When the Anderson and Oram families first knew of each other Ephraim Anderson would have been living at Hollybrook, Tagheen. The Andersons are not mentioned in John Oram’s diaries but he may have known of the family. Ephraim and his brother George were living at Hollybrook in the mid 1850s at the time of the Griffiths Valuations renting at least 1,000 acres of land in the Tagheen area from Patrick Crean-Lynch. George Anderson and his family emigrated to the USA in 1874.
Uncle of Catherine Oram nee Anderson, Ephraim Anderson was born in 1819 in Northumberland and died at Hollybrook in 1893. A successful farmer Ephraim would have been ‘head’ of the family in 1887 when Arthur Oram’s diaries start.
Ephraim’s wife and second cousin Mary Anderson (nee Anderson) was born in 1825 in Northumberland and died at Hollybrook in 1890.
John Anderson born 1860 in Co Mayo was probably working at Hollybrook with his father Ephraim in 1887. At the time of the 1911 census John was living at Hollybrook with his wife Clara born c1862 in Mayo, a childless marriage of 18 years. Clara’s entry in the England and Wales Probate Calendar (ancestry.co.uk) shows that she died at Hollybrook on 1 August 1942 while John was still alive. John death may have been registered in Claremorris during the quarter ending September 1943, the only likely record in ancestry.co.uk.
Ephraim’s sons-in-law
Hollybrook is mentioned a few times a year in Arthur Oram’s diaries as well as occasional references to Ephraim’s sons-in-law Mr Robinson, Mr Rochester & Mr Honeyman.
