Evidence of descent from Stephen Cashel family
Blennerhassett and O'Connell
The "Holy Grail" of my genealogy has been
the search for the origin of
our ancestor
George Cashel (born 1807).
Theory of our descent from Blennerhassett
explains what is known so far.
One strand of evidence proves descent from the
Blennerhassett Baronets family
using DNA.
Another strand of evidence indicates descent from the
O'Connell / Tuohy family.
It may be this is his mother's family, and Blennerhassett his father's family.
Cashel
But if
neither parent of George Cashel is Cashel,
how can he be called Cashel?
Is it an invented surname for a natural child?
Or could he be
adopted?
I started looking again at a George Cashel
I had known about him for years,
now wondering if he was adopted.
This is George Cashel,
baptised July 1808,
son of
Stephen Cashel of Tralee.
Many things suddenly make sense if we descend from this family
(either biologically or by adoption).
An adopted family would
explain why George Cashel's descendants do not DNA match any Cashel in the world
- which otherwise is hard to explain.
George Cashel is not a Cashel.
He is in fact a Blennerhassett.
But we should keep an open mind.
Maybe we have just not found the right Cashels to compare to.
I had discovered this George Cashel's baptism by
Jan 2004
(when my father was alive).
I could not see how it could be our George though.
It did not make sense.
Note I had not yet discovered it in
Aug 2003.
Reasons our George Cashel may be of the Stephen Cashel family
There are a remarkable number of clues that our George is connected to
the
Stephen Cashel (or Cashell) family of Tralee,
either biologically or by adoption.
General:
- This family is in Tralee, which is the right place for
both the Blennerhassett Baronets (at Blennerville)
and the Thomas O'Connell, MD, family.
- This family has a son George Cashel (or Cashell), baptised Catholic in 1808.
Just about the right age to be our George.
Parents' names:
- This George Cashel's mother is
Agnes Noonan.
This is really important.
This would
explain our George Cashel's attachment to the name "Agnes" for his daughters.
His daughter Agnes died and then he named his second daughter Agnes.
This makes sense if Agnes Noonan was his mother.
- This George Cashel's father is
Stephen Cashel.
This would explain our George Cashel's middle initial "S."
which otherwise is unexplained.
Links to Blennerhassett and O'Connell:
- This family actually descends from Blennerhassett.
Agnes Noonan is daughter of
Catherine Blennerhassett (or Hassett)
from an unknown Blennerhassett branch.
She is grandmother of this George Cashel.
We will consider this again below.
- "Nelly Hassett" sponsors the baptism of the child of Stephen Cashel and Agnes Noonan in 1815.
One possibility for Nelly is
Ellen Tuohy,
now
Mrs. Ellen Blennerhassett,
linked to our O'Connell family.
She may be the grandmother of George Cashel.
Though another possibility for Nelly is a relation of Agnes' mother Catherine Blennerhassett.
- Our
George Cashel gave one of his children the middle name
"Henry" in 1844.
This could be after Ellen Tuohy's husband
Henry Blennerhassett (died 1816).
Maybe Ellen and Henry helped take care of the infant George.
Maybe they were the grandmother and step-grandfather of George.
George Cashel naming his son Blennerhassett:
- This George Cashel's grandmother
Catherine Blennerhassett
died at a great age in April 1847.
- This George Cashel's mother
Agnes (dau of Catherine)
died in Dec 1847.
- Our George Cashel
had three sons in 1840 to 1846.
He named his next son, born in June 1848,
"Blennerhassett" Cashel.
Maybe in honour of his grandmother (and mother).
Blennerhassett of Ballyseedy:
Miscellaneous:
- There is a "Catherine Lawlor" sponsoring the Cashel baptisms.
One document thought Thomas O'Connell, MD
had a daughter who married Lalor.
- The Stephen Cashel
Deed of Oct 1816
was witnessed by James Connor of Tralee.
This could be our James Connor,
closely linked to our O'Connell family.
Though as a lawyer he would probably witness many deeds in Tralee.
- Probably irrelevant:
Agnes Noonan had a sister
Letitia Noonan.
This may explain how my family remembered the name Letitia.
Though perhaps a better explanation is the
Rowland and Letitia stained glass window.
- It is interesting (but maybe irrelevant) that George Cashel's
brother-in-law
William Kickham
adopted a child in the 1850s.
Many things make sense
So, as we see, many things make sense if our George Cashel is of this family.
Whether he is their biological child or adopted child we do not know.
Nor have we actually proved this
is our George.
So far, no one from this family ever turns up later in our George's life.
Though he did move far away from Kerry and Cork.
Baptism of George Cashell, 24 July 1808, Tralee.
Parents
Agnes and Stephen make a lot of sense for our George.
Baptism of Jane Cashell, 30 Dec 1815,
sp Nelly Hassett.
Catherine Blennerhassett is the irregular child?
Looking into this family, a big discovery is that the
mother of Agnes Noonan is
Catherine Blennerhassett (or Hassett),
born c.1760,
from an unknown Blennerhassett branch.
She was either born Catholic or married a Catholic.
She is grandmother of this George Cashel.
What if this
Catherine Blennerhassett
is the Blennerhassett line we descend from?
But then how to explain the DNA matches with the Blennerhassett Baronets family?
Theory: Catherine Blennerhassett is natural dau of 1st Baronet
Here is a theory that can simplify these strands of evidence.
- Catherine Blennerhassett could (just about) be natural daughter of
Rowland Blennerhassett (later 1st Baronet)
from some affair when he was young, before he got married in 1762.
Catherine marries Noonan. Their daughter marries Cashel.
Their son is George. He is close to his grandmother Catherine Blennerhassett.
After she dies in old age in 1847, he names his son Blennerhassett Cashel in 1848.
The Blennerhassett family then appears closer to his family than it was in reality.
He is great-grandson of the 1st Baronet.
- (Note: The dates do not really work for Catherine to be daughter of Rowland's younger brother
Arthur Blennerhassett, of Fortfield,
who would
we think be age c.15.)
- Then what about an O'Connell girl as the mother?
Could be a
sister of Thomas O'Connell, MD.
She would be 2nd cousin of Rowland Blennerhassett.
So they could easily meet alright.
- (Note: The dates do not work for the mother to be a
sister of Ellen Tuohy.
Need Elizabeth Fitzmaurice to be a grandmother at around age 35.)
Against this theory:
- If unmarried Rowland got an unmarried cousin pregnant, surely the family would force them to marry?
- For both Blennerhassett and O'Connell, this theory seems less likely according to the DNA.
The relationship on both sides should be closer.
- Who is Mary Hasset,
who sponsored the baptism of Catherine's child in 1791?
- We are saying George is biological child of Stephen Cashel.
But so far we have no DNA match to anyone with a Cashel ancestor.
And we have been looking.
For this theory:
- An adoption was always a clunky theory.
In this theory, there is no adoption.
Just a father's family and a mother's family. No third family.
Catherine is a natural child. We descend from her.
The affair is further back than we thought.
Somehow the DNA still works.
- It is quite a coincidence there is a Blennerhassett in the ancestry of this George,
and she died in 1847 just before our George named his son Blennerhassett.
This theory looks like it must mean something.
But right now it is just adding new clues to a mountain of clues,
without the narrative that will bring them all together and explain them.
Extract from
[Deed of 1843].
Shows Catherine Blennerhassett
is mother of Agnes Noonan
and grandmother of George Cashel.
