From: pwaldron@maths.tcd.ie (Paddy Waldron)
Subject: Re: Marker Names
Keywords: BLACKALL, BURNELL, CLANCY, Marcella.
Organization: Dept. of Maths, Trinity College, Dublin, Ireland.
Date: Tue, 24 Nov 1992 01:26:15 GMT

In article <ROOTS-L%92112312574763@VM1.NODAK.EDU> Sharon L Palmateer <ASDSLP@ALBNYVM1.BITNET> writes:
>Let me add my agreement to Alicia Towster's comments on 'marker names'.

I will add my $0.02 worth in support of the `marker name' theory:

Some time ago, I developed the hypothesis that almost everyone born in
county Clare and bearing the `marker name' Marcella is descended from
George BLACKALL and Marcella BURNELL who married in 1782 and lived in
Killard, county Clare. Marcella is a name I have heard of in other
parts of the world but not often in rural Ireland. With PAF on a
PC, I was able to focus on about two dozen Marcellas in a
database of 6000+ names, mostly from county Clare, and
maybe 1000 descended from the aforementioned couple. Sure enough,
all the Marcellas except one satisfied my hypothesis, and for all I know
further investigation might reveal that she is not an exception at all.
Some of these Marcellas are as young as teenagers, so the `marker name'
theory has stood the test of time for over two centuries, during which
the male line has all but died out, certainly in Clare, with one or
two exceptions in Ireland, but possibly not in Australia and elsewhere.
During this time also, the family have gone from substantial landlords
to mostly very ordinary citizens and the family seat in Killard has
disappeared. (An uncle of President Mary ROBINSON is married to one
of the descendants!)

My GGGGfather, Hugh CLANCY, married a daughter of George BLACKALL and
Marcella BURNELL. I have a letter written in 1945 by Hugh's greatgranddaughter
in which she says essentially `my father [then 85 years old] is getting
absent minded but he says his grandmother was Catherine BLACKALL.'
I have other reasons to believe that Catherine, daughter of George BLACKALL
and Marcella BURNELL, married Owen or Charles KEANE. Yesterday, I
was given a copy of the Co. of Clare List of Freeholders For The Year 1821.
It includes Hugh CLANCY, who held a lease, registered 24 Feb 1818, for
the life of `Marsella BLACKALL otherwise CLANCY'. The `marker name' theory
leads me to conclude that I have solved the mystery of the two
Catherine BLACKALLs and that this means `Marsella BLACKALL who
married CLANCY', although the reverse interpretation `Marsella
CLANCY who married BLACKALL' might seem more natural.  Until I
find whether the 1818 lease is still extant, maybe someone
out there would like to advise whether I should infer that Hugh
CLANCY married Marcella BLACKALL, daughter of George BLACKALL and
Marcella BURNELL, possibly even on 24 Feb 1818. I had never wondered
before whether George and Marcella gave the `marker name' Marcella
to one of their own daughters!

If there is anyone else out there descended from George BLACKALL and
Marcella BURNELL, I would be delighted to hear from you.

-- 
Paddy Waldron, Department of Economics, Trinity College, Dublin 2, IRELAND.

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