John Leddin was born in about 1820 of Garrynalina townland, Galbally, Limerick, Ireland. He is most likely the son of Patrick Leddin and Margaret Gleeson. John's brothers, Patrick and Michael are found in the Galbally parish records.
 

John and Mary Morrissy were married 27 February 1838 in Galbally parish, County Limerick, Ireland. The witnesses were Michael Morrissey and Catherine Morrissey.
 

John Leddin is found in Coolboy, Emly in the late 1840s in the House Books, and The History of Emly also shows John Leddin in Coolboy in 1850. He is found in Coolboy townland, Emly parish in Griffith’s Valuation of 1851.
 

The area of Coolbea (or Coolboy) is 157 acres. A history of Emly lists the residents of Coolbea: “Four of the six tenants in Coolboy in 1830 were Bourkes — Edmund Sen. and Jun., David and William. The other tenants were John Glasheen who did not live here and the Rev. John Seymour who lived in the Glebe house (Emly House). There were seven houses in Coolboy in 1841 and six houses ten years later. The population fell from 55 to 46 during the same period. There were still four Bourke families here in 1850 — Michael, Tobias, Edmund and Mary. John Leddin and Michael Corbett each had a house and garden here then. The G.S. and W. Railway had built the railway station here in 1849 and their property covered four acres of townland.” The parish priest of Emly explained that John most likely came to Emly with the railroad and worked for the railroad.
 

Land records called House Books were created in the late 1840s in preparation for Griffiths Primary Valuation of Ireland. The House Books show John Leddin in Coolboy.
 
 

John Leddin lives in a house that is 24.6 feet long by 13 feet wide, and 5.6 feet high. The condition of the house is 3b+. That means that is is a thatched house of stone walls with mud mortar, or mud walls of the best kind. The condition is medium (not new), but in sound order, and good repair. There are no barns, stables, piggeries or other outbuildings.
 
 

Griffiths Valuation, Coolboy, Emly parish, 1851

John and Mary had the following children:
 

1. Margaret was christened 8 March 1841 in Emly. Margaret emigrated to Chicago in 1868. She married Maurice Hickey 5 February 1872 in Chicago, and had four children (Ellen, Mary, Margaret and Joseph). Margaret died 19 July 1925 in Chicago, and was buried 24 July 1925 in Calvary Cemetery.
 
 

2. Michael was christened 1 November 1844 in Emly. He immigrated to Chicago and married Bridget Cosgrove. Michael and his family are found in the 1880 census in Chicago:
 

Michael Ledden, age 29, born Ireland, occupation - works on railroad

John was born 2 November 1879 in Chicago, baptized 9 November 1879 in Sacred Heart parish. Another son, Patrick Joseph was born 14 March 1881 in Chicago, baptized 20 March 1881 in Sacred Heart parish.
 
 

Michael died 14 January 1893 in Chicago. His obituary read: "Ledden, Michael, Jan. 14, 1893, husband of Bridget, nee Cosgrove, and brother of Mrs. Maurice Hickey, aged 42 yrs., native of Emly, Co. Tipperary. Funeral from Cook County Hospital to St. Jarlath's Church to Calvary." Chicago Irish Families, 1875-1925, citing Chicago Daily News, in ancestry.com.
 

SOURCE: Emly parish register; Galbally parish register by corresp.; Sacred Heart parish register, Chicago; 1880 census, Chicago; Chicago Irish Families.
 
 

Patrick Leddin, the son of William and Elizabeth Leddin, was born in about 1782 of Knocklong. He married Margaret Gleeson. Margaret was born in about 1785 of Emly, and she died 30 June 1844 in Knocklong (her gravestone reads 30 Dec 1841).

