Col. Cyril Mattimoe's Research
Col. Cyril Mattimoe researched the Mattimoe name over a period of fifty years. During this time his view on the origins of the name changed in the light of the additional information he uncovered. His final version appeared in May 1998, five years before his death, and a transcript is included below thanks to the kind permission of his family who retain the copyright to his work. Consequently whilst the family are happy for the work to be made generally available through this website no reproduction in any form should be undertaken without their express permission.
Notes 1997 on the Surname Mattimoe
and its link with the Surname Milmo
Hopefully this is the last of my many attempts to explain clearly what I have learned about the name Mattimoe and its links with the name Milmo. My first notes on this subject were written in 1957 and were followed by a series of addenda as intermittent research uncovered further bits of information. With the passing of the years I became more and more dissatisfied with my early efforts. In my ignorance I had written much of what i now consider rubbish. Some of this was prompted by a well-meant but misguided attempt to show that Mattimoe could possibly be an Irish name. In an effort to put right what was wrong I rewrote my notes in 1996 and included a considerable amount of new information which had come to light in the intervening years. But now a year later I consider the format of Notes 1996 leaves room for improvement and for this reason I have re-drafted them as Notes 1997.
I avail of this opportunity to express my thanks for all the assistance I have received from a great researcher, Terry Arthur of Tyne and Wear whose Milmo forebears left Sligo in the mid-1800's.
From a very early age I was curious to learn the origins of the name Mattimoe. I recall as a mere schoolboy asking Terry Mattimoe of Boyle where the name came from. His reply was brief and, as I discovered years later, very much to the point. He said "It's Milmo in the County of Sligo". This opinion was confirmed by me in the 1950's by Mrs Milmo of Coolboy who had been told by Fr. Mattimoe, Curate in Ballyrush that Milmo was Mattimoe. (Fr. Mattimoe was a native of Derrynary and a first cousin of my father.) A man who lived near Doon, Boyle, told me he had often heard his father say that Mattimoe was Willamoe. In Kilmactranny Cemetery I found a small rough hewn gravestone bearing the following inscription:-
IHS
HERE LIETH THE BODY OF
DAVY WILMO
DEPARTED THIS LIFETIME
YE 6 OF FEBR ANNO DO 1730
Near the small stone is a large flat gravestone. It was so badly weathered that only a part of the inscription could be deciphered :-
PRAY FOR THE SOUL OF JO--
MIL-- WHO DEPD,
JAN 1786
43RD
The proximity of the two graves to each other would seem to indicate that they belonged to the same family, differences in spelling notwithstanding. Here the plot truly thickens. The large grave stone was very positively and unmistakably claimed as a Mattimoe stone by Pat Mattimoe of Aughoo, cousin of my father and Fr. Mattimoe. Pat even related some family lore in proof of what he said. As we shall see his claim is fully supported by later research.
Rainey in his English surnames states that Mattimoe is an English surname. As variants of the name he gives William Matheumogh from the Derbyshire Survey Rolls 1327, and Ann Mattimore from the Greenwich Pipe Rolls 1619.
The name found its way to Dublin. The name James Mathmore is found in the parish records of St Michaels in 1667. Sarah Martimore is recorded in the parish of St Peter and St Kevin in 1682. Ann Martimore was registered in 1773 in the parish of SS. Marie.Luke, Catherine and Werburg and John Massimore was recorded in the same parish in 1749.
According to the census of Ireland 1659 thw Titullado in Lissaneena was John Mortimer, a name which is occasionally found to be a variant of Mattimoe. Only last August I had a visit from an American Mortimer who was looking for information about his Mattimoe forebears. Lissaneena, of course, was strong Mattimoe country. Neither Mortimer nor Mattimoe nor any of their numerous variants appears in the Sligo Hearth Money Rolls 1664.
In his Irish pedigree, O'Hart states that Milmo derives from Mael na Mbo, 49th King of Leinster. Mael na Mbo was grandfather of Dermot MacMurrough who brought the Normans to Ireland. He died in 1016. His tribe migrated to Connaught where they intermarried with the aristocratic O'Dowds and the O'Creans.
