Mathew Leonard from The Burrow

Mathew Leonard (1821-1904) was my 3rd great grandfather, the eldest child to Patrick Leonard (a tenant farmer in the Burrow Townland of Portrane, County Dublin) and his wife Lizzie Horish.  Mathew grew up in the Leonard Homestead (which had been leased by the family since the late 1700s), also known as the Portrane Cottages.  Mathew's grandfather, Thomas, and his father, Patrick, each died in 1865, leaving Mathew with the lease until his death in 1904.  The land and cottages would eventually all be Leonard owned by the 1940s (thanks to the Wyndham Land Purchase Act). 

Around 1850, at the end of the Famine, Mathew married Anna O'Brien (aka Anne Brien), of nearby Blanchardstown, and had eleven children, some of whom migrated to Portland Maine:

-Mary Leonard (1850-bef 1939) was baptised 8 Nov 1850 (the record states that her parents were "Michael" Leonard and Anne Brien of Donabate).  No further information.  She must have died before 1939, since her brother Matt's obituary doesn't list her as a sibling.

-Patrick J. Leonard (1852-1853) died as an infant.

-Mathew John Leonard (1854-1939) "Old Matt" was my paternal 2nd great grandfather, who emigrated to Portland Maine in 1881.

-Elizabeth Leonard (1857-1894) emigrated to Portland and married a railroad fireman named John H. Devine (1858-1894).  Elizabeth's godfather was old family friend Patrick Wade, who also emigrated to Portland Maine.

-Francis Leonard (1859-1945) sailed to Maine with his brother Mathew John in 1881, but only lived there for about three years, and returned to the Burrow.  He has many descendants, some who still live in the Burrow today.

-Ellen Theresa Leonard (1861-1893) (aka "Nellie").  She arrived with her brothers in 1881.  In 1888 in Portland, she married James Joseph Smart (who born in the Burrow to Charles Smart & Jane Dockrell).  James had recently arrived from living with his grandparents in Lancashire England and had been working in a copper mill lab.  James got a job in Portland as a telephone worker for NET&T.  They lived on 24 High Street, 5 Stevens Place, then later 2 Martyr Street (with other Smarts).   Both Ellen & James died young of pulmonary tuberculosis in Portland, and are buried in Calvary Cemetery, South Portland Maine.  James' cousin Charles, also from the Burrow, lived on 16 Briggs Street with his wife, Nellie Curran, and Nellie's parents, James and Rose Curran.  This was one of the row of houses on Briggs Street owned by Nellie Leonard's uncle Prod.  Ellen is the only child of Mathew's for which I cannot find a baptismal record, so I wonder if she might actually be Alice or Agnes below.

-Annie T. Leonard (1863-1948) was baptised in Donabate Parish, just like her siblings. At age 21, she married William Quinlan at Old Donabate Parish, but divorced him and migrated to Portland in 1913 upon hearing that Prod had left her money from his will. She remarried soon after arrival in the US, to a Willard Harland Batchelder. When her brother Mathew John was suffering from dementia in the mid 1930's, Annie took the opportunity to get his will changed so that she received his entire estate, minus $1.00 apiece for his sons Matthew Jr. and Thomas Matthew (so they couldn't contest the will). There was much ill will toward Annie after that family drama, and to this day the mention of Aunt Annie to any Leonard descendant produces a furled lip. She was a live-in housekeeper for the church for the remainder of her life. Not sure what she did with the money.

-Alice Leonard (1865-1898).  Alice was a spinster, living in the family house in the Burrow until her death at age 33 of tuberculosis.

-Agnes Leonard (1867-1870).  No further information.  She must have died before 1939, since her brother's obituary doesn't list her as a sibling.  A death record from 1870 is available at the General Register Office, and it might likely be her (given that the age was 3 years old).

-John Leonard (1870-1897).  John died in January 1897, of peritonitis.  His death certificate said he was married.

