Tithe Applotment Book of 1833
Michael Geraghty was probably born about 1785 and, if he was named after his father, his parents were Michael Geritey & N Naghten.
He is one of the 17 tenants listed in the tithe applotment book for townland of Kooska, St Peter's Athlone parish, Roscommon in 1833. There are three Geraghty entries, all grouped together. The largest belongs to Thomas Geraghty, who leased 8 acres. Michael Geraghty leased 4 acres and, in accordance with the law, paid a tithe of 6 3/4 pence to the church of Ireland (regardless of his own religious beliefs) .
So far, I have found five christening records that he and his wife Bridget Doyle left at St Peter's Athlone between 1810 and 1823. As time allows, I expect to find more, but at this point think Michael was probably born about 1785. This puts him beyond the reach of the parish register, whose records start four years later.
OLD ATHLONE
An 1829 parliamentary report and notes “that the strongest feeling of hostility exists between the inhabitants" and corporation of Athlone. ("The report noted the town “extends into the parishes of St. Mary, Barony of Brawney, in the county of Westmeath, on the Leinster side; and into the parishes of Kiltoom and St. Peter, in the barony of Athlone and county of Roscommon, on the Connaught side.”) According to a summary on the website Irish Identity:
"The people rightly complained that money collected in local tolls and taxes was being spent of paying local officials which was contrary to the terms of the charter. In short the report was a damning indictment of the self-interest of the local gentry, who seemed to have little interest in the development of the town and in the welfare of its inhabitants. They were particularly unhappy with the lack of efficiency shown the current vice-sovereign of the borough, one William Marshall, who was deputizing for the absentee sovereign who was generally a member of the local Handcock family."
" ... Of the 227 freemen in the town, only nine were Roman Catholic, while no Roman Catholic or Dissenter (a member of the non-established protestant churches) had ever been elected as burgesses. Freemen were obliged to take an Oath of Allegiance to the reigning monarch. They were exempt from tolls and nominally eligible for election the common council and or to be elected as burgesses.
"The common council had twenty life members and at the time of the report no Roman Catholic had ever been elected to serve of on it. At that time 13 of its members didn’t even live in the town."
"There was no police force in the town at the time, but a ‘serjeant at mace’ who acted under orders from the corporation. The report bemoaned the lack of a night watch and also recommended the establishment of a police service. However, it did point to the large army garrison stationed in the down."
CHILDREN: