The only information available on our Finucane family is that they may have come from the townland of Ardmore in the parish of Carhoonakineely near Tarbert, Co. Kerry. Research has been done on a Finucane family from Carhoonakinella (variant of Carhoonakineely), to which Margaret was probably connected, by Brian Sheehan from Dublin, whose great-great-grandfather was a John Finucane, born about 1754 in Carhoonakinella. Although no definite link can be established between Brian's family and ours, it's likely they were related given the Carhoonakineely connection and the fact that we know that Margaret was somehow related to the Finucanes of Kilcolgan, near Tarbert, to whom Brian's Finucanes are also related (John Finucane's grandson, Patsy, having bought the farm in Kilcolgan). Information on Brian's Finucane family is available on his family tree website www.sheehanfamilytree.ie. Brian's site also provides information on the O'Connor family of The Hill, Moyvane and Gortdromasillihy, also in Moyvane.
Getting back to Margaret, she and her husband, Richard, seemed to have moved around quite a bit after their marriage. It's probable they lived in Duagh around 1830 because their daughter, Johanna, was baptised there in that year. It's also believed they lived for a time in Ballyeagh, near Ballybunion, and at another point they seem to have moved to Tralee where it's thought their youngest child, Patrick Robert, was born (although there's no documentation available on this) and where it's known their daughter, Johanna, was married in 1847. By 1850 it seems they left Tralee and settled in Kilbaha where the Richard's family had connections with land rented from the Sandes family. Certainly there was an Edward Hudson from Strand St. in Tralee who owned or rented a lot of land in Kilbaha in the 19th century. It seems Richard was related to Edward. Further information on the link is to be found in Bill Hudson's volume "The Hudsons of Tralee", a copy of which may be studied in Tralee and Listowel libraries. Unfortunately, when I visited Tralee library in 2005, I ran out of time before I had a chance to take a look at this particular volume.
An indication of what life was like for Margaret and Richard back then comes from stories told by family members. For example, Richard and Margaret's son, William, once told a relative that he remembered that while a mass was being said at the house when he was a child, people were put on guard duty outside to see to it that no British police would bother those inside. He also remembered there being firearms in the house at the time. And William's brother, Patrick, told his own son, William, that his (Patrick's) mother, Margaret Hudson, was often "beaten up" by local Whiteboys, agrarian agitators who operated in Ireland at the time.
Notes:
1. It's thought that Richard and Margaret may have had a second daughter, but no further information is available.
2. There's another townland near Tarbert called Carhoona which I'm told is a different townland to Carhoonakineely/Carhoonakinella.
3. The Finucane surname is numerous in counties Limerick, Kerry and Clare. An Irish form is Mac Fionnmhacáin meaning "fair son".
