West Gwillimbury's Mini-Castlebar
by
Nancy O'Donnell, Dundalk, Canada
In a small rural cemetery outside the town of Bradford, Ontario, in the township of West Gwillimbury, there are four tombstones bearing the proud inscription "Native of Co. Mayo." Each details the births and deaths of Irish settlers who emigrated to Upper Canada during the 1800s from the town of Castlebar.
Thomas Gibbons, was the first of these Castlebar settlers to arrive. Emigrating in 1810, a mere lad of fourteen, he wandered throughout the area before returning to Ireland.
Next to arrive were two O'Donnell men, Richard and John. They were soldiers in the 68th Regiment of Foot. After enlisting in Castlebar, May 1816, they sailed with their regiment for Quebec City. Their orders were to establish a series defense posts against American attack. Detachments were sent to various spots along the shores of Lake Ontario, Lake Huron and Georgian Bay. Records indicate John and Richard spent time at each of these locations. While marching from one area to another they unquestionably walked through, or near, the very fields they were eventually to clear and farm! Surprisingly, records indicate that Richard was not alone during these years.. His wife Mary Regan traveled with him from post to post. By the time of Richard's discharge there were at least four young children, all born at various military encampments.
In 1829 the regiment returned to Ireland. It is not known whether Richard returned with it. Soldiers serving in Canada often were induced to remain in Canada by an offer of 100 acres of land. Land records show that in 1831 Richard petitioned for, and received, 100 West Gwillimbury acres, about 50 miles north of Toronto. He and his wife lived and died here.
John returned to Ireland where in July, 1830 he received a medical discharge from Kilmainham Hospital, Dublin. Injuries to his right leg and the "subsequent debility of the limb" rendered him "unfit for active duties of a military life." Despite this, he was given sixteen "Days' Marching Allowance", to sustain him during his walk to Castlebar. There in February, 1831, he married Margaret Joice.
With a pension of six pence per diem" promised to him, he set out once again for North America. But not before he had notified Chelsea Hospital of his intention "to remove to Canada", having "not left either wife, child, or children, chargeable on any Parish." In 1832 he, like Richard, petitioned for, and received, 100 acres in West Gwillimbury. He and Margaret became neighbours of Richard and Mary. Before long, they were followed by two more O'Donnell families. John's younger brother Anthony and his wife Mary Rowan, arrived some time before 1839. They lived on, and eventually purchased, 50 of John's 100 acres. Anthony was followed by Roger O'Donnell, his wife Bridget Tunney and their four children.
Next to arrive, in 1840, was Thomas Gibbons, who had returned with his two sons, Lawrence and John. All three eventually purchased separate tracts of land just south east of Richard and John.. Shortly after Patrick and Mary (Grahen) Gibbons arrived with their son Patrick and possibly a daughter Catherine. They purchased land just north of Richard. In 1842 these 'exiles' from Castlebar were joined by John McNally, a pensioner of the Battle of Waterloo, his wife Catherine, and their four daughters. The exact arrival date of the Dillons, James and Martin, remains unknown but it probably was about this time as well.
What ever relationships the above Castlebar families had in Ireland, once in Canada they became not only close friends but family. Two of the McNally daughters, Bridget and Hannorah, married James and Martin Dillon. A third, Mary, married Thomas Gibbons' youngest son, John in 1852, while a fourth, Catherine, married Richard O'Donnell's son Richard Jr. in 1858. Thomas Gibbons oldest son, Lawrence married Richard O'Donnell's youngest daughter, Mary. And Anthony O'Donnell's daughter, Mary Ann, married Patrick and Mary Gibbons' son, Patrick. Soon there were no end of Gibbons, O'Donnells and Dillons. It became a genealogist's worst nightmare!
Family gatherings were frequent what with marriages, births and deaths. In 1902 John and Mary (McNally) Gibbons celebrated their golden wedding anniversary. The local newspaper reported that during the evening, "Mrs. John Gibbons sang several songs, one of them entitled, 'Mary Melvin of the Shannon Side,' - a memory of their dear native land, Ireland."
While some details are known about these families and
their descendants, next to nothing is known about their
lives in Ireland. Who were their parents? Did they leave
brothers and sisters behind when they emigrated? Was it a
coincidence that they were all from Castlebar or had they
been neighbours and/or family there? Coincidence or not,
they formed in effect a 'mini' Castlebar
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