William Boyle and Margaret Grant are known only from the marriage record of their son John Boyle,1 which names them and states William’s occupation as farmer. Based on John’s birth year, both William and Margaret can be guessed to have been born between 1805 and 1815.
John Boyle’s connection with Thurles makes it likely that his parents were also from that area. Unfortunately there are no William Boyles listed in the Tithe Applotment Books in Thurles itself, although there is one in Curraghmore, about 8 kilometers north of Thurles, listed in 1824. Griffith’s Valuation (1853) similarly lists no William Boyles in Thurles itself, though some were listed within a few kilometers of the town (but not at Curraghmore).
There is no marriage record for William and Margaret, and no indication of how many children they had and when.
There was a William Boyle registered as having died in Thurles in early 1890 aged 72, making his birth year around 1818. There is no way of confirming that this is the correct William Boyle since it is based only on a civil registration index entry. The index also has a Margaret Boyle whose death was registered in Thurles in 1866, but she would have been born around 1803.
1 John Boyle’s death record shows his father as Thomas Boyle and his mother as “unknown”. The marriage record is considered more reliable since the information was provided by John Boyle himself. The death record information was provided by John’s son, James Boyle, who would never have known his grandparents.