This site is dedicated to my grandmother Margaret (Ahern) Shanahan,

 who often told us stories of the people and the goings on, during her days growing up in 'Tour'.

Special thanks to her sister Mary whom I have pestered over the last couple of years for names and dates and anything else she can remember. Hello 'Joansmama', I've found out quite a bit since the first time I started asking you questions!

Also thanks to Frank and Peg (Ahern) Killorin and their daughter Peggy, for filling in quite a bit on the U.S. side and the great pictures.

The site is still under construction, whenever I find out anything new I'll add it in. If there are any mistakes or omissions or if anyone has any information to add please let me know.

Thanks, enjoy looking through, Ashley Maan.

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Tournafulla is a small, scattered village that stretches along a quarter of a mile of road in the high country of south-west Limerick. It is surrounded by a ring of hills over nine hundred feet in height on the north-east and north-west of the village, and has hills to the south of the village, the Mullaghareirk range, which are over a thousand feet in height.  " It's about six miles outside of Newcastle West" as Nana would say.

I'm not sure when the Ahern's first settled in Tour, but they have been there for quite a long time and there are still relatives living there today.

To date I know back as far as my Great Great Grandfather Michael Ahern and his wife Mary, who was also an Ahern'e' (I'm not positive about the 'e' at the end of her name, but there was some vague story about one group of Ahern(e)s coming to Tour and there was already an Ahern(e) family there, so one of them either dropped or added the 'e' to save confusion...whether this is true or not I don't know.) 

Michael or Mickey Beaug ('Small Mike') as he was known would have been born in or around the 1850's. He was one of about 10 kids, most of whom emigrated to Connecticut, U.S.A (One brother named Bartholomew, I don't know any other names at this point). Michael's wife Mary was one of 9 children, 6 of whom went to the U.S. She was known as Maire Mor ('Big Mary'). 

Michael and Mary had 9 children. Most of them emigrated to the U.S. as well, quite a few of them went to New Haven, Connecticut. (They probably stayed for a time anyway with their uncles and aunts who had gone there the generation before.) 

Click their names below for further details on each of them, look out for links on each page for more info.