Irish Settlers Of 1825
Cornelius Howran and Mary Mahoney
The family name of Howran is an interesting one. The name appears in historical records using both the Howran spelling as often as it is found written as Houran or Houren. Both forms of the name have continued in use on to the present day, among the descendants of Cornelius and Mary Howran who settled in the Newcastle District of Upper Canada.
Cornelius Howran and his wife, Mary Mahoney were pioneer settlers who arrived with the Robinson Emigration of 1825. Born in 1776, Cornelius was a man nearing fifty years of age when he brought his family to Upper Canada. Mary was a dozen years younger than her husband. Their children ranged in age from fourteen years down to just age two years, that year in which the family sailed from Ireland. Four more children were born after the family settled in Ennismore Township.
Their grant of land was the north half of Lot 6 on Concession 7 in the township. Here they cleared some land, built a home and began the task of preparing the land for farming. The Howran children included: Daniel born 1811; Denis born 1817; Mary born 1820; Connor born 1823; Ellen born in 1828; John born about 1820; Michael born in 1832 and Jeremiah born in 1837.
Order for Issue of Patent
A New Generation of Families
Daniel, the eldest son, married in the early 1830s. His wife was Elizabeth Heirhart who had been born about 1818, in the parish of Kilmeen, County Cork, Ireland. By the 1850s, Daniel and Elizabeth made their home at Lot 12 Concession 7 of Ennismore Township. They also farmed the land. Their family would be nine children in number and comprised of seven sons and two daughters. Their first born son was named Cornelius, after his grandfather. The two girls were called Mary and Honora. The remaining boys in the family were William, Denis, Daniel, John, Robert and Michael. The family appears to have gone by the Houran spelling of their surname.
Daniel and Elizabeth (Heirhart) Houran’s daughter, Mary, was born in 1839 in Ennismore Township. About 1862, when Mary was a young woman of twenty-three years, she married Thomas Harrington. Thomas was a son of Thomas Sr., and Bridget Burns who also resided in Ennismore Township. Mary and Thomas eventually made their home at Lot 11 Concession 7 in Ennismore Township. A daughter, Catherine, was born about 1863. She was followed by two sons, James born in 1864 and Charles in 1866. Elizabeth was born in 1867, Bridget in 1870 and then another son, William, was born in 1871. Younger than William were Hannah, born 1872; Jane, born 1874; Daniel born 1877 and finally their youngest child, Sarah, born in 1879, not long after the death of her father.
The Closing Years
Mary (Houran) Harrington outlived her husband by many years. She continued to reside at her home in Ennismore Township during the 1880s and 1890s. Her death occurred at her home on 22 October 1909. The local paper, the Peterborough Review of 23 October 1909 published a notice about her passing:
The death occurred yesterday of Mary Harrington, relict of the late Thomas Harrington, at her late residence, lot 11 in the 7th concession of Ennismore. The late Mrs. Harrington was 75 years of age and had been ailing for some time.
The funeral will take place tomorrow afternoon at three o’clock, from late residence to St. Martin’s R.C. church and thence to St. Martin’s cemetery.
