Donaghmore and Ahadallane, 1785 to 1857
The Hanlon story begins in the Catholic parish of Donaghmore, in the Diocese of Cloyne, County Cork, and most of it in a single townland, Ahadallane (Irish Áth an Dalláin, “the ford of the standing stone”). A townland is the smallest unit of land in Ireland, often no more than a handful of farms. Ahadallane covers 759 acres in the civil parish of Donaghmore, in the barony of Barretts and the Poor Law Union of Cork. Surveys record standing stones there. It is still farmland today, small fields divided by hedgerows near Ahadallane Cross Roads.
The earliest known ancestors are Denis Hanlon, born about 1785, and Johanna Connor. Their first child was baptized in May 1808, so they probably married about 1806 or 1807. Their marriage is not entered in the Donaghmore register of 1790 to March 1808, and probably not in the years to 1812. Ten children were baptized to them at Donaghmore over twenty-six years.
| Child | Birth | Death | Married |
|---|---|---|---|
| Margaret | baptized 7 May 1808 | ||
| Timothy | baptized 1 April 1812 | ||
| John (probably of this couple) | baptized 21 June 1814 | possibly young | |
| Mary | baptized 30 October 1816 | ||
| John | baptized 11 June 1819 | ||
| Jeremiah (probably Kate Buckley’s husband) | baptized 16 May 1821 | 17 September 1901, Ahadallane | Catherine (“Kate”) Buckley, 12 March 1857 |
| Denis | baptized 22 December 1823 | ||
| Ellen | baptized 29 April 1826 | ||
| Julian | baptized 11 June 1829 | ||
| Michael | baptized August 1834, probably 13 August |
The register names each child’s sponsors, or godparents. Margaret’s were Michael Sullivan and Margaret Hanlan; Timothy’s, Denis and Honor Hanlan; the first John’s, Michael Sullivan and Honora Callaghan; Mary’s, Patrick Coakley and Ellen McAuliffe; the second John’s, Darby Buckley and Julian Hanlan; and Ellen’s, Tim Hanlon and Cath Hanlon. Julian was sponsored by Thady Hanlon and Mary Coakley, and Michael, “of Denis Hanlon & Joan Connor, Rathcoola,” by Jerry Duggan and Peg Hanlon. Denis’s entry reads “Denis Hanlon of Denis & Joan Connors,” with Bartholomew Hanlon and Margaret Murphy as sponsors. The father of the first John is written “Den” or “Dan,” so that boy is probably, but not certainly, Denis’s son. He possibly died young, since the name was given again in 1819. Ellen’s mother is written “[Helen?] Connor”.
Jeremiah, the next link in the line, was probably the boy baptized on 16 May 1821, with Timothy [T.?] Hanlon and Eliza [Coakley?] as sponsors. His age and parish fit Kate Buckley’s husband, and no other Jeremiah Hanlon was baptized there in those years. Michael was almost certainly the son baptized in August 1834. An index dates his baptism to 15 August 1824, which is possibly a misreading of the 1834 entry.
Another Denis Hanlon, married to Catherine Riordan, had children baptized at Donaghmore in the same years, from 1817 to 1831. Their children’s dates fall between Denis and Johanna’s, so the two Denis Hanlons were probably different men.
Irish families of the time often named children after their grandparents. Jeremiah and Kate’s first son was Denis, the name of Jeremiah’s father, and their first daughter Johanna, the name of his mother. Their second son, Daniel, and a later daughter, Hanora, may have been named for Kate’s probable parents, Daniel Buckley and Honora Dinan. The same custom suggests that Denis’s father was a Timothy Hanlon and Johanna’s a John Connor. Griffith’s Valuation of about 1851 does list a Timothy Hanlon, a Denis Hanlon, a Patrick Hanlon and a John Connor in Donaghmore parish, which fits but proves nothing. The pattern holds for first sons over three generations, from Denis to Jeremiah to Denis of 1858, but it has not been tested further, so these names are a theory only.
