ROURKE, Mary ^{4 5 6}

   Cause of her death was burning injuries sustained for five days.

   Other names for Mary were HAMILL, Mary, HAMMILL, Mary, McGONIGLE, Mary, McGUNIGAL, Mary,¹¹ McGUNNIGAL, Mary,^{12 13} O'RORKE, Maria, O'RORKE, Mary, O'ROURK, Mary, O'ROURKE, Maria, O'ROURKE, Mary ^{1 12 13} and RORKE, Mary.

   User ID: K969.

  General Notes:

"Church Baptism Record

Name:Mary Rourke
Date of Birth:
Date of Baptism:07-May-1855
Address:Killybrackey
Parish/District:DUNGANNON
Gender:Unknown
County:TYRONE
Father:Francis Rourke
Mother:Margaret Campble
Occupation:
Sponsor 1 /Informant 1:Catherine
Sponsor 2 /Informant 2:
Notes: / /

© Copyright Irish World Heritage Centre (Tyrone + Fermanagh)"

from www.rootsireland.ie

In the Church Baptism Record transcribed (above) and made available by the Irish Family History Foundation, Mary Rourke was recorded as having been baptised on 7 May 1855, in the RC parish of Dungannon in County Tyrone, Ireland. Her parents were Francis Rourke and Margaret Campble. The address noted was Killybrackey. The sponsor was recorded simply as 'Catherine'.

The 1861 census recorded Mary, aged 5 years, a scholar, living at 73 Omoa Square, in the village of Cleland in the parish of Shotts. She was living with her parents, many brothers and sisters, her grandfather, Patrick Campbell, in his nineties, and a lodger, Hugh Trainer. Mary was the youngest of her family.

The 1871 census recorded her living at number 50 'Houses south of Edinburgh Rd', Clarkston, New Monkland. She was aged 15 years, unmarried, and had been born in Ireland.

A woman called Mary Rourke was one of the witnesses at the marriage of Patrick McGonagle and Catherine Welsh, in January 1881. There is a strong probability that it was this Mary. Patrick was an older brother of the James McGunnigal Mary married in 1882.

In the 1881 census Mary O'Rourke lived at 52 Brown's Land, Clarkston, New Monkland with her parents and her two brothers, William and James. She was the youngest of the family living there. She was unmarried, aged 24 years, and worked as a cotton mill worker. She was born in Ireland.

Margaret McGonegal, Mary's first child, was born before Mary, also called Maria, married James McGonegal. She was born on 9 September 1881 at Clarkston. James gave his residence as Chapelhall on the birth certificate. Both parents subscribed their marks: James signed and Maria made her X mark. James was recorded as a furnace assistant, and Maria as a papermill worker.

At her marriage in 1882, Mary was a 'worker in paper mill' and her home was in Clarkston, in the administrative parish of New Monkland. Her age was 24 years. Her mother, Margaret Campbell, was already dead. Her father, Francis, was a coal miner. Mary was able to sign her name in the marriage register.


APPLICATION FOR POOR RELIEF

Mary O'Rourke McGunnigal, of High Rows Chapelhall applied for poor relief on 9 February 1888 at 5/- per week. She was a widow, aged 30 years, born in Ireland and was Roman Catholic. Her husband James McGunnigal, a brusher, also born in Ireland, had died at Bellshill Fever Hospital on 19 January 1888. He was the son of James McGunnigal, labourer, who was dead, and Margaret Harkins resident at Chapelhall. Mary's children were listed as:

Margaret born New Monkland 9 September 1881
James born Chapelhall 22 February 1883
Sarah born Chapelhall 18 December 1884
Francis born Chapelhall 6 June 1886
Mary's parents were recorded as Francis O'Rourke and Margaret Campbell, both of whom were dead.

The details of the poor relief awarded to Mary was as follows:
1888
Feb 9:Enrolled/at 5/- pw
Oct 11:Continue allow at 5/- pw
1889
March 14:Continue allow at 5/- pw
Aug 22:Continue allow at 5/- pw
1890
Jan 9:Continue allow at 5/- pw
May 8:Continue allow at 5/- pw
July 10:Remarried /last payment 18th ult.
1896
Apr 9:Re-enrolled at 7/- weekly
now widow of James Hamill, miner, who died on 6 March last.
Settlement still in this parish by residence Reg no 1393


In 1891, the census recorded a 'Mary Hammill' living in Holytown, in Bothwell parish, the wife of James Hammill. They lived in Briggate Road, Chapelhall, with their new son, John, aged just eight months old, and Mary's four children by her marriage to James McGunnigal, Maggie, James, Sarah, and Francis. In this census return, Mary's birthplace was recorded as Bothwell parish, an error. She was, in fact, born in Ireland.

In 1896, Mary's second husband died. In his death certificate, Mary was listed as his second wife: 'No 2 Mary Rorke, married surname McGonigle'.

