Mone Family History & Genealogy

Any Mone interested in genealogy realizes the rarity of the name and begins to wonder where he originated. At best, using written records, a Mone of Irish descent can trace back to the early 19th century. Verbal history from our grandparents simply told us they were from Ireland. Perhaps they wanted, or even tried to tell us more, but either due to their disdain of their life in Ireland or our own disinterest we likely have lost the connection any earlier. Nineteenth century Mones of Ireland were not aristocracy, not landowners, held no political office; they were simply tenant farmers on properties that were not the best arable land. Landowners controlled the better land for their manor house with its well-groomed demesne and grazing land. Most of our ancestors could not read or write, at least not the English language. Some probably kept records, either in Gaelic or English, held them close to their heart, discussed them around the turf fire in their cottages or hovel and passed them on to the next generation. Whatever shreds remain, probably what was discussed around a turf fire, are a mix of romanticism, respect, and realism that were passed down from one generation to the next. Sometimes there is nothing to pass, if so, it’s likely a slightly varnished tale, and we should be happy we have that. With any luck, we at least know what part of Ireland was called home.

Records of the 19th century find Mones in a number of areas of Ulster: Armagh, Tyrone, Antrim, and Monaghan. If the Mones in south Armagh and north Monahan are examined through records, we find as early as 1714, six of nineteen tenants in the townland of Mullyard had spelling variants of Mone: three each Moan, two each Moane, and one each Mone1. Over a period of time these names all seemed to merge as Mone. If we make an assumption that the person logging the information specifically spelled these names differently because the tenants were different lineage, three clans exist in this area. Without any further information available it can be assumed that most, if not all, of the Mones in the parishes of Derrynoose and Keady come from these three Clans. Since there are no known records of Mones in Monaghan at the time of these records and most farmers did not travel far from their own townland, except for market days, an assumption can be made that many of the Mones, now living in Clontibret Parish, County Monaghan, came from these three Mone Clans through marriage or wayfaring because of its closeness. It’s unlikely that any Mone, who hailed from Mullyard from 1714 up to nearly 1900, traveled any further than the towns of Keady, Castleblayney, and Monaghan, unless they were preparing to emigrate to another country. If a person can trace his ancestry back to Mullyard, its likely they came from one of three Mone Clans.

Moving forward to 2008 we can ask ourselves; how many persons in existence today can trace their ancestry to the name Mone? Using a “rule of two” at a 30 year progression, meaning that each male or female Mone had two offspring by age 30, and those born after 1939 still alive; there are now about 5,000 persons living today who trace their ancestry back to these three families. This neglects the greater procreation of some ancestors that would bring the numbers higher, and famine, disease, epidemics, etc., but gives an approximation of how many of us are out in the world today.

Taking this a little further we separate the three clans, meaning about 1,666 persons each trace back to each of the common ancestor named: Moan, Moane, or Mone. The three likely common ancestors in 1714 can be taken from the six names listed in rent rolls of that year. For the spelling variant: Moan, two of the three named had given name Denis, one listed as senior, the other junior, the third was Phillip; so the common ancestor for this clan, in 1714 would either be Denis or Phillip. The second spelling variant: Moane, provides two names Phil and Hugh, so the common ancestor for this clan is either of these two. Third spelling variant: Mone, only lists Shane, therefore he is the common ancestor of this clan.

Although we cannot say for sure whether Denis, Phil, Hugh or Shane are one of our ancestors, it’s likely one is. As an example: Derrynoose Parish Parochial records, lists my great grandfather baptized Charles Moan in 1835. I trace him back to Mullyard by verbal history passed down from ancestors. I can say he, as well as I, most likely are descendants of either Denis or Phillip Moan listed in 1714 Armagh rent rolls for Mullyard.

My family, Standing Stone Mones, are lucky enough to have a picture of Charlie, shown above sitting on a rock pile in the quarry near Keady. I’ve heard relatives say: “He never worked a day in his life.” There are stories that old Charlie had pains in his stomach in his later years and thought he had a "wolf" inside him. He'd go up to Clay Lake to burp out the wolf, hoping he'd burp it into the lake and he would pound on himself and say, "Be gone Satan!" Some say he had had too much of the drink. I think poor Charlie just had a stomach ailment and could neither afford nor trust a doctor. This is the story left to us, but old Charlie begat five children and from these five came another 27 children by the year 1916. Charlie is the Common ancestor of record for this clan and I am proud to look at the old picture that has the following description below it: "Charlie Mone, the veteran stone-booker employed by the Armagh County Council at their quarries, New Holland, Keady, County Armagh. Charlie, as he is familiarly known, will be 96 years old next November. For the past 26 years he has never had a days illness, and has not missed a single hour from his pitch in the quarry during that time"

So we cannot say for sure if there is a tie between the Mone clans of Armagh and Monaghan. At best, it’s only a guess. But, by using the rent rolls for 1714, a person living today with the name Mone, who that traces back to Mullyard, at least know the names of male ancestors for these three clans. From these names they can estimate who was the common ancestor at that time. Unless we find other information and records, it’s all we have.

1 Armagh Rent Rolls of the See of Armagh, Manor Court, 1714,PRONI, T.729 (111) p. 136