I am trying to find out about my ancestor Francis Lyons who was Mayor of Cork between 1866 and 1869. Does anybody know anything about him?

Are you still looking for info about Francis Lyons, or did you manage to dig up something? I do a bit of research in my spare time here in Cork and may be able to help. I do know that the Lyons' family vault is in St. Joseph's cemetery in Cork. Tell what you know about Francis and I'll do a bit of digging for you when I get the chance.

Ronnie.

Ronnie,

I was in Cork just before Christmas, and did a bit of research in the library. My great-grandfather, Francis Lyons was the first Catholic Mayor of Cork. He was married to Frances Murphy, who according to my father was one of the brewing family. I couldn't find her in the O'Driscoll's book about the Murphy family, but did find a number of Murphys with him on the board of companies such as the Munster bank. Two of his sons went to Beaumont school in Surrey (I believe that the family were fairly pro-British and my father served in the British Army in WW2), and one of these was my grandfather who married an English girl and settled over here.

I have the marriage certificate for my great-grandparents, and birth certificates for various of their children. Somehow Ancestry.co.uk got a bit tangled, and my great-grandmother appears under both genders - although I have no reason to believe this was the case. I need to tidy that bit up by cancelling them all and re-instating them.

My father told me that we have a Portuguese connection which fascinates me because my son is currently working in the UK Embassy in Lisbon. I don't know whether this relates to the Murphy in O'Driscoll's book who was a provisioner for the British Army in the Peninsular War, or more likely a connection again via the Murphys to do with importing port wine.

What I don't know is anything about the generation above my great-grandparents. There was a Thomas Lyons who set up a shop in Cork having come from Limerick, but I haven't proved a connection there.

Next time I'm in Cork, I will certainly go to St. Joseph's cemetery.

Many thanks for your interest. How are you connected?

Bob Lyons

Hi Bob,
Just to correct you on one thing. It was Thomas Lyons [b. ca.1791 and elected Mayor in November 1841] who was the first catholic Mayor of Cork in almost 200 years. A Francis Lyons was elected to the Town Council at the same time in 1841, but whether this is your Francis or not I don't know, as a Francis Lyons [son of Thomas], who died in 1865, was also an MP for Cork from 1859 - 65. William Lyons [b. ca. 1794 was brother of Thomas], later Sir William, he was Mayor of Cork in 1848 and 49. Then there's your great-grandfather Francis from 1866-68. The Lyons family certainly have a strong pedigree when to comes to holding the office of Mayor. Both Thomas and Sir William were sons of William Lyons. I hope all these names and dates aren't confusing, families tended to re-use the same names down through the generations, so where your Francis fits into the equation, I'll leave you to try and figure out. I don't know about the Murphy connection I'm afraid. I know where the Lyons vault is in St. Joseph's, which is only a few minutes drive from where I live, so when I get the chance I'll pop over and take a photo of it for you. According to the marriage cert of your g-grandfather, who were his parents and where did they get married? Did he die in Cork or the UK?

Ronnie.

Many thanks for that. I don't have any evidence that my great-grandfather was related to Sir William Lyons, and he certainly wasn't his son. I was told the bit about first Catholic Mayor etc. by the people at the library. My great-grandparents were married in Glanmire on January 13th 1863, but there are no parental names on the marriage record I have.

He died on July 17th 1886 at Crosshaven aged 51 years.

Bob,
I forgot to say that I'm fairly sure I've seen a illustration of the Lyons family business somewhere in the past, either in one of the old Cork directories or something like that. When it comes to me I'll find it.

I have no connection to the family. I'm just someone with a keen interest in Cork local history and my research means that I'm in the library a lot looking through the old newspapers of that period. I'm working on a project at the moment about a man whose father was also elected to that 1841 Town Council, along with Thomas and Francis Lyons. In fact Francis Lyons was elected to the same ward as this man, so they would have been well known to each other. Looking at the notes I have here tells me that Francis was living in Clarence Place in 1841. I want to stress again though that I don't know if this Francis and your g-grandfather are one and the same person.
Ronnie

It's funny that the parents aren't named. Is that a copy of the original marriage record you have? I know that Sir William had a son called Robert, who was born in 1826. Your g-grandfather was born in 1835, do you know the exact date that he was born, as there may be a birth notice in the newspaper here. Did you look for an obituary in the newspapers when you were in the library?

Ronnie.

Sorry if this adds to the confusion, but I have a book here which contains short biographies of many Cork people and the Francis that I mentioned earlier is included in it. This was the MP who died in 1865. It says that he was born in 1795 and was brother of Thomas [presumably the 1841 Mayor] He died on May 6th 1865 at his residence at 32 South Terrace in the city. Your g-grandfather, if he isn't Sir William's son, could be the son of this Francis. I should also add that the Francis elected to the Town Council in 1841 obviously is not your g-grandfather, because he'd only have been 6 at that time.
Ronnie

Hi Bob,
It looks almost certain that your Francis was the son of Francis the M.P. for Cork who I mentioned to you earlier. I came across a short obituary for your g-grandfather today, which I've attached for you. The part of most interest to you should be the last sentance, which says that he was the son of Dr. Lyons who was at one time the member for Cork. Francis the M.P. [your great-great grandfather] was educated at the University of Paris and Edinburgh University where he graduated in 1822 as an MD, but for some reason never practised this profession. Instead he spent a few years in Europe before coming back to Cork and joining the family business with his brother Thomas [Cork Mayor in 1841]. Francis [M.P.] was most likely the same Francis who became a Town Councillor along with Thomas in 1841. I know that Francis [M.P.] died on May 6th 1865 at his home at No.32 South Terrace [southside] in the city. According to the electoral results of 1841 though, he was living at that time in the St. Luke's area, which is on the northside of the city and this may be where your g-grandfather was born, although without having a baptism record, I can't say this for certain. It may be worth checking the records of the South Chapel just to see if the family were living on the southside at that time, I can access those easily enough as a friend of mine looks after the records there. I'll keep in touch and let you know if anything turns up.
Ronnie.

Hi Bob,
Let me know if you get this, there seems to be a problem with the postings.
Ronnie