In 1899 Mary's brother, William O'Rourke, died. Mary Hamill, who was present where he died at Chapelhall, gave notice of his death before the registrar, William Richard, at Holytown, on 16 February 1899, and made her X mark.

The census of 1901 found Mary Hammill widowed for a second time. She was now head of the family with five of her children, two sons from her first marriage and three sons from her second, living with her at a house in Bo'Ness Road, Chapelhall, two rooms of which were windowed. A visitor, Lizzie McInally, was also resident there on census night. Lizzie was a domestic servant, born in Rawyards in Airdrie. Mary was recorded as aged 42 years and born in Ireland. Francis Rourke and his wife Annie and their four children lived almost next door.

The 1911 census recorded Mary McGunigal living with four of her sons in Main Street, Chapelhall, Lanarkshire in accommodation that had two windowed rooms. She was Irish born and aged 55 years. No occupation was noted.

Mary died in 1917, during the First World War. She was a widow, aged 59 years, according to her death certificate, and usually resident at Hillside Terrace, Chapelhall. She was taken to the Royal Infirmary in Glasgow after being traumatically burnt in her home. A local paper, the Airdrie and Coatbridge Advertiser, carried a short narrative of the death of Mary in February 1917:

"CHAPELHALL-FATAL RESULT OF A BURNING ACCIDENT
Mrs Mary O'Rourke or McGonigle or Hamill (59); a widow, who resided at Hillside Terrace, Main Street, Chapelhall and who met with a serious burning accident recently through accidentally capsizing a paraffin lamp upon the table and setting her clothing on fire, succumbed to her injuries a few days afterwards in the Glasgow Royal Infirmary."

Mary's son, Hugh Hamill, died in 1967. Mary was recorded in the death certificate as 'Mary Hamill previously McGunnigal MS O'Rorke deceased'. ^{8 9 11 14 15 16 17}

  Research Notes:

ROURKE

According to Progenitor of the more Common Irish Family Names by Dr. John O'Donovan, O'Rourke was first recognised in Breifny and flourished by about 893 AD. Bréifne (or Breffny, Breffnie,...) was the Irish kingdom lead by the O'Rourke and O'Reilly septs up to the 17th century. County Cavan (East Bréifne) formed part of the kingdom of Breifne, which included Leitrim (West Bréifne), of which the O'Rourkes were princes. Later, Cavan became distinctively Bréifne O'Reilly; and Leitrim, became Bréifne O'Rourke. Cavan, previously part of Connacht, was designated a part of Ulster in the early 17th century and included in the Ulster plantation from 1608 onward, when it was settled by Scots and English colonists. The O'Rourke line is descended from Briuin, a brother of Niall of the Nine Hostages, and a possible descendant of Conn of the Hundred Battles. name is said to come from the Norse, Hrothrekr, which was Gaelicized to Ruairc. O Rourkes ruled from Kells in County Meath to the northern tip of County Sligo.


EMPLOYMENT

The main major employers of female labour in the late 19th century where Mary lived were the mills:

"In addition to the great numbers of persons engaged in the collieries and mines, many of the inhabitants are employed in various branches of trade and manufacture; the principal is that of cotton, for which there are extensive mills at Airdrie and Clarkston."

from an 1846 history of Lanarkshire

"Clarkston, late a quoad sacra parish, including the villages of Arden and Ballochney, in the Middle ward of the county of Lanark, 1 1/4 mile (E) from Airdrie; containing 4526 inhabitants. The parish was formed of the south-eastern portion of that of New Monkland and part of that of Shotts; it was seven miles in length, and three in breadth, lying chiefly along the south side of a pretty high dorse, which runs from west to east. The soil is in general a cold clay; in some parts is deep moss, and on the lands of Auchingray and Brownieside are considerable plantations. Agricultural improvement in this quarter has been much neglected, owing, in some measure, to the distance from which lime can be obtained, but chiefly to the attention of the proprietors of land having been turned to successful searches after minerals, by which large fortunes have been realised. Numerous iron-mines are now in operation, and the whole district abounds in coal. Contiguous to the village, are the Clarkston cotton, and Moffat paper, mills, and at the village of Gartness is an iron-rolling mill: the ores are forwarded to another parish to be manufactured. The Ballochney and Whiterigg railway runs along the north side of the district, which is also intersected by the middle road from Glasgow to Edinburgh. Besides the villages of Clarkston, Arden, and Ballochney, are five villages of considerable size, and many of smaller extent and more recent erection, for the accommodation of the miners and other work-people, of whom the increase of late years has been very great; and in various places are handsome seats and modern residences. In the east corner of the district, is the great reservoir for supplying the Clyde and Forth canal."

"Chapelhall

Chapelhall lies on the opposite side of the North Calder Water from Calderbank and it has a very similar history. Ironworking and coal mining were once
prominent industries here with three blast furnaces working at Chapelhall as early as the 1830s.

