The Caffreys and the Broughalls

James and Sarah Perry Sarah Perry married James Perry in the parish church of Monasterevin in County Kildare in 1880. Although after their marriage they lived in Dublin, where James was stationed as a policeman, her family had long been associated with the area around Monasterevin and it is where three of her children would return to live after their parents' deaths in 1899 and 1900.

The Caffreys

Sarah Caffrey was the child of Edward Caffrey and Catherine, nee Brohal. Her siblings were Rosanna, Patrick, James, Mary, Margaret, John, Edward, Peter and Michael and when she moved to Dublin after her marriage many of her siblings remained in Kildare. Her brother-in-law, John O'Toole was also in the DMP and this is probably how James and Sarah met. Edward Perry, James' father visited his son's parents in law in the early 1880s, at Lughill, shortly before Edward Caffrey's death.

Edward Caffrey appeared on Griffith's Valuation of Ireland for Lughill in the 1850s, where he held just over 17 acres of land. His father, Patrick had held land there in 1824 as shown in the Tithe Applotment Books. The house in Lughill remained in the family and Sarah and James Perry's daughters are found there in the 1901 and 1911 censuses. Descendants of the family remain in the Monasterevin area today, although there are no Perrys or Caffreys there.

**The Caffrey House at Lughill**

The Broughalls

Catherine, Sarah's mother was born a Brohal, usually spelt Broughall. The name is thought to be English in origin, with the original bearers of the name in Ireland moving there in the 12th century. There are two townlands in Kildare with Broughall in the name and it is a common surname in the county.

Not much is known about Catherine. She is though to have come from a town in Cloneybeg, where descendants of the family still live today. There is a family story that during the 1798 rebellion the family hid in the bog to avoid capture by the British soldiers.

Strange coincidence

In 2005 we visited Monasterevin. We went to look around the three cemeteries in the town, the last of which (Yew Tree Cemetery) contained headstones with the name Broughall on them. Late last year I discovered the websiet of Monasterevin Historical Society and I decided to e-mail them as they had transcribed the gravestones in the cemetery. I was very surprised with the reply! The Secretary of the Society turned out to be my fourth cousin- a descendant of Sarah Caffrey's sister, Rose. Barry and his father Seamus sent me a whole heap of information about the Caffreys, including photographs and a family tree.

Home Page