My Story: Ardal O'Hanlon
{Series 1}
The greatest problem we had with Ardal's family history was that he knew too much! His father, Dr. Rory O'Hanlon, has put together a very detailed family tree, thoroughly researched back across six generations to Ardle Hanlon, a publican in Armagh born in 1773. So for this programme, the challenge was not to find out who Ardal's ancestors were, but rather to find out more about them as people...
Ardal was aware that his grandfather, Michael O'Hanlon, had been involved in some way in the War of Independence and the Civil War. Ardal's father Rory is very protective of Micheal's reputation, and the family never spoke much about that momentous era in Irish history. Rather than family oral history, we needed to find real documentary proof of Michael O'Hanlon's military career...
In Blackrock College in South Dublin, archivist Caroline Mullan was able to uncover entrance records, bills, diaries and other documents which allowed Ardal to learn a bit more about his Grandfather as a young boy. He and his classmates were in the college on Easter Sunday 1916, and Ardal found proof that his grandfather climbed onto the roof of the school to watch the troops go past and to watch the city burn.
http://www.blackrockcollege.ie/blackrock/www/
In the UCD Archives, Ardal was given special permission to view an original interview conducted with his grandfather by Ernie O'Malley. O'Malley was a former IRA commander who later interviewed more than 400 volunteers as a valuable slice of Irish history. The entire interview notebooks are available to view as computer scans, but Ardal was allowed to handle and read the original hand-written transcript. The main revelation was a very intimate description of his Grandfather's role on the morning of Bloody Sunday, when he was one of a handful of volunteers sent out by Michael Collins across Dublin to wipe out the British Intelligence Network.
Cross-referenced with other information in the Irish Military Archives and first-hand accounts, Ardal was able to discover that his grandfather's target was a Captain Brian Keenlyside, lodging in Pembroke Street in the centre of Dublin. Keenlyside survived, partly because his wife was in bed with him at the time, and threw her arms around him.
The other fascinating revelation in the O'Malley notebooks was the description of a tunnelled escape from the Tintown Internment Camp at the Curragh during the Civil War. Like a movie script, it went into incredible detail about the digging of the tunnel and the eventual escape, including the fact that the best footballers were put at the door to the hut where the tunnel was being dug – they could stop any stray footballs during the day, which might hit the hut and collapse the tunnel!
One of the ironies of this episode was that Ardal's Grandfather took part in the war which led to the burning of the Four Courts in 1922, and the destruction of centuries of census records, land deeds and wills. This one fire is what makes genealogy in Ireland such a difficult task.
Recently, a copy of part of the 1821 census was found in the study of a Church of Ireland Rectory. Luckily for Ardal, it lists his Great-Great-Great Grandfather, Ardle Hanlon, a Publican in Mullaghbawn. The pub is still there today.
While the documented O'Hanlon line goes back as far as the birth of Ardle in 1773, family tradition goes even further back, to the 1600s, and the legendary outlaw, Redmond O'Hanlon. Since Ardal called his own son Redmond, he wanted to confirm that he is actually related to the 16th Century rebel...
The problem here was not just lack of certificates and documentary evidence. The part of South Armagh we were dealing with is known as O'Hanlon Country – the name is incredibly widespread, and dates back to the O'Hanlon lords who reigned all-powerful for centuries. We identified at least 3 other Ardals or Ardles, and 5 Redmonds, but no link to the present day Ardal's family. Land records, deeds & grants were perused in Ireland and the UK, but there were no leads there.
In the National Library in Dublin, Ardal went through volumes of “The Ormonde Manuscripts”, which detail the rise and eventual downfall and assassination of Redmond O'Hanlon, but there was little or no mention of family or offspring.
http://www.nli.ie/en/homepage.aspx
Finally, in a small room upstairs in the County Museum in Armagh City, Ardal came across a collection of unpublished manuscripts by the former museum curator, TGF Patterson. Over the years, Patterson had combined folklore, local oral history and official documents to build up an encyclopedia of Armagh life. One of the chapters in his 'Armachiana' collection contained very detailed pedigrees for both the last O'Hanlon Lord, Sir Eochaidh, and the rebel Redmond O'Hanlon. After hours of wading through Patterson's detailed family trees, Ardal grudgingly accepted that the names didn't tally with his own family tree, and the chances were that he isn't directly related to the outlaw or the last lord.
http://www.armaghcountymuseum.org.uk/
The other story which fasicated Ardal was a family myth... As a child, Ardal had spent hours reading through the family's copy of Collier's Encyclopedia, and it was often said that the Collier family were related in some way. Ardal thought nothing of it... until now!
Adal's grandmother, Daisy Fenelon, was born in Myshall, Co. Carlow – the same town the Collier Family emigrated to America from. In Carlow County Library, using land records such as Griffith's Valuation & Cancelled Books, Ardal was able to take the Fenelon ownership of the family farm in Myshall back to the 1850's, and his Great Great Grandparents, Andrew & Ann Fenelon. At the same time, less than a mile away, Robert Collier & Catherine Fenelon lived. One of their sons was Peter Fenelon Collier, who went on to found the Collier Publishing empire in New York.
http://www.carlow.ie/Information/LibraryServices/Pages/default.aspx
In the Parish house in Myshall, Ardal was allowed to look through original church records dating back to pre-famine times. He first discovered the wedding of Robert Collier and Catherine Fenelon, and then the birth of their first son. The godparents of that first son were listed as Andrew & Ann Fenelon! Based on Irish traditions, Ardal surmised that Andrew was more than likely to be the brother of Catherine Fenelon, if he was asked to be godfather to her first child.
Knowing that there was a strong family connection to the Collier family, Ardal decided to follow the story to America...
There were a few biographies of PF Collier online, and an article in the online archives of the New York Times led Ardal to the old Headquarters of the Collier Publishing empire, in downtown Manhattan. The vital clue there was the inscription in granite above the door: 'PF Collier & Son'. This suggested that PF Collier only had one son & heir. A death notice for Peter Collier confirmed that he was survived by his only son, who was to take over the entire fortune: Robert J Collier.
Searching online, Ardal was able to discover that Robert J Collier was a journalist, playboy, and amateur aviator. His friends included the Wright Brothers, Mark Twain and Teddy Roosevelt. He married Sarah Van Alen, who was a grand-daughter of the incredibly wealthy Astor family. An online death notice showed that Robert had died young, from a heart attack, after returning from the trenches of World War 1.
In the Surrogate's Court in lower Manhattan, Ardal searched for a will for Robert Collier, to see where the Publishing fortune went to... It transpired that he left nothing to his wife, and left the company & his entire fortune to three friends and polo-playing partners! Ardal was disgusted, particularly since Robert had poor cousins living back on a farm in Myshall, Co. Carlow.
http://www.nycourts.gov/courts/1jd/surrogates/index.shtml
With further research online, Ardal discovered that the will was a sham: Robert had no money to leave. His playboy ways and fascination with aviation had run the company into the ground. It turns out the friends refused to accept the will, and the company name reverted to Robert's widow Sarah, who sold it off.
Finally, Ardal visits New Jersey, and the former hunting lodge of the Collier family. Today it's a school for under-privileged children run by the Sisters of the Good Shepherd. Robert's widow Sarah left it to the order, perhaps because she herself was childless. However, Ardal discovers that Sarah & Robert did have one child, a son, who died prematurely in 1903... a son who could have kept the dynasty alive, and who could have distracted Robert from his playboy ways...
All three generations of the Collier Family are buried in the grounds of the hunting lodge. As Ardal describes the family, they were like a Roman Candle that burned very brightly, very briefly...