Kate Buckley’s Family
Catherine (“Kate”) Buckley was probably the daughter of Daniel Buckley of Ahadallane and Honora Dinan. No record names her parents, but three things point to them. By the naming custom, her second son, Daniel, would have been named for her father. Daniel Buckley held the largest Buckley farm in the townland, 89 acres with a house and outbuildings. And her witness at her wedding in 1857 was a Daniel Buckley, usually a father or a brother. But Daniel was a common name among the parish’s Buckleys, so none of this is proof. Two weaker threads point the same way. Sponsors bearing the names of Daniel and Honora’s family stood for Kate’s children: Honora Buckley for Jeremiah in 1864 and Patrick Buckley for Mary in 1867. A Mary Connor, possibly of Johanna Connor’s family, stood for Hanora in 1872. Two Jeremiah Buckleys also lived in the townland, so the name Jeremiah may have run on the Buckley side too, though that is weak. Deeds of 1836, 1839 and 1852, and others of the 1900s to the 1920s, name a “Buckley of Ahadallane”.
Daniel Buckley almost certainly married Honora Dinan at Donaghmore about 6 January 1825; the entry stands undated between those of 6 and 8 January, so the day is probably the 6th. The witnesses were Pat Dinane and Darby Buckley.
The baptisms below are probably all of this couple’s children.
| Child | Birth | Death | Married |
|---|---|---|---|
| Joanna | baptized 5 March 1826 | ||
| a child whose name cannot be read | baptized April 1828 | ||
| Catherine (“Kate”) (probably of this couple) | about 1831 to 1833 | possibly 27 November 1915, Ballygriffin | Jeremiah Hanlon, 12 March 1857 |
| Darby | baptized 29 October 1832 | ||
| Patrick Daniel | baptized 12 February 1835 | ||
| Michael | probably baptized 17 June 1837 |
The child of April 1828 had Jeremiah Corkery and Catherine Barrett as sponsors, but the forename is not legible. Where it should stand, the register has a word that reads “Marriage”. Darby was “of Coolkey,” with Michael Buckley and Mary Mullane as sponsors, and Patrick Daniel had Daniel Buckley and Margaret Mullane. Michael’s mother is written Norry, the usual short form of Honora. No later child was baptized to the couple through 1850.
No baptism for Kate is known. She gave her age as 70 in 1901 and 78 in 1911, so she was born about 1831 to 1833, and the register for those years holds no Catherine baptized to Daniel and Honora. The unnamed child of April 1828 was a real child of theirs and may have been Kate, but she would then have been 73 in 1901, not 70, so that is a theory only. A Kate Buckley was baptized at Donaghmore on 31 July 1836 to Jerry Buckley and Julia Murphy. She has the right name, but she would have been four to six years younger than Kate’s stated ages, and nothing ties her to the family.
The Bennett Estate and Griffith’s Valuation
The Hanlons and Buckleys of Ahadallane were tenants of the Bennetts of Bennett’s Court. Joseph Henry Jackson took the Bennett name and arms by royal license in 1811. Joseph Henry Bennett held the estate until his death in 1861; it passed to his nephew, Thomas Edward, and in 1869 to his brother, John Charles. In the 1870s it covered 1,851 acres in the parishes of Donaghmore, in Barretts barony, and Templerobin, in Barrymore. The plots of Timothy Hanlon, Daniel Hanlon and Daniel Buckley at Ahadallane were all held from Joseph Henry Bennett.
Griffith’s Valuation, the survey of Irish property made between 1847 and 1864, shows both families settled in the townland, on Ordnance Survey Sheet 50, all holding from Bennett. Timothy Hanlon held 46 acres directly from Bennett, and Timothy Hanlon, junior, 22 acres. Bartholomew Hanlon had a house and land, shared with Timothy Scanlan. Daniel Hanlon had no land of his own. He was a cottier, with a house and an outbuilding on Timothy Hanlon’s farm, beside four other cottier families: Cornelius Mahony, Cornelius Danahy, Timothy Foley and Maurice Murphy. Daniel Buckley had 89 acres with a house and outbuildings, Michael Buckley 23 acres and Jeremiah Buckley, senior, 20 acres, and a Jeremiah Buckley, junior, was a cottier on Daniel’s farm. Elsewhere in Donaghmore parish the survey lists a Patrick Hanlon, a Denis Hanlon, another Daniel Hanlon and two entries for John Connor.
