See Clare Past Forum: Verlin / Verling / Virlin of Tubber, Co. Clare

The following information was collated in connection with, and from the perspective of, research on the Verlin families of Tubber, a small geographical area which straddles the Clare/Galway border. The starting point was a family relationship between my great-greatgrandfather Denis Howard of the village of Moyrhee in the townland of Shanballysallagh in Tubber and John Verling of the townland of Derrylummaun in Tubber (both townlands on the Clare side of the border) who married Denis' sister Elizabeth.

There were several Verlin families in the Tulla area. They have been documented in various ways by several members of the Clare family history fraternity/sorority to whom I am grateful.

Note: the name may be spelled Verlin, Verling or Virlin.
Denis Howard, ca 1799-1871, was very probably the brother of Elizabeth Howard, who married John Verling (presumably the John Verling of Derrylummaun listed in the Griffiths of 1855). Thus Eliza and John Verling would be the couple listed in the 1901 census of Derrylumman with their daughter Catherine, aged 37.

In 1938 my grandfather John Casey, in a letter to his brother in Australia, wrote "......You remember Grandfather Denis Howard. His sister our grand Aunt lived with the Clunes, I think this is the only connection we have with the Clunes. Our Grand Aunt was Mrs Verlin, the mother of our cousin Johnny Verlin. One of the Clunes was at School with me in Ruan....".

1. Derrylummaun: Frank Brew's book (The Parish of Kilkeedy - a Local History, compiled and published by Frank Brew, Castlequarter, Tubber, Co. Clare, 1998) refers to this townland on p. 11 as follows:
   "Derrylummaun......could mean the Bare Rocky Wood. (Compare Gort Loman, Barefield). It has also been translated the Wood of the Shield (Frost). Although there is no sign of a wood there now, the place consists of an oasis of dry land surrounded by bog and wet land with the Castlelodge river on one side. This river starts from a small lake about 2 miles south of Gort and just east of the railway. After flowing southwest for about 4 miles it turns to the right and crosses the railway and road to form some good sized lakes in the neighbourhood of Fiddane castle.
   
   Half a mile further on it enters Kilkeedy parish passing close by the blessed well of Tubber, and after another mile it disappears in the waters of Muckenagh Lough or Lake Tullymacken as it is known locally. In a locality where streams are rare indeed, it is much sought after by local fishermen on the Sundays.
   
   In 1854 the area of the townland was 92 acres divided between Murray, Hynes, Walsh, Hickey and Verlin. Verlin was an unusual name, and they are said to have been "gentility" that came down in the world. They were good athletes, and one of the family was a priest in Australia, while older people remember Catherine whose conversation certainly had a refined air about it. The only person paying tithes in 1824 was Henry Murray on 57 acres. In 1838 there was a kiln for drying corn situated in the northern end of the townland."
   
   Note: Derrylummaun is only 10-15 minutes walk over the fields from Moyrhee, the village where Denis Howard and his family lived.
   
   
2. Tithe Applotments
   No Verlins or Verlings in the Tubber area but they were listed in the parishes of Kilseily, Tulla and Clonlea (three contiguous parishes in East Clare - see Map of Civil Parishes of County Clare for their locations).
   
   
3. Griffiths Valuation 1855
   
   

   Surname	Forename	Townland, Town, Street	Parish	Union
   Verlin	Eliza	Cloondanagh	Tulla	Tulla
   Verlin	Thomas	Cloonloum More	Clonlea	Tulla
   Verling	John	Derrylumman	Kilkeedy	Corrofin
   Verling	Judith	Rinecaha	Kilkeedy	Corrofin

   
   
4. Tubber baptisms
   
   

   Date	Child's name	Father's fore- name	Father's surname	Mother's fore- name	Mother's surname	Resid- ence	Sponsor1	Sponsor2
   19 May 1872	Denis	Patt	Howard	Kate	McCaul	Moyrhee	David(?) Verlin	Susan Ryan
   1838	Bridget	Denis	Howard	Mary	Ryan		John Verlin	Honora Keating
   17 May 1872	Bridgt.	Tom	Considine	Margt.	Fox	P??????	Martin ?erlin (Verlin?)	Katy do.

   
   
5. 1901 census of Derrylumman
   
   

   Surname	Christian Name	Rel to H of F	Religion	Education	Age	Sex	Occupation	Marriage	Where born	Irish Language
   Verlin	John	Head of Family	Roman Catholic	Read-Write	52	M	Farmer	Not Married	Co. Clare	Irish-English
   Verlin	Eliza	Mother	Roman Catholic	Read-Write	81	F	Seamstress	Widow	Co. Clare	Irish-English
   Verlin	Catherine	Sister	Roman Catholic	Read-Write	37	F	House Business	Not Married	Co. Clare	Irish-English

   
   
6. 1901 census of Rinecaha
   
   No Verlins listed.
   
   
7. Origin of the Verlins in Clare – forcible transfer from Co.Cork In a text entitled The O'Callaghan Family by Mary Mullins (I can no longer find the original reference to this article or book) I found the following:
   The O'Callaghans after whom the village (O'Callaghans Mills – PAC) is named, were transplanted here from Dromaneen Castle two miles west of Mallow in County Cork.
   
   This was part of the Cromwellian transplantation strategy to oust the sitting Irish owners of good land and estates and place British families in their place. Donogh O'Callaghan Chief of his name, and his wife Elena were amongst those who had to leave their prime Munster estates when given the choice of ''to hell or to Clare". By 1654 he had settled in his new home and received his legal rights to the lands assigned to him within the county by August 29th, 1657.
   
   Like many others, he received title to much smaller estates than those he had been parted so unwillingly from. His grant amounted to 2,788 profitable acres in lieu of his previous holding of 112,000 on the other side of the Shannon river.
   
   Donogh O'Callaghan also introduced the names Lenihan, Noonan, Connell and Verlin into Clare, as people of those names were in the service of The O'Callaghan and followed him into exile in the Banner County.
   
   The O'Callaghan lands were situated within a triangle formed between Bodyke to the east, Tulla to the west and Kilkishen to the south. Mountallon was the first O'Callaghan seat in the county. Here he maintained a poet in keeping with the old Gaelic custom; and in his lifetime the house was known as Min Thalún, meaning the gentle land.
   
   The house appears to have been abandoned by the O'Callaghans in the 1750s for Kilgorey. By 1845 it had fallen into ruin. Kilgorey House is now almost totally demolished. This was a large seventeenth-century house and estate to which Donogh's son, another Donogh, received title in 1675. This remained the seat of the senior branch of the O'Callaghans until 1791 when the last male member of the family was killed in a duel at Spancil Hill.
   
   The O'Callaghans of Clonloum were descended from Donogh's youngest brother, Conor. Conor fought at the siege of Mallow and was outlawed at Youghal in 1642.
   
   There is a castle site in the townland of Coolreagh East and the ruin of a tower house in Ballinahinch. No mention was made of either in the 1580 list of castles.
   
   
8. Richard Verlin listed as flax grower in Tulla in 1796
   http://www.connorsgenealogy.com/clare/clareflax.htm
   
   
9. Death of Richard Verlin 1853
   Clare Journal Mar 14 1853: Death on Wednesday last at Clondanagh, near Tulla, Mr. Richard Verlin, leaving an amiable young wife to deplore his loss. The cause of his death was from injuries he received in this town at the last election.
   From http://www.newspaperabstracts.com/link.php?action=detail&id=219

Family Histories