It's believed Séamus was born in the townland of Caheraveelane in the parish of Kilshannig in Co. Cork. As a young man he 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.
