Seeking details on my Moran ancestor, Patrick Staunton
Re Ribbon Men: My ancestor, Peter Larkin (b. 1789- d. 1879), probably from Gort, Ireland, died in Australia. He was a Ribbonman, well-off, and well-educated. The branch of Ribbonmen to which they belonged was called the Hearts of Steel.
My ancestor, Peter Larkin, married Bridget Cunningham. Sir Thomas Burke of Marble Hill invited disaffected Ribbonmen to his estate in the Slieve Aughty area, where the Cunninghams were dairying at Derrybrien. You might be familiar with these areas.
Perhaps Peter Larkin was influenced to become a Ribbonman by his wife, Bridget. In any case, we know she was a feisty woman. After his arrest, she walked to Dublin to plead with the Viceroy, whom she knew personally, for his life. Their eldest daughter, Catherine (1818-1865), married Patrick Staunton’s son Patrick (1811-1870). This is how the Stauntons came into our family.
Patrick Staunton was from Ballinasloe to the northeast, near the border of King’s County. “Distance was no obstacle to them,” as they went to any lengths for their cause. Before his arrest, Staunton crossed into Tipperary at Lough Derg, then back up past Lorrha and into King’s County before crossing the Shannon near Ballinasloe. This appears to have been a common escape route.
In June 1820, a concerted effort was made to capture the Ribbon Captains, Goode, Staunton, Concannon, Connoly and White leaders of their band of insurgents. On June 25th 1820 Captain Patrick Staunton was apprehended by the police, Mr Waters being the Chief Constable. Patrick was found hiding under the slats in the roo of a respectable farmhouse on the 9th of October 1820, Patrick was not indicted on the capital charge but was the constant companion of Captain Michael Goode of Confert, along with Peter Larking, who had been sentenced to death, were removed from Galway Goal.
In another section: Patrick Staunton Sr came from a very substantial family, his wedding being one of the largest seen in east Galway with 80 carriages at his wedding (my grandmother ne Staunton, also told me this). His ancestors were English Norman gentry in Ireland since 1232, with later emigration of English settled at Claddagh in 1634. The later Stauntons were mainly Protestant Ascendancy but during penal times they became Catholic or were patriotic to their cause. The family were not without influence in Ireland, but this did not prevent Patrick from being deported to Australia.
