In the Courtyard of the Abbey of St. Francis in Galway City Center is a tomsbstone whose inscription reads as follows:
Lord Have Mercy on the Soul of John Nolan
who died August 26th 1793 Aged Sixty Years.
Below is a picture taken by a Jim Nolan of Wisconsin in September 2015 of the tombstone showing how it appeared then.
Now, the only known record of a Nolan tombstone having existed or existing in the friary courtyard in the late 1700s is that found in James Hardiman’s book, a “History of Galway”, published in 1820, where a transcription of a Nolan tombstone is given, which reads as follows:
This tomb was first erected in the year of our Lord 1394 by the O Nolans of Loughboy and is now
rebuilt and ornamented by Michael O’Nolan merchant of Galway one of the representatives of said family.
However, the date of 1394 given in the transcription is somehow suspect given that the earliest date found on the other tombstones in the friary courtyard as reported in Hardiman’s book is one in the mid 1500s. In my opinion the date on the original tombstone before it was refurbished was likely 1594 and, by the time a transcription was done by the Franciscan friars, some time later, most likely in the late 1680s, when abbey records indicate that some refurbishing of the monuments was done, primarily to repair damages resulting from the vandalization of the graveyard by Cromwellian forces in the mid 1650s.
If we are correct in our assumptions thus far this would mean that:
- a Nolan of Loughboy was buried in the Franciscan graveyard in 1594
- a Michael O Nolan of Loughboy refurbished the original tombstome sometime around 1688
At this point, we could make a further assumption, that is that the John Nolan who died in 1793 was also a Nolan of Loughboy/Logboy. Strong evidence pointing in this direction is the fact that a John Nolan (1774-1820) of Loughboy is mentioned in the records for Galway’s Landed Estates. This latter John Nolan would be of age to have been a son of the John Nolan who was buried on the Franciscan abbey grounds in 1793.
It is further possible that, as had been done before, the original Loughboy Nolan monument was refurbished in 1793 and a new text engraved on the tombstone.
A review of the sources cited at the Galway Landed Estates webpage (see link above) may help to confirm or refute my conjecture as regards the old Nolan headstone on the Franciscan abbey grounds being the same one as identified by Hardiman in his history of Galway.
Following is the relevant excerpt from ta page found at the Galway Landed Estates website:
BEGINNING of EXCERPT
Nolan/ Ferrall (Lugboy) Estate
- Reference #3380: Deeds re. estate of
John Nolan of Loughboy, Co Mayo, 1774-1820.
D. 16,536-16,538
(RN: available at the National Library of Ireland ) - Reference #5110: Agreement between
John Nolan of Cloonaville, county Sligo & John Nolan of Logboy, county Mayo re repayment of loan, 1810.
D. 16,537
(RN: available at the National Library of Ireland )
- Reference #12375: Westport Estate Papers, Collection List 78. Details of Lord Oranmore and Browne’s lands sold in the Encumbered Estates’ Court, including 8 lots purchased
by John Nolan Ferrall, May 1855.
MS 40,966/34
(RN: available at the National Library of Ireland )
END of EXCERPT
For anyone interested in the Nolans of Loughboy, Lugboy or Lugboy (current spelling) , Co. Mayo, an article entitled “The Nolan Chantry” and relating to a descendant of the Nolan-Ferrall family, a Monsignor Edmond Nolan, son of John Nolan of Logboy, was published in the March 2015 edition of the Nolan Clan Newsletter.
From this article and other sources it would appear that this line of Nolans was of the Roman Catholic persuasion as would have been the John Nolan buried on the grounds of the St. Francis abbey.
At this point I would also like to express my sincere thanks to Jim Nolan of Wisconsin and his wife for bringing to our attention the old Nolan tombstone in the courtyard of St. Francis abbey in Galway city.
Roger Nowlan
webmaster and long-time Nolan Clan member
