joined the Irish Constabulary in 1849 at the age of 21, but resigned in 1855 as he was intending to immigrate, which he may have done later that year. After his arrival in the goldmining township of Ballarat in Victoria, Patrick once again joined the local police force where he eventually attained the rank of sergeant, before his retirement.  He never married and died shortly after his retirement in 1885.

To learn more about the history of the Royal Irish Constabulary Click on the link below (off-site link):

David Shine and his other children followed Patrick to Ballarat in 1858 where David settled into life as a publican at the Northumberland Hotel in Sturt Street. His other sons pursued a variety of trades, one becoming a butcher, another working as a miner and a third as a labourer.  His daughter Ellen, married Andrew Mahoney and her older sister Mary, married Martin Finucane.

Martin and Mary lived in the mining town of Clunes, outside Ballarat where Martin worked as a stampsman and a trucker in the mining industry.  Their children were all born at Clunes.  Ellen and Andrew Mahoney it appears, continued to run the Northumberland Hotel following the death of Ellen's father, David, in 1879.  They did not have children.

None of the Shine sons appears to have married, although it is not known what became of David Shine's second eldest son, John.

As the eldest son of William Lysaght and his wife Bridget Halpin, Joseph inherited the family farm at Stonepark, however he died in 1875 when his youngest child was only a few years old. The family remained on the property, but in 1882 the eldest children, Bridget and William, migrated to Queensland, Australia as remittance passengers on board the Dorunda.  It is not known who in Australia sponsored their passage, but it could have been their maternal uncle, Thomas Leahy, who is alleged to have been in the country before their arrival.

Once in Australia, William took up dairy farming at Clintonvale (originally Ross's Corner) outside the township of Warwick.  Only a few months after their arrival his sister Bridget married Thomas Stafford, from County Wexford, Ireland.  Thomas was also a dairy farmer at nearby Freestone Creek.  Bridget and Thomas raised two children Ellen Mary and John Joseph.  What became of these children is presently unknown.  To learn more about the history of the Freestone district click here.  Bridget died prematurely at her home in 1914 and is buried in the Warwick Cemetery.  Her husband, Thomas, died in 1930 and is buried with his wife.

In 1900 William Lysaght married Ellen Nolan, herself an Irish immigrant from County Kilkenny.  After their marriage, William and Ellen lived on his dairy farm at Clintonvale which they named Kincora, presumably after the stronghold of Ireland's most famous Ard Rí (High King) Brian Boru.  It was there that their large family was raised.  Between the years, of 1900 and 1914, nine children were born, including twins Joseph Edward (married Eileen Burns) and Mary Ellen (known as Molly, married James Andrew Ramsey), Bridget (married William George McVeigh), Nora, Michael Stephen, Julia (married Patrick Joseph Canavan), Stephen, William John (married Dominica Belinda Clune) and Patrick Bernard.  A tenth, stillborn child may also have been born around 1917.

The education of his children was clearly an important consideration for William Lysaght, as he was instrumental in petitioning for the establishment of what eventually became the Clintonvale State School (established 1907 as Hill View).  The children of William and his wife Ellen (nee Nolan) were some of the original students to attend the school.  Their descendants remain in the Warwick region to this day and some have continued to attend school at Clintonvale.

Ellen was a devout Catholic who was very active in her local church and in the wider community.  Her death, on Christmas Day 1932 followed an illness of several months.  Her funeral procession was described in the Warwick Daily News as one of the largest seen in the District.  William survived his wife by a further 17 years, dying in 1949.  He was buried next to Ellen in the Roman Catholic section of the Warwick Cemetery.

In 1889, Honora (Nora), the younger sister of William and Bridget Lysaght, followed them to Queensland, arriving in Brisbane as a remittance passenger aboard the Taroba.  Presumably her passage to Australia had been sponsored by one or both of her older siblings.  Nora (my great-grandmother) lived in the town of Barcaldine in outback Queensland where she married Alfred Thomas James Walker in 1896.  Alf was a stockman and later an overseer at Coreena Station outside Barcaldine.

Before her marriage Nora worked as a cook and is also thought to have run a boarding house for young men.  It is said that she was sympathetic to the struggling shearers who converged on the township of Barcaldine in 1891 during the great "Shearer's Strike" of that year.

Nora and Alf raised five children and their descendants can today be found in various parts of Queensland and in the southern state of Victoria.

To learn more about the world wide Lysaght project just follow the link below.

For further information on the Lysaght family or if you think you might be related, or have information to share, please email me:

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