I'M INDEBTED TO MAURA O'HANLON FROM MOURNEABBEY, CO. CORK, FOR ALL HER HELP WITH MY SULLIVAN RESEARCH.
It's believed Séamus was born in the townland of Caheraveelane in the civil parish of Kilshannig and in the Catholic parish of Donoughmore (near the village of Nad) in Co. Cork. The Sullivans from Caheraveelane were known as the "Cahera" (pronounced "kawra") or "Caher" Sullivans, presumably to distinguish them from the other Sullivan families in the area. They used the surname "Sullivan" prior to the early 20th century when they started using the name "O'Sullivan" which would have been their ancestors' original name.
As a young man Séamus moved a few miles east to the townland of Glynn in the parish of Mourneabbey (also spelled Mourne Abbey), although it's not known exactly when. Griffiths Valuation, which was carried out in 1851 for Mourneabbey, doesn't show any record of land in Glynn being occupied at that time by a Séamus or James Sullivan, although it seems likely he had left Caheraveelane by then. Griffiths Valuation was carried out for the Kilshannig area in 1852 and shows that the only Sullivan to occupy land in Caheraveelane was a Johanna Sullivan who rented 234 acres along with a "turbary" (bog or right to dig turf).
I've gathered some information on a Johanna Sullivan who may be the Johanna above and who may be a member of another Sullivan family that might be connected to ours (see Other Families page on this website). Johanna, who was born around 1814, was married to a man by the name of Sullivan and was widowed young. She would have been of the same generation as Séamus. Could she have been the wife of a brother or a cousin of Séamus? Any assistance in solving the mystery would be appreciated.
Note: The Mallow Heritage Centre found baptism records for two James Sullivans in Donoughmore parish which seems to be the Catholic parish (as opposed to the civil parish) for Caheraveelane:
Date Parents Sponsors
31 May 1806 Timothy Sullivan Daniel Shea
Joan Reagan Elizabth Reagan
17 January 1814 Thomas Sullivan Daniel O'Keeffe
Mary McCarthy Mary Sexton
But there's nothing to suggest that either of these baptisms relate to our Séamus.
Caheraveelane comprises about 234 acres of mostly mountainy land. As evidenced by summaries from the 1841 to 1891 censuses of Ireland it was a very sparsely populated townland in those years. Details - from www.eppi.ac.uk, the EPPI (Enhanced Parliamentary Papers on Ireland, 1801-1922) website - are as follows:
Year Inhabited Population
Houses
1841 2 15
1851 3 16
1861 2 15 (8 male, 7 female)
1871 2 10 (7 male, 3 female)
1881 2 14 (10 male, 4 female)
1891 3 23 (17 male, 6 female)
No details by household are available as the census returns from these years no longer exist. It seems likely that Séamus left Caheraveelane in the 1830s or 1840s, probably because there was no living to be made on its poor land. Other Sullivans, whose numbers contribute to the population figures given above and of whom I have some information, remained and these are probably related to our Sullivan family (see Other Families page on this website) but I haven't yet been able to establish a definite link.
Note: The O'Sullivan surname is the third most common surname in Ireland, with four out of five O'Sullivan families in the country living in counties Cork and Kerry where O'Sullivan is the most common surname. The original Irish surname was 'O Suileabháin', deriving possibly from 'suil dubh án' meaning 'dark-eyed'. It's possible that the O Suileabháin families originated in South Tipperary from where they were driven out in the 13th century by the O'Briens and the Normans. Most settled in west Cork and Kerry. By the end of the 14th century, the O Suileabháins had split into at least seven different groupings, the most impportant of which were (i) Clann Gilla Mochuda of south Kerry, who in the 16th century, changed their name completely to McGillycuddy, (ii) the O'Sullivan Mór, based on the shores of Kenmare Bay, and (iii) the O'Sullivan Beare, rulers of the area around Bantry and of the Beara peninsula of Co. Cork. It's thought that our O'Sullivan family is descended from the O'Sullivan Beare.
