My ancestors - Cashel - Contents

Cashel of Co.Kerry

The "Blennerhassett problem"

The "Holy Grail" of my family tree research has always been the Blennerhassett problem, the problem of how we connect through George Cashel (born 1807) to the Blennerhassett family. The family story is that a Mr. Cashel ran away with a Miss Blennerhassett and were the parents of George Cashel.

In 2020, I finally proved that George Cashel descends from the Blennerhassett Baronets branch. See Proof of our descent from Blennerhassett. We suspect the family story is not true and there was no runaway marriage. We probably descend through a natural child in that branch. But the details of how, and whose child, remain to be worked out.

Cashel may not be a real name

One major issue with the family story is that George Cashel has no Cashel relations. He has no siblings, no parents, no cousins appearing at any event in his life. No other Cashel appears in his life. If Mr. Cashel ran away with a Miss Blennerhassett, would they not have had other children? Would a parent not somehow appear in George's life? His descendants do not even DNA match anyone with a Cashel ancestor. (And they probably should.) Surely his father "Mr. Cashel" had siblings or cousins for DNA to match?

The conclusion is we are not sure "Mr. Cashel" exists. George Cashel might be (most likely is) the natural son of a Blennerhassett man. Could the mother be a Miss Cashel? Maybe, but why do we not DNA match any Cashels?

We are not even sure if "Cashel" is a real surname, or a surname made up for a natural child.

Our family

Following the family story:

Edward Cashel,
or Edward George Cashel [PAT/13, no.2-3],
or George Edward Cashel [PAT/13, no.6],
or George Philip Cashel [PAT/10, p.3].
He was said to be Catholic.
He married pre-1807 to Letitia Blennerhassett.
She was said by my family to be "Letitia", but there is no record of such a Blennerhassett daughter.
She was Protestant. Said to be a runaway marriage.
According to the family story, Edward and Letitia had issue:
1. George Cashel,
  born 1807, Co.Kerry.
  Since he retired 1 Feb 1867, maybe this was at age 60 and maybe he was born around 1 Feb 1807.
  Also written "George Blennerhassett Cashel" and "George S. Cashel".
  See George Cashel's middle name.
  He was Catholic. (Though this may only have been through his marriage in 1838.)
  As stated, we are not actually sure about his father or mother.
  However, DNA and documents prove that either through his father or his mother he descends from Robert Blennerhassett and Frances Yielding.
  Hence he is descendant of Edward III and Aoife MacMurrough and Brian Boru.

The notes of Pat Lavelle show the mother of George Cashel as a Letitia Blennerhassett.

Spelling of surname

The proper spelling of the surname seems to be "Cashel" not "Cashell".

George Cashel is spelled "George Cashell" in many places, but none apparently written by him.
He is spelled "Cashell" in Disciplinary action in 1829, land records in 1850s, Petty Sessions in 1850s-60s and land records in 1860s.
William Henry Cashel is spelled "William Henry Cashell" in a newspaper of 1869.
After 1870 the spelling in the family is always "Cashel".

George Cashel's middle name

George Cashel is normally written with no middle name.
He is "George Cashel" or sometimes "George Cashell".
But he does appear during his life as "George Blennerhassett Cashel" and "George S. Cashel".
[PAT/13, no.6] also lists him as "George Edward Cashel", but this is long after his death.

Why did George Cashel not always use "Blennerhassett" in his name?
He named his son "Blennerhassett" Cashel. It would be useful to your career to carry the name of a great family, and claim you were a cousin.
But it is interesting that George almost never uses "Blennerhassett" in his own name. Why not? Would it not be useful for his career too?
Maybe for him, his origin as an irregular child was too close and too embarrassing. He might be called a "bastard" (if indeed he was a natural child). Whereas for his son it would be far less embarrassing.

What could "S" stand for?
It is mysterious that sometimes he is "George S. Cashel". What male names begin with S?

Stephen. A name found in an unidentified Cashell family.
Samuel. A name in one branch of Blennerhassett, a little distant from the Baronets family.
Simon. A name in the Yielding family.

"George Blennerhassett Cashel" on marriage cert of his son Blennerhassett Cashel in 1869.
See full size.

"George S. Cashel" sponsors the baptism of (his grandson) Willie Cashel in 1875.

Death notice of "George S. Cashel" in Irish Times, Fri 23 June 1882.

Death notice of "George S. Cashel" in Freeman's Journal, 23 June 1882.

[PAT/13, no.6] lists him as "George Edward Cashel", but this is written long after his death.

Real Gaelic descents v. Imaginary Gaelic descents

Some fictional Gaelic genealogy about Cashel from Pat Lavelle in [PAT/4].
She refers to her grandfather Blennerhassett Cashel.
Pat was fascinated by old Gaelic Ireland, but ironically, she could not see that Blennerhassett, not Cashel, or O'Mara, or any other family, was the only line that would give her a real descent from medieval and Gaelic Ireland.

The claimed descent of Blennerhassett Cashel from the Kings of Cashel is imaginary.
However, Blennerhassett Cashel descends for real from the Blennerhassett family of Co.Kerry.
In 2020, after 35 years of research, I proved that he descends from Henry Blennerhassett of Annaghgarry, Co.Kerry (died before 1728).
Henry Blennerhassett's mother and grandmother and great-grandmother all have proven descents from Aoife MacMurrough (who married Strongbow in 1171) and Brian Boru, High King of Ireland (died 1014). Every step in the descents is proven.
It took me 35 years to prove our descent from Brian Boru. But if Pat's grandfather had only ignored that old man and written down who his own grandparents were, I could have had a descent from Brian Boru my whole life.

There is another link to Irish nationalism: Rowland Ponsonby Blennerhassett, MP, the famous Home Rule MP elected in 1872.
According to my theory of our descent, Blennerhassett Cashel was probably his 2nd cousin.
Pat Lavelle was aware of Rowland Ponsonby Blennerhassett, MP, and talks about his famous victory for Home Rule in [PAT/12, p.14-15]. But she does not write down our link to him.

References

Papers of Patricia Lavelle

The Cashell family (that descends from Rowan and Blennerhassett)

Miscellaneous Cashels

Connection to Stack:
- Eithne O'Mara thought our Cashels were somehow related to Stack of Listowel, Co.Kerry. No evidence for this has been found.
Connection to Ledwidge:
- There was a story that the poet Francis Ledwidge is somehow related to our Cashels. No evidence for this has been found.
- See Francis Ledwidge: A Life of the Poet, by Alice Curtayne, 1972.
- Francis Ledwidge was born 1887, Slane, Co.Meath, the son of Patrick Ledwidge [born 1840], a migrant labourer, and his wife Anne Lynch [born 1850, dau of Nicholas Lynch, of Slane].