Knox, in his history of Mayo, page 16, tells us that in north east Sligo and north west Mayo there was a tribe known as the Ui Fiacrach Muaidh i.e. the Ui Fiacrach of the River Moy. They remained one of the most powerful tribes in Connaight until about the 6th century and provided many kings of that province.
According to Byrne's Irish Kings and High Kings, page 298, there was a King of Connaught prior to the 6th century whose name was Mael Umai.
In the Chronicum Scotorum under the year AD 945 we find the following
'Domnall, son of Maelmuaidh, King, was slain by Uathmaran son of Dobailin and the Corco Firtree.
Domnall was King of the Luighne a tribe in Sligo whose territory corresponed roughly to the present day Barony of Leney.
The Annals of the Four Masters, under the year 1016, tell us that
'Ceallach Hua Mael Midhe, Provost of Drumrath died.'
Drumrath was a small religiuos establishment in the Barony of Corran, about five miles from Boyle. For centuries it had been common practice for appointments, mainlt administrative, to be held by the local family which had donated the land on which the religious house had been built. On this basis, Ceallagh Hua Mael Midhe was very likely a native of Corran, a barony in which the name OMualmuaidh (Milmo) is found a thousand years later.
According to Wolfe, in his Irish names and Surnames, OMaolmuaidh is the Gaelic for Milmo, Milmoe, O'Molmoy and O'Mulmoy.
In his Irish Families, MacLysaght agrees with Wolfe that OMualmuaidh is th Gaelic for Milmo, but goes on to point out that the Gaelic for Molloy is OMaolmhuaidh which is almost identical with the Gaelic for Milmo. The Sligo Molloys were once known by the tribe name Clann Tadhg na hOidhche in Mayo where it probably originated.
It will be obvious from the foregoing that Milmo is one of the oldest names in Sligo. O'Hart's theory that it originated from Mael na Mbo finds some support in the Hearth Money Rolls of Sligo (1659) where the following are found:-
O'Milnamo - Parish of Dromard, Barony of Leney
O'Mullnamoe - Parish of Toomour, Barony of Corram
The weight of historical evidence, however, would suggest that Milmoe (OMaolmuaidh) derives from Ui Fiacach Muaidh. This tribe, according to Knox, began to decline in the 9th century.
The name Milmo gradually spread throughout Sligo and in the mid-1800's was to be found in every Barony in the county. The distinguished Milmos of Lissaneena are accorded very complimentary refernces in O'Rourke's History of Sligo and MacTieran's Heres to their Memory and O'Hart's.
According to O'Hart Thomas Milmo was a student in Trinity College in 1822 and in 1852 a Milmo was a Prizeman in the Catholic University. Patrick Milmo, son of Darby Milmo of Lissaneena, emigrated to Mexico in 1857 and as Don Patricio became one of the wealthiest men in that country. His daughter married Russian Prince Radziwill. His grandson, Sir Helenus Milmo, a distinguished lawyer, was a member of the prosecution at the Nuremburg Trials after World War II. He later became a Judge of the High Court in London.
Two young Milmo brothers of Kilmorgan, on the death of their father, a teacher, were taken by their mother to America. Soon they were showing remarkable artistic ability. In due course they were sent to Rome to be trained as sculptors. On their return they quickly became recognised as two of the outstanding sculptors in the United States. Among their great works is the Soldiers and Sailors Monument on Boston Common.
Earliest References to the name Mattimoe
The Census of the Diocese of Elphin contains the earliest information on Mattimoes in Sligo and Roscommon.
It lists all Mattimoes then living in those Counties with the exception of Lissaneena which is in the Diocese of Achonry. The number of children and their ages suggest that in Doon, the parents were in their twenties and were probably first generation in Roscommon.