The valuers’ field book of 1 August 1850 adds detail. Timothy Hanlon’s second lot held the Rev. Joseph R. Cottle’s school house, garden and yard; Daniel Hanlon had a house, an outbuilding and a yard; and Timothy Scanlan and Bartholomew Hanlon each had his own house and yard on their shared lot. Which of these men belonged to the line is not known. The Daniel Hanlon of the survey was not Jeremiah’s father, whom his baptism names as Denis. Bartholomew Hanlon of Ahadallane was possibly the Bartholomew who stood sponsor for Denis Hanlon in 1823. A house book of 1849 lists a Denis Hanlon in the parish, possibly Johanna’s husband.
References
- Logainm.ie (Placenames Database of Ireland), entry 9462, Áth an Dalláin/Ahadallane. “The ford of the standing stone,” dallán as a local form of gallán; archival notes citing O’Donoghue (1986, p. 284) for standing stones in the townland and two Archaeological Survey entries (1992–2000) for a confirmed and a possible standing stone monument.
- National Archives of Ireland, titheapplotmentbooks.nationalarchives.ie, browse list “Townlands in Donaghmore (Cork),” opening Ardnaganna, Avaltygort, Aveltygort, Ballinacor, Ballyarrel, Ballyarrell Mountain, Ballybun. Site refuses automated access at the robots level; read through search-result snippets only. Compared against the forty townlands of Donaghmore civil parish, Co. Cork (app.irishroots.ie, civil parish 6501906; Wikipedia, “List of townlands of the barony of Barretts,” giving Ahadallane, 759 acres, Barretts, Donaghmore, Poor Law Union of Cork).
- Google Maps satellite and street-level imagery (google.com/maps), Ahadallane, Co. Cork, consulted 21 August 2026, confirming the townland’s continued existence as agricultural land.
- Ireland, Catholic Parish Registers, 1740–1900. Baptisms at Donaghmore of Margaret (1808), Timothy (1812), John (1817), John (1819), Jeremiah (1821), Denis (1823), Michael (1824), Ellen (1826) and Julian (1829), all to Denis Hanlon and Joan/Johanna Connor. Arks include 6XRH-67P7 (Timothy), 68CV-HFH1 (Denis), 662D-ZK1K (Michael), 6DLD-JQXJ (Ellen), 6PZF-2DX7 (Julian), 6PZQ-8HCC (Jerry).
- National Library of Ireland, Catholic Parish Registers (registers.nli.ie), Donaghmore, marriages: film 05004/01 (vtls000633217), pp. 1–71 (18 January 1790 – 1828); film 05004/02, pp. 44–57; film 05004/04 (vtls000633222), pp. 4–70; the parish film list, registers.nli.ie/parishes/0043. Read on the images.
- National Library of Ireland, Catholic Parish Registers (registers.nli.ie), Donaghmore: baptisms, film 05003/07 (vtls000633218), pp. 33 and 63–97, film 05003/08 (vtls000633219), pp. 1–22, and film 05004/02 (vtls000633220), pp. 26–27; marriages, film 05004/01 (vtls000633217), pp. 14–46. Read on the images.
- National Library of Ireland, Catholic Parish Registers (registers.nli.ie), Donaghmore (Diocese of Cloyne), baptisms, films 05003/07 (vtls000633218), 05003/08 (vtls000633219) and 05004/02 (vtls000633220): the children of Denis Hanlon and Joan Connor, 1808–1834, and of Denis Hanlon and Catherine Riordan, 1828 and 1831. Read on the images.
- Ireland, Catholic Parish Registers, 1740–1900. Jeremiah Hanlon, baptism 16 May 1821, Donaghmore, East Muskerry, Co. Cork; father Denis Hanlon, mother Johanna Connor. ark 1:1:6N8S-JJ8F.
