Individual Details

Michael GORDON

(1818 - 13 Jan 1886)

According to a piece by Br. Robert Egan, S.S.C. on the New York Heritage website (www.newyorkheritage.com), titled 'The Egans of Aughalustia', his ancestor Peter Egan, "On leaving school at the age of fourteen, [he] worked with his father on the farm. He must have been a far-seeing, hard-working young man, for in 1840, at the age of thirty-one he had sufficient money to purchase a small farm in the townland of Aughalustia, four miles west of Cloonfad. This farm was purchased from a family called Gordon. They had been herds for Lord De Freyne who rewarded them by conferring on them the ownership of about 600 acres of the best land in Aughalustia. The portion that Peter purchased was by no means good, for part of it was wooded and low-lying. What he paid for it, I was unable to ascertain. The Gordon land was extensive and fertile. Before the advent of Lord De Freyne many Catholics owned that land." Was the Gordon land referred to by Br. Egan the property of Michael Gordon above?

There is a 1901 census record for England that gives details of a Patrick Gordon, a 22-year-old farm labourer who was born in Aughalustia. It is possible that he is connected to the family of Michael above but I haven't been able to establish an exact relationship. The Patrick Gordon from the census was living in what looks like the village or hamlet of Woodham in the parish of Yoxall in Staffordshire.

A baptism record has been located for a Cormac Gordon, son of Michael and Mary Gordon (Mary's maiden name is not given) who was baptised on 20 July 1852 in Ballaghaderreen. The sponsor was Michael Finn. Given the father's and sponsor's names, there may be a connection between Cormac and our Michael above.

Events

Birth1818probably Kilgarriff, Fairymount, Co. Roscommon
Death13 Jan 1886Aughalustia, Co. Roscommon

Families