When the church records went online in October 2011, I was able to more conclusively link the Mahonys of Bredagh (jpg pdf) to my Grandmother's Collins line. However, there remain many open questions, specifically, whether and how they are related to Mahonys in Clashduff and Tonafora, Toughbaun, and in Minanes. Recently I've added Castledonovan to the list of Mahony locations of interest.
Up to now I had assumed that the Mahonys along and south of R586 were a somewhat different set than the ones in the north part of Drimoleague parish. Now I'm not so sure. I had originally based my assumption on the names I've seen on both sides of the road. For example, I haven't yet found anybody named Cain, and I don't know if there are Timothys deep in the north side. But those names occur very frequently along R586 and on the south side.
The cultural division between the north and the south is not a complete figment of my imagination. When I told my aunt about talking on the phone to one of her first cousins who grew up in Ceancullig, she asked me if he "sounded rough." She then explained that even they in Bauravilla had a hard time understanding the speech of "the people in the mountains" even though those "mountains" were hills just a few miles away within bicycling distance! My Bauravilla-raised aunt, in turn, told me about how the nuns in the convent school in Skibbereen, just a few miles south, would constantly correct her speech and pronunciation.
That was a digression.
The Mahony names that are practically ubiquitous in the area are Denis and Daniel. The earliest Mahony in my direct line was Denis (1788-1872), who married Catherine Hurley (date unknown). Given that their youngest known child was Kate (1840), I would not expect Denis and Catherine to have been married too long before 1820. Unfortunately the Drimoleague & Drinagh church records don't go back before about 1818. The earliest child found in the church records was Patrick (1822), followed by my gg-grandmother Mary (1823). There isn't a baptism record available for him, but based on census and death records, I believe there was a child Cain born before the first available baptism records.
Mary Mahony married my gg-grandfather Daniel Collins of Adrigole and I believe they first lived there, in Castlehaven civil parish, before moving out to Cullomane East on the west edge of Caheragh civil parish, near Bantry, around 1850. Catherine and Laurence, their two oldest children, were born in probably in Adrigole and the rest of the Collins children were born in Cullomane. One of those children, whose name remains somewhat unreadable to me, was born in 1856. That child's baptism sponsors were Daniel Mahony and Mary Burke.
I put Daniel Mahony and Mary Burke in the church records search engine and lo and behold, a couple with those names turned up in Castledonovan. I turned up three children for them: Denis (1838), Margaret (1840), and William (1842). The reason I am paying attention to Castledonovan and the area north of the R586 is because I have a good autosomal DNA match who has Mahony ancestry in Clodagh, which lies north of R586. This is the first piece of evidence I have found placing some of my Mahonys on my match's side of the road.
It isn't clear when Daniel Mahony and Mary Burke married and whether they were roaming around. There are records of couples with these names married in Rosscarbery (1824) and in Enniskeane & Desertserges (1836). But children show up in 1823 (maybe illegitimate) and an odd one pops up in 1830 in Aughadown church parish. So far the marriage record in Enniskeane & Desertserges looks like a better match, and there is a Daniel Hurley as a witness - possibly a relative through Catherine Hurley. I find it somewhat odd that there were only three children in Dromdaleague, but the famine could have put an end to their family production capacity.
If Daniel was an older brother of my gg-grandmother, he strikes me as somewhat young to have married in 1836 let alone 1824 ! So the evidence is weak that he's my gg-grandmother's older brother; I think he may have been a first cousin or an uncle. Supporting that theory is the difficulty turning up men named Daniel in the descendant branches of the Bredagh Mahonys, though I did manage to find a few. The Daniels I found were among the youngest children in their families suggesting to me it was not a "high priority" name. There are plenty of Daniel Mahonys elsewhere. For now I am putting Daniel in the tree as an older brother even though I believe this is not correct.
If Daniel and Mary were moving around and if Daniel was an uncle, it could explain why he is not recorded in Castledonovan in Griffiths Valuation, although there is a Castledonovan Daniel in the Dromdaleague Tithe Applotment and there are Daniels in neighboring Garranes North and in Deelish recorded in Griffiths.
I am somewhat more confident in data indicating that my gg-grandmother's older brother Patrick married Catherine Hayes, though the marriage date for the record - 1861 - causes me to question whether I have the correct marriage record. There were apparently children born well before that date, and I haven't found any marked illegitimate.
So my work has progressed in tracing these branches of the Bredagh Mahony family:
Cain Mahony - Remained unmarried and stayed in Bredagh
Patrick Mahony and Catherine Hayes of Rearahinagh - Probably deceased by 1901 with their son remaining
Mary Mahony and Daniel Collins of Cullomane East - My line; Mary was widowed by 1901
Honora (Norry) Mahony - unknown
Margaret Mahony and Denis Collins of Lissane - Possibly also related through the Collinses
Timothy Mahony and Mary Ann Donovan of Rearahinagh
Denis Mahony and Mary Anne McCarthy of Bredagh
Kate Mahony - Witnessed several baptisms through 1869
What I still have not done is link any of these people to anybody in Clodagh, the home of my DNA match's family. None of the Clodagh Mahonys have names that correspond to mine, except for a Denis Mahony baptism sponsor, and there were a lot of men named Denis Mahony running around back then.
Saturday, April 7, 2012
Sunday, April 1, 2012
The Hurley-Herlihy-Cahalane Connection
Genealogy is full of cases in which you are unsuccessfully able to research one line but in the process of researching that line you stumble across information that fills out another line. Such is the case with Grandmom's Adrigole Collinses. After relaying this information to a Hurley cousin last night, I thought it would be a suitable posting.
