Piecing this all together has been fairly complicated. Family records passed down through descendents of the elder Michael's son Patrick (the author's ancestor who emigrated in 1850) have remembered the names of Michael Shannon and Mary Neylon as Patrick's parents. The Shannon-Neylon marriage is recorded in the Ennistymon parish records, and it is the only Shannon-Neylon marriage in the records of this part of Ireland. The baptisms of two of their children are also recorded in the Ennistymon parish registers. We have obituaries for all the children of this older Michael who came to America, and they all fit together well with the birthdates of the two children who were baptized there, name their father Michael, and even mention a brother James (who would be the one who inherited the Killeinagh farm back in Ireland). Michael Shannon and Mary Neylon are named as the parents of Mary (Shannon) Lane in an 1882 biography of Mary's husband Patrick Lane. Furthermore, the James Shannon who owns the Killeinagh Shannon farm in 1996 remembered that his Shannon ancestor of this generation married a Neylon (though he didn't know the first names).
Dennis Nicklaus visited the Killeinagh Shannon farm in 1994 and some of this history is a result of meeting James Shannon, the current owner. A descendent of the younger Michael Shannon (who left in 1883), Mary (Shannon) Flood, of Chandler, Arizona, had previously contacted this current Killeinagh James. Mary's research has been invaluable in piecing things together. I should note that there is a second Michael Shannon on the 1855 Griffith's Valuation living in the vicinity of Ennistymon. However, all the available evidence points to the Killeinagh Shannon's as our ancestors.
One further piece of evidence linking our Shannons back to Killeinagh is as follows: Through Mary (Shannon) Flood, her branch, and the Michael who immigrated in 1883 is definitely linked back to Killeinagh. A niece of this 1883 immigrant Michael was Isabelle Shannon, who ran a ``Shannon Candies'' candy company (Shannon's Gold Coast Chocolates) in Chicago before her death in 1955. Apparently this Isabelle was one of the few (or perhaps simply one of the last) of the US immigrants to know that the two Shannon branches were related (before 1994, anyway). Isabelle attended some % Shannon family reunions % in the 1920s. Attendees at these reunions included descendents of Honora Shannon McGrath (daughter of Michael Shannon and Mary Neylon) and children of Thomas Lucien Shannon. (Thomas was a grandson of Michael Shannon and Mary Neylon through Patrick Shannon.) Elizabeth ``Betty'' Comstock (a great-granddaughter of Honora) attended these reunions as a child and remembers Isabelle being there but didn't previously know what, if any, relation Isabelle was to her. The reunions were held near DeKalb, Illinois, sort of a halfway point for those who came from Chicago and those who came from the Clinton area. There is also at least % one photo taken at one reunion with Isabelle in it. %
Isabel Shannon of Chicago also attended the funeral of Patrick Shannon's daughter, Mary (Shannon) McDermott in 1930.
Mary (McDermott) Ryan (a granddaughter of Mary Shannon McDermott) said that she and lots of the Iowa relatives remember Isabelle since Isabelle came out for various functions, and several of them visited Isabelle's candy factory.
The final and biggest link between this Isabelle and the Iowa Shannons is that Isabelle shared an apartment in Chicago with her distant cousin, % Walter Thomas Shannon,% son of % Thomas Lucien Shannon.% Walter ran the chocolate factory with Isabelle, and Walter is named as her ``cousin'' in Isabelle's obituary. Isabelle's place in the family can be found Here.
There are no surviving detailed census records from Ireland for the mid-1800s. However, there are summaries of population totals by townlands in 1841 and 1851. Since Killeinagh is such a small townland so that the Shannon families were the only residents, we can learn some interesting things from the total populations. The population of Killeinagh in 1841 was 16 people (7 male, 9 female) in two houses. In 1851 there were 15 people (8 male, 7 female).
By 1841, the known family of Michael Shannon and Mary Neylon would have accounted for 2 males and 5 females. The known family of the other branch, headed by John Shannon and Bridget Friel would account for 3 males and 2 females. So there were four more people living there who are unaccounted for, possibly some grandparents, brothers of the heads of the households, or children we don't know about.
I received a photo containing several of Michael's children from descendents of Michael's daughter Honora. Five daughters are named in the photo (although married names of 4 of them weren't known) and one man in the photo was identified as Patrick Shannon. I'm absolutely sure that it isn't Michael's son Patrick, however. My best guess is that it is the younger son William. I date the photo to about the 1880s, based on the apparent age of the women (roughly age 40--50, except for Honora who looks very young here). Also, the photo of the Patrick Shannon family (taken early 1880s) is visible hanging on the wall in the background. Patrick is much older looking in that photo of him and his children. The younger son William was born in 1850, so his age could fit with the relatively young looking man in this Shannon siblings photo. If the rest of the people in the photo are the sisters, it is fitting that they would have included a brother in the photo. Also, William's 1883 or 1885 wedding in Chicago could have provided the reason for the family reunion where this photo was taken. There is no Patrick Shannon in the extended family of about that age. A second possibility is that it is Patrick H. Lane (b. 1860), son of Mary Shannon Lane, but I think that is not as likely.
Ireland is divided up into many overlapping civil and religious districts. For your information, Killeinagh is in County Clare, Corcomroe Barony, Clooney civil Parish, and the Ennistymon Poor Law Union.
Sources for this individual: @S125@ @S126@ @S127@ @S128@ @S354@
