The Famine Years

It has become apparent that Elizabeth and Thomas were married and had four children in the parish of Causeway. Their last 2 children were baptised in Listowel. Elizabeth stood to Michael Hennesseys children (Thomas' brother) in Listowel. The question remains why the family moved from the townland of Ballyduff to Listowel. Given the dates between the third and fourth child I am considering the famine as a possible motive as well as tenant eviction. Kerry and Clare were the worst effected regions during the famine. A workhouse was set up in Listowel in 1844 (http://www.workhouses.org.uk/Listowel/). The pinnacle of this plight was 1845-47.  The question is whether crop failure forced them from the land into the town or perhaps their landlord evicted / re-settled them.

The Griffith Valuation shows 2 entries for George Pickford. The ancester in Rattoo lives in 19 acres while the Listowel entrant is leasing a house and garden. I wondered if the Rattoo George leased this on their behalf as there is no entry for Thomas Hennessey in this record. However, further investigation shows another George Hennessey living in Listowel who marries and has a kid (Indeed there is a later marriage to a George Pickford but am unsure is same person. 

There is no entry for a Thomas Hennessey in Listowel in Griffiths valuation. However, if the holding was valued at less than 5 pounds it would not have been taxed and therefore not included in Griffiths valuation.
Emigration continued in the aftermath of the famine. In order to stop the Irish emigrating to the States passage to Canada was posed at a cheaper rate and so it makes sense that John Hennessey would wish to leave Listowel and head to Ontario. Passage was from Tralee (Blennerville), Cork city or Cobh. (http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~irlker/famemig.html). In some cases the landlord paid for passage. I have yet to research if this was the case here. The Lord of Listowel was an absentee landlord and so would have been organised by his agents.

The lack of death certificates for the Pickford Hennessey children is also suspicious and I wonder if more than 1 child emigrated.