Margaret is buried in the old Knocklong Cemetery. Her gravestone reads: "This small testimony of sorrow was erected by William Leddin of Ballencarroona in memory of his mother Margret Leddin alias Gleeson who died the 30 Dec 1841 aged 59 yrs"
 
 

Patrick Leddin seems to have been a leader of faction fights in the area. From A History of Hospital and its Environs by  Michael F. O Sullivan: "During the first half of the nineteenth century faction fighting was quite common throughout east Limerick. Factions were groups of people of varying numbers who banded together because of real or imagined grievances or point of honour, to fight an opposing faction at any public event such as a sports match or at a fair. The largest factions in the area along the boundary of East Limerick/Tipperary were the 'Three Year Olds' ( leader Paddy Leddin) and the 'Four Year Olds' Leader Maurice Fitzgerald)." The History of Emly mentions a Leddin in a discussion of faction fights in Emly: “Faction fights took place at funerals and fairs. The leader of the Four Year Olds was Maurice Fitzgerald…Paddy Leddan was leader of the Three Year Olds. In the 1830s a treaty was made on the summit of the hill of Knocklong between Paddy Leddan, the leader of the Three Year Olds and Maurice Fitzgerald the captain of the Four Year Olds. For nearly thirty years peace reigned.” Patrick's brother, Timothy, is also mentioned in connection with faction fighting. This fighting was carried out with ash sticks, or shillelaghs.
 

Patrick is found in the House Books that were created in preparation for Griffiths Valuation in the late 1840s, living next to Timothy Leddin. Patrick has a very large house, 47 feet long by 20.6 feet wide, and 7 feet high. The condition is 3C+. That means that it is a thatched house of stone walls with mud mortar or mud walls of the best kind. The condition is old, but in repair. There is also a porch house that is 6.3 feet long by 0.6 feet wide and 7 feet tall. It is rated 2C+, or a thatched roof house of stone or brick with lime mortar, that is old, but in repair. Patrick also has a cow house and stable.

Timothy is on the next lot, with a large house that is newer, with a dairy and stable.
 
 

Patrick Leddin is found in Griffith’s Valuation of 1851 in Ballycahill and Newtown. He has 16 acres of land in Ballycahill. He is a medium farmer with that quantity of land. Timothy Leddin also has land in the same townland, totaling 24 acres.
 
 

Patrick also has an office (farm outbuilding), possibly a barn, stable or piggery in the parish of Newtown.

Patrick Leddin is next found in Ballycahill in the Valuation Lists in 1862.
 

Patrick and Margaret had the following children:
 

1. William, about 1810 in Emly; married Johanna Condon 9 February 1834 in Galbally.
 

2. Mary Ann, (chr 31 March 1813 in Hospital); married Lawrence Bourke 1 May 1831 in Hospital.
 

3. Margaret (chr 28 May 1815 in Hospital)
 

4. Catherine, born in Emly; married John Bourke.
 

5. Patrick, who married Anne Irwin.
 

6. Michael, who married Mary Lenihan.
 

7. John, who married Mary Morrissy.
 

The death record for Patrick Leddin reads:

Name: Patrick Leddin   Date of Death 15/01/1867
Age: 75                        Parish/District: Hospital R.D.
Address: Rootiagh        County: Co. Limerick
Status: Married             Denomination: Civil Record
Occupation: Farmer      Sex: Male
Informant: Ellen Leddin
Debility 4 hours - no medical attendant
 

SOURCES: Hospital parish register; IGI; Ancestry.com; Griffiths Valuation; House Books; Valuation Lists; death record online - Limerick Research.
 
 

William Leddin, born in about 1750 on a farm near Knocklong; married Elizabeth, the daughter of Patrick; and had these sons:

1. Patrick, born in about 1782 of Knocklong; married Margaret Gleeson in 1800. Both Patrick and his brother, Timothy, appear to have been involved in faction fighting. The History of Emly mentions a Leddin in a discussion of faction fights in Emly: “Faction fights took place at funerals and fairs. The leader of the Four Year Olds was Maurice Fitzgerald…Paddy Leddan was leader of the Three Year Olds. In the 1830s a treaty was made on the summit of the hill of Knocklong between Paddy Leddan, the leader of the Three Year Olds and Maurice Fitzgerald the captain of the Four Year Olds. For nearly thirty years peace reigned.”

