19. Thomas Joseph TREACY (Thomas , John , 'unknown' ) was born 13 Apr 1881 in Murgasty, Co. Tipperary and was christened about 13 Apr 1881 in Tipperary. He died 13 Apr 1969 in Carrick-on-Suir, Co. Tipperary and was buried in New Cemetery, Carrick-on-Suir, Co. Tipperary.

Thomas' godmother was Sarah Carew, probably his aunt. There was no other sponsor listed on the baptismal record.

Thomas began his career working at a gasworks in Tipperary town; according to the 1911 census he was a "gas account collector". Prior to his marriage in 1915, he became manager of the gasworks in Carrick-on-Suir (located on the Quay). Eventually he bought the Carrick gasworks.

Thomas married Ellen O'SULLIVAN, daughter of James (Big Jim) SULLIVAN and Julia DOODY, on 12 Jan 1915 in Church of S.S. Peter And Paul, Cork. Ellen was born 24 Oct 1887 in Glynn, Mourneabbey, Co. Cork and was christened 25 Oct 1887 in Analeentha Church, Mourneabbey, Co. Cork. She died 18 Sep 1972 in Carrick-on-Suir, Co. Tipperary and was buried in New Cemetery, Carrick-on-Suir.

According to information from the Mallow Heritage Centre, the sponsors at Ellen's baptism were Cornelius Sweeney and Julia Curtin. It's believed Cornelius Sweeney was a neighbour of the Sullivans and it's thought he was married to one of Caheraveelane Sullivans who were related to Ellen. A granddaughter of Cornelius would later marry Ellen's brother Denis. Julia Curtin, the second sponsor, had been a neighbour of the Sullivans when they lived in Ballyknockane. Julia would later marry Sean O'Looney; they emigrated to the United States and had 12 children. Valuable information on the Sullivan family, for which I'm very grateful, came in November 2003 from 96-year-old Patrick "Pats" Curtin, Julia's nephew, who lived in Ballyknockane with one of his daughters. Sadly Pats died in September 2004.

Ellen met Thomas Treacy in Tipperary town where they were both working. It's believed Ellen might have been a parlour-maid there and it's known that Thomas worked at the gasworks in the town.

According to Ellen's marriage certificate, her residence at the time was Lavitt's Quay, Cork but it's not known how she came to live in Cork. It's thought she might have had some domestic science training - perhaps she took this training in Cork?

22. Nicholas TREACY (Thomas , Nicholas , 'unknown' ) was born about 22 Sep 1875 in Soloheadbeg, Co. Tipperary and was christened 22 Sep 1875 in Solohead, Co. Tipperary. He died 26 Apr 1959 and was buried in Kilfeacle, Co. Tipperary.

Sponsors at Nicholas's baptism were Thomas McGrath and Johanna Treacy.

It's known Nicholas was related to our Treacys although the exact relationship isn't certain. What is certain is that Thomas Treacy (1881-1969) had a cousin, Nicholas Treacy, and that he was NOT a first cousin. It's also known that Thomas's first cousin, Seán Treacy (1895-1920) had a cousin, Nicholas Treacy (see next paragraph), who is definitely our Nicolas above, but it's not known what type of cousin. It's possible Nicholas was a second cousin of Thomas and Seán, i.e., that Nicholas' grandfather, also Nicholas, and John, the grandfather of Thomas and Seán, were brothers.

In Desmond Ryan's book, "Seán Treacy and the Third Tipperary Brigade IRA" (1945), there's mention of "Seán's cousin, Nicholas Treacy", who was involved in plans to rescue Seán from jail in Dundalk in 1918. Seán and two other IRA prisoners were on hunger strike but called it off when their demands were met. As a result the rescue mission was called off.

According to a family source, Thomas Treacy's cousin, Nicholas (who may be Nicholas above), lived on a small farm next to the Carey farm in Soloheadbeg, Co. Tipperary.

Nicholas married Josie 'UNKNOWN'. Josie was born about 1892. She died 13 Apr 1933 and was buried in Kilfeacle, Co. Tipperary.

It's possible Josie's surname was Ryan:  Helen Stapleton from Australia tells us that her husband's grandmother, Hanorah Ryan who was born in Co. Tipperary in 1872, had a cousin named Josie Ryan who married a Nicholas Treacy. Although Helen doesn't have any information as to where exactly Nicholas was from, it's certainly possible that Josie Ryan and our Josie above are the same person. According to Helen, Josie Ryan's father was John Ryan whose father was Lawrence whose mother was Sarah Dwyer. Sarah's father was Edmond Dwyer who was possibly from Carhue, near Dundrum, in Co. Tipperary. A sister of Sarah, named Alice, also married a Ryan and a great-grandson of Alice was Brendan Bracken (1901-1958) who was a close friend of Winston Churchill and was appointed Minister of Information during World War II.