Back Row: Patricia Leonard, "Charles," Grace Mary Liversage
Front Row: Anneleina Leonard, Patrick Leonard, Mary Elizabeth Roberts-Leonard, Christine Leonard
(About 1940, England)
Photo Courtesy of Diane Rollins

-Patrick J. Leonard (15 Feb 1872-after 1948) (named after his deceased infant brother (and his grandfather) Patrick) was nicknamed "Patsy".  Patsy married once when he was young, to Bridget Davis, who died in 1903.  In 1909, he moved to Portland Maine to live and work near his brothers, around the time he was named a successor executor to his uncle Prod's estate.  He married Mary Elizabeth Roberts-Liversage there in Portland, July 1910.  Mary was a widow from Brighton, England, with two daughters (Ruth & Grace Liversage).  Patsy didn't enjoy America, and missed his home.  By March of 1911 he had brought Mary & her daughter Grace back with him to live in The Burrow, and lived in the house next door to his elder brother Francis.  Mary's daughter, Ruth Liversage-Davis, had remained in Portland with her new husband (and apparently one of Mary's brothers - Joseph Roberts - was living in Portland at the time as well).

In February 1913, Patrick was cited for failure to pay the Poor Rate Collector, and forced to pay one pound, six shillings, seven pence.

In January and also May of 1915, the School Committee got after Mary for her daughter Grace failing to go to school.  Mary had to pay fines, and Grace was forced to attend school until the age of 14.

Apparently Mary and Francis didn't get along, because court records of June, 1915 show that Frank grabbed her by the neck and threw her against the hedge, and she hit him on the side of the face with a shovel.  In In the 1910s in the Burrow, Patrick and Mary had three daughters of their own:  Anneleina, Mary Christina (Crissie) and Bertha (Patricia).

In March of 1915, his two younger daughters, Crissie and Patricia (somehow listed as Utreshia) had never been vaccinated (likely for pertussis), since 1912, and the Poor Law Union fined Patrick and imprisoned him at Mountjoy, forced to serve hard labor for a week.

Oral tradition has it that Patrick likely later moved the whole family to England (possibly Brighton), where all three girls married Englishmen.  According to Mary's brother's obituary in 1951, Mary was alive and well and living in England, but English Probate Records show Mary to have already died in 1943.  *** I did find a Dublin-born Patrick Leonard of the right age working as a gunner for the Royal Artillery in Lancashire England, 1891 (coincidentally where his brother-in-law James Smart lived in 1881).  It's entirely possible that Patsy met Mary in Lancashire initially, then moved with her to Maine temporarily, back to Dublin, then to Brighton or Lancashire, England.

Friendship with the Riley Family of Donabate

• In a baptismal record from September 17, 1843, Mathew appears as godfather to Nicholas Riley, son to John and Ellen Riley.
• In a baptismal record from December 6, 1846, Mathew appears as godfather to Margaret Riley, daughter to Patrick and Sarah Riley.
• In Mathew's son Patrick's 1872 baptismal record from Donabate Parish - his godparents were Richard and Margaret Reilly.

Dog License Registers

Below are some dog license applications of Mathew for his many male dogs over the years.

Apparently he owned a black and white terrier in 1875, a red shepherd in 1876, a white bull in 1878, a white terrier from 1879-1881, a white bull in 1882, a black and tan terrier in 1887, a grey terrier in 1888, and a brown terrier in 1893, 1895 and 1899, and two brown terriers in 1903 (just before he died) and typically paid £2 and six shillings per license:

Court Cases

On May 27, 1876, James McQuaid complained about Mathew having a dog without a license, and Mathew had to go and get a license.

On April 30, 1887, Constable William Walsh filed a complaint against Mathew's wife, Anne Leonard, for carrying an unlicensed dog in the Burrow, and was charged 5 shillings, plus 1 shilling admin fees.

On July 23, 1887, Mathew filed a complaint against his own sister, Elizabeth Harrison, for allowing twenty fowl to trespass on his property.  On the same day, Mathew also filed a complaint against his neighbor, James Wade, for the charge of seven fowl trespassing on his cropped land.