- Ireland, Civil Registration. Death of Jeremiah Hanlon, 17 September 1901, Ahadallane, Cork (irishgenealogy.ie, record cide-4507973, group registration ID 4507973, age 80). Read from the register image (returns for 1901, file 05715/4612394, entry 218): married, farmer, informant Jeremiah Hanlon, present at death, registered 23 September 1901.
- Ireland, Catholic Parish Registers, 1740–1900. Marriage of Jeremiah Hanlon and Kate Buckly, 12 March 1857, and of Patrick Callaghan and Johanna Hanlon, 26 March 1857, Donaghmore. Read from the register image, NLI microfilm 05004/04, page 45. The register page is filed as
- National Library of Ireland, Catholic Parish Registers (registers.nli.ie), Donaghmore (Diocese of Cloyne), film 05003/08 (vtls000633219), viewer p. 79, the baptism of Denis Hanlon, 22 December 1823. Read on the image.
- FamilySearch, Ireland, Catholic Parish Registers, 1740–1900. Denis Hanlon baptism, 22 December 1823 (ark 1:1:68CV-HFH1), and Michael Hanlon baptism, 15 August 1824 (ark 1:1:662D-ZK1K), checked 21 September 2026: both record pages show “Image Unavailable,” and the collection’s own information page offers no browse-images feature. Neither entry could be checked against the original register; both rest on the index alone.
- FamilySearch indexes: “Ireland, Catholic Parish Registers, 1740–1900” (Donaghmore), “Ireland, Civil Registration, 1845–1913” and “Ireland, Births and Baptisms, 1620–1881”: the Hanlon children of Jeremiah (Terry) Hanlon and Catherine (Kate) Buckley, 1855–1881, and the Hanlon baptisms with a father Denis, 1805–1832. Index only.
- Find My Past, “Ireland Roman Catholic Parish Baptisms” (transcripts of the NLI registers), Donaghmore, Diocese of Cloyne: Buckley and Hanlon entries, 1812–1846 (index); NLI film 05004/02 (vtls000633220), viewer p. 5, the entry of late April 1828, re-read on the image.
- Ireland, Catholic Parish Registers, 1740–1900. Baptisms at Donaghmore of Denis (2 Mar 1858), Mary (3 Feb 1867), Patrick (14 Mar 1869/1870) and Hanora (4 Jan 1872) to Jeremiah Hanlon and Catherine Buckley. Arks include 6JHG-NBP7 (Mary), 6PZY-N3HG (Patrick), 6FPZ-GGB2 (Hanora).
- National Library of Ireland, Catholic Parish Registers (registers.nli.ie), Donaghmore, film 05004/03 (vtls000633221), baptisms, viewer pp. 160–253, with pp. 174, 190, 208, 222, 226 and 238 at higher zoom; film 05004/05 (vtls000633223), baptisms 1870–1881. Read on the images.
- Griffith’s Valuation of Ahadallane, c. 1851, via askaboutireland.ie. Timothy Hanlon 46 acres map ref 3; Timothy Hanlon jun. 22 acres ref 15; Daniel Buckley 89 acres, house and offices, ref 8, all held from Joseph H. Bennett; Patrick Hanlon, Denis Hanlon, Daniel Hanlon and John Connor (x2), all Donaghmore parish, exact acreages not yet obtained.
- Ireland, Catholic Parish Registers, 1740–1900. Coverage test on Donaghmore baptisms to any father “Daniel/Danl Buckley,” 1803–1880 (170 results, at least a dozen distinct mothers, confirming the name recurs across unrelated Buckley households); direct read of film 05004/02, baptisms 6–21 April 1828, for a Daniel Buckley/Honora Dinan entry (none found in that span).
- FamilySearch full-text search. The term “Ahadallane” in transcripts of memorials of deeds, conveyances and wills for Ireland, and in Ireland land records 1867–1885; “Buckley of Ahadallane” hits in deed volumes of 1836, 1839, 1852 and the 1900s–1920s (page-level deep-linking not available).
