1759 Mar 15 DEED - notes

198-122-13144

Silver OLIVER of Clondofoy, Co. Limerick Esq. of the one part & Michael McKIERNAN of Carrigallen, Co. Leitrim Merchant of the other part. Silver OLIVER demised to Michael McKIERNAN Townlands of Lower Aghavillin.

I have more questions about the significance of this deed than I have answers.  The first question arises from a coincidence of geography; the second concerns the possibility of a connection between the OLIVERs of Limerick and the OLIVERs of Ulster (primarily the OLIVERs resident in the counties of Armagh, Monaghan and Tyrone but also the counties of Antrim, Down, Louth and Londonderry).

With respect to geographic coincidences, it is worth noting that Sir Thomas JACKSON, the son of Eliza OLIVER and David JACKSON, was actually born at the townland mentioned in this lease – at Aughavilla (AKA Aghavillin), Carrigallen, Co. Leitrim in 1841. We have proof that his father, David JACKSON – a Presbyterian farmer, still held a lease there eight years later (NOTE: I will be ordering DEED: 1849-8-27 to see if I can learn more about this). So my first question is: does this deed tie his wife Eliza OLIVER to the OLIVERs of this 1759 lease?

It has always been alleged that the OLIVERs of the south were distinct from the OLIVERs of the north except for the oral tradition of a connection through the marriage of Alicia OLIVER - a cousin of the Silver OLIVER of this deed - and Viscount Lifford. The specifics of these links to the Ulster OLIVERs elude me. I am still working on it. According to family oral traditions dating back to the mid-1800s, our Ulster OLIVERs were supposedly Huguenot descendants and not connected to Oliver CROMWELL unlike the OLIVERs of the south. Is there more of a connection than I might have thought? Was the story of the Huguenot ancestry a less troubling version than the thought of a military connection for a Presbyterian family of farmers in mid-1800s Co. Armagh? This is not impossible.

With respect to a possible connection between the OLIVERs of Limerick and the OLIVERs of Ulster, I recently learned (thanks to Roisin LAFFERTY) that local oral tradition suggests that the OLIVERs of Creevey (Oliver), Co. Monaghan were descended from a man who was rewarded by Oliver CROMWELL for service in the mid-1600s. It may prove to be significant that Creevey (and the mill on this townland) is also mentioned in a deed (# 282-336-183301, 1770 October 31) between David OLIVER of Ballyrea, Co. Armagh and Arthur OLIVER of Ballinahonebeg, Co. Armagh. At the time, the land was leased from The Right Honourable George Lord SHIRLEY. This is my first bit that connects our OLIVERs to the lands conferred as part of the booty of conquest by CROMWELL.

So where do we go from here? Thanks to various genealogies (Burkes and others), we know that a Captain Robert OLIVER (born abt. 1593 in Kent, England) served with Cromwell and was rewarded for his service with several land grants. He was also the grandfather of the Silver OLIVER of this 1759 deed. Assuming that the connection to Cromwellian land grants is accurate, it may be that Capt. Robert OLIVER was also connected with Creevey (Oliver), Co. Monaghan but I can’t rule out the possibility that there may have been another OLIVER who may also have received land grants. I have not yet seen mention of Creevey (Oliver) in the list of lands that Captain Robert OLIVER of Co. Limerick received. NOTE: More work is needed here.

In time, I will put together trees of these various branches and post them to this site so we can more readily track the movements and possible convergences of the various OLIVER strands that involve both Carrigallen, Co. Leitrim and Creevey (Oliver) Co. Monaghan.

In the meantime, I am open to learning more from anyone who has read this far and would be grateful to hear back.