Johanna Phelan Family History
Johanna Phelan
Johanna was born in the townland of Jamestown, just outside Piltown, Co. Kilkenny on 29 January 1882. She was the first child of James and Anastatia Phelan. Sadly, her mother died shortly after her birth from septicaemia. Johanna was initially looked after by a ‘wet nurse’ Anastatia Earl at “The Turn” in Piltown until she was about three years old.
Her father remarried in 1885 and it appears that the new stepmother did not want her stepdaughter, so Johanna stayed in Piltown and was reared by her uncle Richard and aunts Elizabeth and Margaret (known as Betsy and Mags) in the village.
She was known as “Jo of the Hill”, since the house address was “Tower Hill, Piltown”, after the Ponsonby Tower1
which dominates the rise on the west side of the village, not far from the family home. The white wall on the left-hand side of the picture is the boundary wall of the family farm, and the Ponsonby Tower can be seen at the top of the hill.
Johanna went to primary school in Piltown. During her childhood Piltown was a thriving village with butcher, bakery, shops and Anthony’s pub. It also had a courthouse, Garda barracks and
creamery2.
Johanna had a strict upbringing with rigid religious observation. The photo shows what Piltown looked like in the 1900s, when Johanna was in her teens.
She later attended the Presentation Convent in Carrick-on-Suir.
She cycled or walked to school each day, a distance of some four miles, where she was taught by Mother Evangelist who was still in the school when her children attended there in the 1930s.
Family lore has it that she was selected at the school to attend the Presentation Convent in Clonakilty for teacher training. The intention was that girls attending for training were potential candidates for joining the convent. She spent some time in Clonakilty but did not join the Order and returned home as a Junior Assistant Mistress. She taught in her local primary school in Piltown village until she got married.
Johanna does not appear to be recorded in the 1901 Census. She is recorded living at home with her uncle and aunts in Piltown in the 1911 census. Later that year Johanna married Patrick Lynch. Patrick was from Co. Westmeath. He came to Piltown as a horticultural adviser, and was staying as a lodger nearby, when he met Johanna. They were married in Piltown church on 26 July 1911.
Johanna loved gardening and had a pretty garden at the west side of the house. She enjoyed spending time there with her much-loved dog Tippo. In later life Johanna and Patrick welcomed family home for visits including their grandson Edward (born 1950).
Johanna died on 14th February 1956 at the age of 74. She is buried together with her husband in Piltown Cemetery.