On May 18, 1895, Mathew filed a complaint against Terence Dougherty, also of Portrane, on a charge related to goods sold.  The case was dismissed:

Census Records

The 1901 Census of The Burrow has Mathew & Anna Leonard living at Burrow House #5, with Patrick and Francis.  They had a chicken coop, horse stable, and cow house.  By then, Francis was already a widower, and had yet to marry Margaret Byrne.  Not sure yet where the others were living who stayed in Ireland (Annie, John, Mary, Alice).  (All images can be enlarged by clicking on them.)

The 1911 Census of The Burrow has Francis and Patrick with their own families, living at Burrow House #15 and #16.  According to the Farm House exhibit, Francis & Patrick had a farm with two cow houses, one chicken coop, and a horse stable.

Mathew died in 1904 at home, of cardiac failure, after three weeks of illness.  Anna passed a few years later, in 1907, at Portrane Asylum (later known as St. Ita's).  Given that Mathew's son, Frank, signed (with his mark, meaning he couldn't read or write) as informant on the death certificate of Mathew, I'm inclined to believe that Anna was already institutionalized at the Asylum during Mathew's death, or else she would have been the most likely informant.  It's troubling to me that the decision was made to place her there, but this was a common practice, if any kind of illness or senility was occurring, not just mental illness, they were placed in the local sanitarium.

Old Donabate Parish Cemetery, has a burial list online (managed by Fingal County Council), but it is limited to what gravestones have been easily identified and transcribed (pursuant to Memorials of the Dead publications).  There are many green patches with no stones on this burial ground, so I can't help but wonder who else is buried there.  

When I was in Ireland in October 2019, I did some research, and learned that unfortunately Donabate Parish didn't keep burial records at all, and that they rely upon the Council, who only relies upon the published book mentioned above.  I spoke with the Parish undertaker (Michael Rocks of Swords), and he said that they have their own burial records only going back to 1924, and that prior to that, the Parish would simply provide a pine box for the family, and let them go ahead and conduct the burial themselves - the church would simply not get more involved than that.  Therefore, given Mathew and Anna's deaths in 1904 and 1907, I have no hope of identifying the burial locations.  However, one particularly large patch of grass at the cemetery contains one small limestone gravesite immediately to the left of Mathew's son Frank's gravestone, and that may in fact be where Mathew and other Leonards are buried.  That's the best I can guess at this time.

FRANK LEONARD GRAVESITE (GRAY STONE ON THE RIGHT)
OLD DONABATE CEMETERY
(NOTE GRASSY AREA AROUND IT - POSSIBLY BURIAL LOCATIONS FOR OTHER LEONARDS)

MYSTERY GRAVE NEXT TO FRANK'S
(POSSIBLY HIS FATHER MATHEW'S)

***
SOURCES:

• Donabate and Portrane, a History, by Peadar Bates
• 1901 Census of Ireland
• 1911 Census of Ireland
• Baptisms, Parish Registers, Donabate
• Civil Birth Records, Balrothery, Dublin
• Civil Marriage Records, Balrothery, Dublin
• Civil Death Records, Balrothery, Dublin
• Petty Sessions Small Claims Court
• Petty Sessions Dog Licenses
• Interment.net

The Leonards of Portrane Ireland

Leonard is an English surname, which was used to Anglicize Germanic, Scottish and Irish surnames between the 1500s and 1700s.

In Ireland, the name Leonard was used for a variety of Irish surnames, like Glennon, Lennon, and Lennan, which in many instances originally came from the Gaelic name O Leannain (derived from the word leann, which denotes a cloak).

My Leonard ancestors began inhabiting the Burrow Townland of Portrane Civil Parish (Port Reachrainn) at some point between 1760 and 1804, based on historical maps.