- National Library of Ireland, Catholic Parish Registers (registers.nli.ie), Donaghmore: marriages, film 05004/01 (vtls000633217), p. 65 (Daniel Buckley and Honora Dinane, January 1825); baptisms, film 05003/08, pp. 92–121, and film 05004/02, pp. 4–43 (January 1825 – October 1834). Read on the images.
- Ireland, Catholic Parish Registers, 1740–1900. Baptisms at Donaghmore to Daniel Buckley and Honora/Norry Dinan(e): Joanna (5 Mar 1826), unnamed (Apr 1828, ark 1:1:6PZW-7MBZ), Darby (29 Oct 1832), Patrick (12 Feb 1835), Michael (17 Jun 1837, ark 1:1:68R7-KVXW). The 12 Feb 1835 entry read directly from the register image, NLI microfilm 05004/03, page 7. Marginal note “Marriage: Buckley of Danl & Honora Donana,” NLI microfilm 05004/02, page 4–5, read from the register image; subject unidentified.
- Census of Ireland, 1901. Ahadallane, Firmount, Co. Cork, household 5. National Archives of Ireland, indexed by FamilySearch. arks 1:1:QPB2-DZX6 (Jeremiah Hanlon, head) and 1:1:QPBG-J88C (Jeremiah Hanlon, son).
- Census of Ireland, 1911. Ahadallane (Firmount, Cork), household 12. arks 1:1:QY65-Z9N2 and 1:1:QY65-ZPMM (Kate Hanlon).
- irishgenealogy.ie, civil records, deaths, Rahan registrar’s district, Mallow Union, Co. Cork, 1915, return no. 04457677, entry 347, Catherine Hanlon, Ballygriffin. Read on the image.
- Ireland, Catholic Parish Registers, 1740–1900. Baptisms of Cath. Buckley (10 Sep 1828, father Bartholomew Buckley, mother Margaret Barry), Cath Buckley (7 Oct 1828, father Timothy Buckley, mother Margaret Foley) and Kate Buckley (31 Jul 1836, father Jerry Buckley, mother Julia Murphy), all Donaghmore. Baptism of Patrick Buckley, 22 Apr 1835, Blarney (Garrycloyne), father Patrick Buckley, mother Mary Hegerty.
- Landed Estates (University of Galway), landedestates.ie. “Bennett (Bennett’s Court)” estate and family entries: succession from Joseph Henry Jackson (royal licence to take the Bennett name and arms, 22 Oct 1811) through Joseph Henry Bennett (d. 1861), his nephew Thomas Edward, and his brother John Charles (from 1869); 1,851 acres in the 1870s across Donaghmore (Barretts) and Templerobin (Barrymore) parishes. Archival citations: map of the estate of Bennettscourt, 1846, with names of tenants, National Library of Ireland, MS 15 B.22(33); rental of the estates of John Bennett, 1770, National Library of Ireland, n.3263, p.2881; Encumbered Estates’ Court Rental (O’Brien), Bennett, 22 Feb 1853, Vol. 20, MRGS 39/009, National Archives of Ireland (microfilm at NUI Galway); Landed Estates’ Court Rental (O’Brien), Bennett, 9 Apr 1874, Vol. 113, MRGS 39/052, same repository and arrangement. Property entries for Ballymore House, Bennett’s Court and the Priory, Ballymore, Templerobin parish.
- Griffith’s Valuation (askaboutireland.ie / National Library of Ireland), Ahadallane townland (Donaghmore parish, Co. Cork) and Lissan parish (Co. Londonderry) occupier lists, consulted 21 August 2026.
- Find My Past, “Ireland Valuation Office Books”: field book of Ahadallane, Co. Cork (National Archives of Ireland OL/4/3891; valuation date 1 August 1850; film MFGS/54/150), images 755–757; and “Griffith’s Valuation,” Ahadallane, Bartholomew Hanlon. Read on the images.
- Find My Past, “Ireland Valuation Office Books,” the free result list for Hanlon and Buckley, Donaghmore, Co. Cork, 1849–1852 (index; no record opened).