It is clear from the date of the Census that the name Mattimoe had moved from Sligo to Roscommon prior to 1749. The Census comfirms the oral tradition that some Mattimoes had adopted the names Willamoe, Willimo and Mullamoe before moving from Sligo to Roscommon.
The underlying reason for the move to Roscommon was probably an offer of better tenancies from Lord Kingston who also owned estates adjoining Coolboy. Sligo was rapidly becoming overcrowded.
The name Mattimoe has survived very well in Roscommon. It is still to be found in or near most of the localities where it was recorded two hundred and fifty years ago. In 1749 when Boyle had only four shops, one of them was owned by Luke Mattimoe. Today there are tow businesses owned by Mattimoes in Boyle.
After the Census the next most important source of information are the Tithe Applotment Books. These books contain the results for tithe purposes, of all the properties surveyed in the country. When set alongside each other they convey an interesting picture of where surname changes occurred and the number of families involved.
Look at the Tithe Applotment Survey
The practice of changing a surname - such a big deal today - will be more readily understood if viewed against the background of the conditions prevailing in Sligo towards the end of the 17th century and the first half of the 18th.
Following the Cromwellian and the Jacobite wars Gaelic language and culture had come under great presssure. Cromwellian soldiers who were due arrears of pay were compensated with lands in Sligo. They were numerous in the parishes of Ballysadare and Drumcullen. Gaelic names were being anglicised, not in a controlled way but in a very haphazard fashion. Registration was a long way in the future.
In the absence of order and control individuals, families and officials felt free to invent their own spelling based on how they thought the name was pronounced. Mothers sometimes gave their children their own maiden names instead of the surname of the father. It did not help matters that the standard of literacy, where one existed, was very low. The result of all this was a crop of new surnames.
MILMO became Milmoe, Millmo, Millimo, Milmore, Milnamoe, Wilmo, Willimo, Willnore and Willamoe
MATTIMOE became Matimo, Matymoe, Mattimore and Mortimer.
The Mattimoes would have had a further reason to change; their strange surname made them liable to be mistaken for a descendant of a Cromwellian, with all that this implied.
The place where name-changing began was probably Coolboy. It is most unlikely to have come about as a result of a group decision. The most likely scenario is that very soon after the arrival of the name in Sligo, a young Mattimoe lad married a young Milmo lady, and reared their family in the mother's maiden name.
Yet the Mattimoes who converted were very slow to abandon their old name completely. Conscious no doubt, of its importance in legal matters, especially in land title documents they continued for over a century to use Mattimoe with and without Milmo when signing or witnessing legal documents. In the Registry of Deeds a Memorial No. 567:396699 bears the signature -
JOHN MELLIMO or MATIMO (of Coolboy)
In the Prerogative Wills of the Diocese of Elphin in the National Archives there is a tiny fragment of a Will salvaged from the remains of the burning of the Four Courts, 1922, and bearing what survived of a signature -
MATTIMO or MULLA-----
The farm owned by Darby Milmo in Lissaneena is recorded in the Tithe Applotment Books 1825 in the name of Darby Mattimoe. The same farm is also recorded in the name of Darby Mattimoe in a valuation document in the Valuation Office, Dublin. It is quite clear from this documnet that the site for a school which was presented to the Parish Priest of Ballysadare by Darby Milmo, according to O'Rourkes History of Sligo, was owned in fact by Darby Mattimoe. The explanation of this must be that the family came into the possession of the property when the family name was Mattimoe and was inherited as such by Davy.
As mentioned earlier, Lissaneena was not in the Diocese of Elphin and therefore we do not know what Mattimoes or Milmos lived there in 1749. Judging by the patterns observable in other localities it is fairly certain that some Mattimoes lived in Lissaneena at the tiem of the census because four families were recorded their in Tithe Applotment Books 1825 - those of Farrell, Terence, Pat and Darby.