Portrane is a portion of the larger Donabate Catholic Parish, located in the Balrothery Poor Law Union of North County Dublin (and North Dublin has been known as Fingal since 1994, for administrative purposes).  Portrane did not suffer as much as most of Ireland did during the Famine, due to proactive farming practices.  Nobody died of hunger there, and their literacy rate during the Famine was at about 50%, which was higher than average.  Neighboring Ballisk Townland, for a comparison, had a 12% literacy rate during that same period.

1760 Map
Portrane
(Burrow on the right known as The Warren)
(No houses located on The Warren, when other houses are noted elsewhere in Portrane)

1804 Map of Portrane
(Burrow on the Left)
Note Charles Leonard listed as tenant here

1821 Map
The Leonard House is among the earliest structures appearing in the Burrow

1829 Map
Burrow Townland of Portrane
North County Dublin
(Leonard House is Shown with Red Arrow)

Portrane was owned by the Archbishop of Dublin up until the late 18th Century, whereupon it was purchased (seized) by Irish landowners (the Evans Family).  Captain Hampden Evans and his sons, George and Joshua, were the area's landlords (and influential politicians) up until the early 20th Century, and were known as benevolent landlords to the tenant farmers.

GEORGE HAMPDEN EVANS
PORTRANE LANDLORD

During this time, the Evans Family inhabited a glorious estate known as Portrane House, located in southern Portrane (Portrane Demesne), and reportedly took relatively good care of the many tenants in the Parish, including the Leonards.  After the turn of the century, due to a variety of land acts benefiting the post-Famine tenants, the Leonards, along with their neighbors, each were able to purchase their individual lands from the Evans family, with some help from the federal government.

In 1903, the Evans family had died off, or moved away, and their massive land holdings in Portrane Demesne were acquired by the Health Service Executive (HSE) in order to install a satellite facility to handle the overflow of patients being admitted to Richmond Asylum at Grangegorman in Dublin City.  This new facility was called Portrane Asylum (now known as St. Ita's).  The Asylum has long been one of the main employers of Portrane, and is the workplace of many of the Leonards and their neighbors.  While St. Ita's stopped admitting inmates.

ST. ITA'S

The eldest Leonard ancestors I've traced to date are Thomas Leonard and his wife (maiden name Byrne).  Thomas was born in 1773, but it's unknown at present if he was born in the Burrow, or if he had moved there as an adult.  Given maps of 1760 showing no houses drawn on them, when houses were drawn in other parts of Portrane on the same map, it is understood that the Burrow was uninhabited in 1760 (and was then known as The Warren, due to the large number of rabbits living there).  Myxomatosis killed off the Burrow rabbits in the 1960's, however hares have made something of a return in recent time. 

Per the above map, certainly by 1804, the Leonard Homestead (aka Portrane Cottages), had been established and was being leased to Thomas' elder brother, Charles Leonard, along with a farm lot across the road (these lots were called Burrow Gardens).  While the Burrow was certainly hit by the potato Blight, it apparently wasn't as bad as it could have been.  Nobody in the Burrow died of hunger.

When Charles died (at some point before 1847), his nephew Patrick took over the leases (not sure why Patrick's father Thomas wasn't viewed as equipped for this).  In April of 1865, Thomas died of old age (92 years) at the Cottages, and in August of that year, his son Patrick died at the Balrothery Workhouse.  Patrick's eldest son, Mathew (my 3rd great grandfather) took over the lease and farm lot from his father, until his own death in 1904, whereupon the lease passed to Mathew's son Francis.  By the time of Francis' death in 1945, the Leonard family finally owned the Portrane Cottages, and are still owned by them to this day, marking a 7th generation of Leonard ownership, as of 2019.

Many of the Leonards and their neighbors of the Burrow are buried at Old Donabate Cemetery, and many of these burials are without memorial, as can be seen in this night time shot from 2019 (note the old Donabate Parish church (1803-1903) is next to the graveyard, and the new larger church (built 1903), looms in the background, across the street.

The view of this graveyard is taken from Smyth's Bridge House, a structure which has been here since 1842, and has long been the local watering hole of the Leonard kin.