Bill Butler and his wife Sara, both currently residing in northern Virginia, in the town of Clifton, a suburb of Washington D.C., visited Thurles earlier this month. Bill’s large family group consisted of himself, his wife Sara, their son and daughter plus their spouses and their children (Bill’s grandchildren). Bill’s children and grandchildren live in Arlington, also in northern Virginia.
Left to Right:- Erin Butler with her twin sisters Leah & Katie, all totally captivated by the 16ft. historically accurate, 1846 model of Thurles town, latter which is currently on show in St. Mary’s Famine Museum, Thurles, Co. Tipperary. The model encapsulates 5 years of dedicated work by the late Thurles historian Jim Condon, who sadly passed away on December 23rd 2014. His model, built to perfect scale, is often described as being on a par with ‘Titania’s Palace’. (Note: Latter ‘Titania’s Palace’, to Ireland’s shame, was sold off in 1976 and now resides as a popular visitor attraction in Denmark). Picture courtesy Butler Family.
Bill has been researching his family tree since he retired. Sadly he has had no older relatives to talk to about his family; as they had all passed away before he had began his ‘Family Tree’ research project. Fortunately, on-line resources and a lot of digging through courthouse and county records eventually bore fruit. His research of several years eventually uncovered that his Butler family roots were here in Thurles. His recent trip earlier this month was an effort by himself and his wife to grant their children and grandchildren an opportunity to see and experience Ireland and specifically the town of Thurles here in County Tipperary.
Bill Butler’s Confirmed Ancestral History.
Bill’s great grandparents were both single people when they left Thurles around 1890, arriving in New York. Their decision to emigration from Thurles was separated by some 2 years. Their names were Thomas Butler and Mary J. Ryan. Both eventually settled in the city of Buffalo, New York, near to the Canadian border. They met and married in Buffalo in 1896.
Buffalo was then a bustling industrial city and Bill’s great grandfather worked at many jobs, before eventually taking up employment with one of the railroads firms as an engineer and fireman (stoker), until, alas, he lost his life through an industrial accident.
The same Thomas Butler’s parents were Michael Butler and Katherine Kearney of Stradavoher, Thurles and he was born in January 1867. Mary J. Ryan was the daughter of William Ryan and Bridget Cahill of Garryvicleheen, Thurles (now today known jointly as Friar Street & Abbey Road). Mary was also born in January 1867.
That is as far back as Bill has been able to trace the families ancestry and if he never gets any further information he will be satisfied with what he has found to date. However he will still continue in the hope further information becomes available.
In recent correspondence with this website Bill and his family have expressed what he describes as “a moving experience to observe at first hand his ancestors baptismal records from the Cathedral of the Assumption, Thurles”.
Anyone with new information on Thurles Butler Family history can reach Bill & Sara by contacting us HERE on Thurles.Info.
We had a very enjoyable and educational visit to Thurles and want to express our appreciation to all those we met who made us feel so welcome. Hopefully we will make a return visit some time in the future.
The Butler family