Darby MILMO od Lissaneena however was very much to the fore at that time. The Tithe Applotment Book for the parish of Killoran and Kilvarnet (Ballysadare) shows a large farm owned by Darby Milmo and company. A Landed Estate Court document dated 1845 lists Darby as one of the tenants of Thomas James Meredith. In 1846 Darby was lessee of a plot in Claragh near Collooney. O'Rourke in his History of Sligo mentions that a site for a schoolhouse was given to the Parish Priest of Ballysadare by Darby Milmo in 1852. It is clear from a document in the Valuation Office, Dublin - already mentioned - that this site was owned by Darby Mattimoe.
In the mid 1850's Derby Milmo sold Lissaneena and moved to Carrowkeel, Ballymote where his married daughter, Mrs Connolly, was living. He died in 1877 and with his wife is buried in Ballysadare cemetery.
When and from where did the Mattimoes arrive in Sligo?
Thus far our research has clarified to a degree the origin of Mattimoe and its link with Milmo but it leaves unanswered three intriguing questions -
Where did the first Mattimoe put down roots in Sligo?
When did he arrive in Sligo?
Why did he go there?
Unfortunately, in trying to find the answers, we have no information earlier than 1749, and therefore have to rely on conjecture. We bigin by ruling out Knockroe, Brickliffe and Maherlack. With one young family in wach the name is unlikely to have been in these areas for long. That leaves -
Coolboy and Lissaneena.
Assuming there were Mattimoes in Lissaneena in 1749 - and there are solid grounds for doing so - there is nothing to choose between the claims of each of those places. If however, we set out diagramatically all the places mentioned in the Census, the odds swing heavily in favour of Coolboy.
Collooney
Knockroe
Lissaneena
6 miles
Maherlack
Coolboy 7 miles
Brickliffe
Bridge Cartron
9 miles
Doon
Boyle
(Not to scale)
In the absence of documentary evidence earlier that 1749 it is not possible to determine when the first Mattimoe arrived in Sligo but using as a guide the presumed lineage of Pat Mattimoe of Brickliffe it is possible to make an intelligent guess at the approximate decade.
All five of Pat's family were over fourteen years. Assuming the eldest was aged, say, twenty four in 1749, he was born in 1725. Allowing Pat was twenty five years of age when his first child was born, he himself was born in 1700. Using the same yardstick, Pat's own father was born in 1675 and his grandfather in 1650. In 1670 Pat's grandfather would have been twenty years of age and old enough to make his way in the world. And that meant making his way to Sligo. Around that time Theobald Taaffe, Lord Carlingford, was looking for tenants to whom he could lease part of the huge estate of 11,000 acres which he had been granted near Ballymote by his grateful friend Charles II on his Restoration.
Good tenants were so scarce that Carlingford had to bring some from the Pale (Power Politics and Land in Sligo - Mary O'Dowd). There were Mattimoes in the Pale (Dublin). Could one of them have been among those who took up Lord Carlingford's offer? We have no proof of this but it is not entirely improbable theory: all the more so when it is realised that Carlingford was a Catholic. Arguments can undoubtedly be put forward against the choice of 1650 as the Arrival Year but stronger arguments can be advanced if this date is brought forward to 1675 or put back to 1625. Even if the 1650 Theory remains unproven it ...... (section missing) ....... War, and fifteen years before the Battle of the Boyne. The arrival of the first Mattimoe in Sligo is therefore unconnected with either of those two events. The year in question however, does occur in a period when Lord Carlingford was seeking good tenants for his recently acquired estates around Ballymote. All of this may not amount to absolute proof of when the first Mattimoe arrived but it is by no means an improbable theory and it does have the merit of being more credible than any other year in that period.
As I finish this task which I first embarked upon in 1947 and continued very intermittently ever since, I hope that my efforts may encourage someone else to take over the baton and bring this research to a satisfactory conclusion. It is my conviction that there is still more information about the Milmos and the Mattimoes lying in dusty files awaiting sympathetic touch of the ardent researcher.
Cyril M Mattimoe
14th May 1998
Cyril Mattimoe died on 22nd March 2003 a few days before his 90th birthday.