The old community also had a quarry, a brickworks and a bakery."

from Samuel Lewis's Topographical Dictionary c1846

"Moffat Mills

A Victorian factory built on the outskirts of Airdrie gave its name to this village which grew up as a result of the paper-making industry. The Craig family provided housing and other amenities for their mill workers. Takeover and rationalisation eventually put the mills out of existence and in 1963 they were sold and converted into the Inverhouse Distillery.

Just beyond Clarkston the Moffat Mills branch struck off from to the South. One of the original routes of the Ballochney Railway to Wester Moffat Colliery, branched to Moffat Mills, this branch survived until 1985 to serve the InverHouse distillery."

"The Caldercruix Paper Mill, owned by Robert Craig and sons, was famous for being powered by two of the largest water wheels in Scotland and their paper products secured a high reputation for quality in Scottish and English markets with the company being particularly noted for the manufacture of blotting paper.

The Craig brothers acquired the ground beside the river as well as the rights to use the soft water of the outflow of the Hillend Reservoir. They set up Caldercruix Paper Mill which was to become the largest produced of rag blotting paper in the world. Rags were disinfected, steamed, ground into a pulp and processed into a paper. The success of this enterprise effectively formed the Caldercruix community."

from Airdrie Villages


ARRIVAL YEAR

Mary's family came from Ireland between 1855, Mary's birth year, and 1861, her first census year. ^{18 19 20 21 22}

  Medical Notes:

In her last accident in her home which proved fatal, Mary seemed to have sustained burns, of the second and third degree, in the buttocks, abdomen and lower part of her legs, and shock resulting from these.

Although normally resident in Chapelhall she died from these injuries in the Royal Infirmary in Glasgow where she was taken. As well as her death certificate, there is also an entry in the register of Corrected Entries Volume 14 page 75, stamped May 1918, following a precognition with regard to Mary's death, and signed by Alex Lindsay, procurator fiscal at Glasgow

The original death certificate was signed as to cause of death by Dr McGregor.

Mary's son, James McGunnigal, residing at Toryglen, Chapelhall, signed the notice before the registrar, William Potter, on 1 February 1917 at Glasgow.

  Noted events in her life were:

1. Time of death: at 9.15 am.

Mary married James McGUNNIGAL, son of James McGUNNIGAL (DNA Linked) and Margaret HARKIN (DNA Linked), on 1 January 1882 in Chapelhall, Holytown district, Bothwell parish, Lanarkshire, Scotland.¹ (James McGUNNIGAL was born in 1858 in County Donegal, Ireland and died on 19 January 1888 in Bothwell parish Hospital, Bellshill, Lanarkshire, Scotland ²³.). The cause of his death was enteric fever of 20 days' duration.

  Marriage Notes:

"O'ROURKE
MARY
MCGONEGAL
JAMES
1882
625/2 6
Holytown"

"O'ROURKE
MARY
MCGUNNIGAL
JAMES
1882
625/2 6
Holytown"

from Index of Marriages


The marriage was celebrated, after banns, according to the rites and forms of the Roman Catholic Church. Father Hubert Van Stephout, was the celebrant. The witnesses were Michael McGunnigal and Mary Barrett.

The bridegroom, James McGonegal, worked as an assistant blastfurnace keeper at the time of his marriage, on New Year's day 1882, to Mary O'Rourke. He was 23 years of age. James lived in Chapelhall, at High Rows.

For her part, the bride was a worker in a paper mill. She was 24 years old, and lived in Clarkston, near Airdrie.

Mary's mother died before Mary was married, but her father, a coal miner, was still alive. James' father was an agricultural labourer.

The registrar notes in writing that both the bride and groom parties signed their names.

Note: The witness Michael McGunnigal was most likely the younger brother of James. Mary had a niece called Mary Barrett, daughter of her older sister Elizabeth, and she may have been the witness here. ^{1 3}

Mary next married James HAMILL, son of John HAMILL and Margaret McKEE, on 9 June 1890 in RC Chapel, Chapelhall, Lanarkshire, Scotland.^{2 3} (James HAMILL was baptised on 1 May 1853 in St Margaret's RC parish, Airdrie, Lanarkshire, Scotland ²⁴ and died 6 March 1896 at 1.30 pm in Royal Infirmary, Glasgow, Scotland.). The cause of his death was tetanus.

  Marriage Notes:

"HAMILL
JAMES
RORKE
MARY
1890
625 / 2 / 39
HOLYTOWN"

from Index of Marriages

The marriage was solemnised, after banns, according to the rites and forms of the Roman Catholic Church. Bridget McLaughlin and Elizabeth Yates were witnesses to the marriage, the celebrant of which was Father Hubert van Stiphout, the Roman Catholic priest in Chapelhall.

James Hamill was a widower of 36 years when he married Mary Rorke. He was a coal miner and lived at Briggate, Chapelhall.

Mary Rorke was 34 years old and a widow. She made her X mark. No occupation was noted for her.

All four of their parents were deceased.

The marriage was registered at Holytown in June 1890, William Richard being the registrar. ^{2 3}