2. Timothy, born in 1792; married Mary Judith Murphy on 26 July 1816 in Emly; died 30 November 1880 in Ballycahill. From the Limerick Evening Post on 13 June 1828: "Yesterday two men, named Timothy Leddin and John Hurley, were taken into custody, charged with being leaders in the late dreadful fight at Knocklong. They were fully committed to the County Limerick Jail by Joseph Gubbins, Esq. of Kilfrush."
 

3. Michael, may be another child for William and Elizabeth. He may also have been involved in the fighting: From the Limerick General Advertiser 30 November 1819: "Committals to the County Gaol, by Joseph Gubbins, Esq. Michael Leddin, charged with the murder of John Woods."
 
 

It is possible that William Leddin married again, to Catherine Madden. A gravestone in the Knocklong Cemetery reads: Erected by Catherine Madden alias Lidden in memory of her husband Wm Lidden who died June 29 1808 aged 47 yrs. This is about the right age and location for William.
 
 

What was faction fighting, and why were the Leddins involved?  From A History of Hospital and its Environs by  Michael F. O Sullivan: "During the first half of the nineteenth century faction fighting was quite common throughout east Limerick. Factions were groups of people of varying numbers who banded together because of real or imagined grievances or point of honour, to fight an opposing faction at any public event such as a sports match or at a fair. The largest factions in the area along the boundary of East Limerick/Tipperary were the 'Three Year Olds' ( leader Paddy Leddin) and the 'Four Year Olds' Leader Maurice Fitzgerald). While nobody is now sure of the reason for their rivalry, the most plausible one suggests it resulted from a dispute between two farmers at a fair as to the age of a bull being sold. And so because of one man's wounded pride, two factions came into being which fought each other in large numbers at regular intervals over a long period of time, causing many serious injuries and sometime a death." The weapons of choice were sticks or shillelaghs: "Fighting was usually done with ash plants... of three to four feet long and about three inches in diameter."

From The Agreeable Recreation of Fighting: "Factions were particularly strong in the New Pallas and Cappamore districts of Limerick where the Three Year Olds and Four Year Olds had battled for generations. The names stemmed from a fight held decades earlier over the age of either a colt or a cow. By 1860 nobody remembered which. These factions were contributing factors in over a quarter of all indictments for assault and 8 percent of homicides in Limerick between 1866 and 1892."

The cause was often a love of fighting as a sport: "Some famous local leaders were Ryan Bawn and Allis, Maurice Fitzgerald, Pat Leddan and The Russian Buckley, so called because he was "as big as a Russian". He had the dubious distinction of being the last man killed in a faction fight. This final fight took place in Cappawhite in 1887. W.R. Le Fanu, rector in Abington in his book "70 Years of Irish Life" describes one fight at Annagh Bog near Murroe when the Reaskawallahs led by John Ryan (Luke) (Shawn Lucas) marched from Doon to engage the Coffeys. "In an instant hundreds of sticks were up - hundreds of heads were broken. In vain the parish priest and his curate rode through the crowd, striking right and left with their whips, in vain a few policemen tried to quell the riot...." In this particular battle the Coffeys were the victors. A few were killed and many seriously wounded.Daniel O'Connell's campaign to win Catholic Emancipation, in which he held monster meetings throughout the country, helped to bring the faction fighters to their senses."    http://www.doonbleisce.com/faction_fighting.htm

Irish stick fighting had ancient roots: "Faction fighting's origins, like those of most martial arts, are obscured by myth. One theory has it that shillelagh fighting originated as a means of training for European-style swordplay. Under the early Penal Laws, Roman Catholics were prohibited from owning swords and other weapons; as a result Irishmen could only train for sword fighting with sticks...For generations, Irishmen have been raised on stories of warriors using sticks, swords, axes, and spears as their primary weapons, and there are numerous examples in Irish mythology and history, of the use of the stick as a weapon, which reflect the ancient origins of Irish stick-fighting. Faction fighting was an ancient Irish tradition of the old Gaelic Tuaths, which survived into the modern age. It was a system of group dueling used to settle disputes over territory, family, economic, political and or religious rights."   http://www.thewildgeese.com/pages/facfigh2.html
 

SOURCES: Limerick Evening Post; Limerick General Advisor.
 
 

If you have additional information about this family, please contact me at alice@boydhouse.com.