It all started with an obituary from the Southern Star dated November 21, 1903 for one Michael Herlihy, a national teacher from Cloonkeen who died fairly young.
"Mrs. Young", listed as a cousin, had to have been Ellen Hurley December 17, 1852 from Coolnagarrane, who married William Young of North Street. Ellen was already widowed by the 1901 census.
"Lawrence, Jeremiah, and John Collins" were listed as cousins. They must have been out of Adrigole. The question is - how were they related to Michael Herlihy? There were other Collinses in Adrigole and they were notably not mentioned. Specifically, John Collins, son of Jeremiah, was by now a priest and he would not have been listed this way. So I immediately began to think these men were the son of John, and the Herlihy relationship could have come through Catherine Sheely, who married John Collins 30-Nov-1852. However, I have reason to believe Catherine was the daughter of John Sheily and Ellen Corcoran from around Aghadown (mistranscribed as Kelly), and as there was no obvious connection to Herlihys I did not try pursuing it.
My triple-great-grandparents were Michael Hurley and Bridget Cahalane of Coolnagarrane, in Abbeystrowry parish. Michael and Bridget married 25-May-1838 in Kilmacabea R.C. Parish. Witnesses, if I'm reading the record correctly, were Bryan Adams and Cate Sheahan.
Michael Hurley may have had a sister Ellen, who appears in the Skibbereen church registers January 22, 1815. There is other evidence strongly suggesting she was a relative and went on to marry John Sweeney February 22, 1846. Michael and Ellen probably had a brother Daniel. It is through Daniel that the Herlihy connection, and possible second Cahalane connection lie.
This Daniel and his wife Honora McCarthy were the parents of the aforementioned Ellen Hurley Young. Another daughter, Kate (1855) married Michael Herlihy the schoolteacher in 1886. Hence the Herlihy-Hurley connection.
What about Cahalanes?
Michael Herlihy's parents were Denis Herlihy and Mary Regan. If I'm reading the records right they married in Kilmacabea R.C. parish February 8, 1834. One Cornelius Cahalane was a witness.
The odd thing is that I cannot find any children until May 1844, and I think the child's name was Johanna, who went on to marry a Denis Leahy. Then another gap, and Michael Herlihy was baptized April 13, 1851. Then twins John and Thomas, April 7, 1855. John's Godfather was a Denis Cahalane.
The 10 year gap before any children appear, and then the twins some 21 years after the marriage, makes me wonder if I'm reading the records right. But that is what I have so far.
Update: I have found many more children. Patrick, baptized 12-Apr-1835; Daniel, bap. 9-Aug-1840; Denis, bap. 14-Dec-1842; Johanna, bap. May-1844; Catherine, bap. 19-Apr-1846 (her mother is recorded as Catherine, which I think is a mistake); Michael, bap. 13-Apr-1851; William, bap. 18-Apr-1853; and John and Thomas, bap. 7-Apr-1855.
Michael Hurley = Bridget Cahalane had four boys: John 1839; Patrick 1841; Daniel 1843; and Michael 1849.
The Godmother of John 1839, my gg-grandfather, was one Catherine Cahalane. The Godmother of Patrick 1841 was Mary Cahalane. I had assumed they had only the four boys, but last night discovered a missing fifth child. Ellen was baptized September 21, 1845 (mistranscribed as Hooly). Her Godfather was one Michael Cahalane.
I think I know who this Michael Cahalane is, and I have corresponded with some of his descendants. He married Honora Donovan in 1851. The Godfather of son Michael, 1861, was one John Hurley.
The oldest child of my gg-grandparents, John Hurley and Margaret Hourihane, was Michael, 1868. One Michael Cahalane was the Godfather. Then any documented connections with Cahalanes stop. I have not checked the extended family of Daniel Hurley = Honora McCarthy for Cahalane sponsors. Ellen Hurley Sweeney's family did not have Cahalane sponsors from what I have dug up so far.
I cannot find a meaningful death record for a Bridget Hurley after 1863, so I assume that Bridget Cahalane Hurley died before civil registration. What is her relationship to Cornelius Cahalane, who witnessed the wedding of Denis Herlihy and Mary Regan, and to Michael Cahalane? Is this Michael the Michael Cahalane from Cloonkeen, whose descendants I correspond with? And how were the Herlihys linked to Collinses in Adrigole?
It all started with an obituary from the Southern Star dated November 21, 1903 for one Michael Herlihy, a national teacher from Cloonkeen who died fairly young.
"Mrs. Young", listed as a cousin, had to have been Ellen Hurley December 17, 1852 from Coolnagarrane, who married William Young of North Street. Ellen was already widowed by the 1901 census.
"Lawrence, Jeremiah, and John Collins" were listed as cousins. They must have been out of Adrigole. The question is - how were they related to Michael Herlihy? There were other Collinses in Adrigole and they were notably not mentioned. Specifically, John Collins, son of Jeremiah, was by now a priest and he would not have been listed this way. So I immediately began to think these men were the son of John, and the Herlihy relationship could have come through Catherine Sheely, who married John Collins 30-Nov-1852. However, I have reason to believe Catherine was the daughter of John Sheily and Ellen Corcoran from around Aghadown (mistranscribed as Kelly), and as there was no obvious connection to Herlihys I did not try pursuing it.
My triple-great-grandparents were Michael Hurley and Bridget Cahalane of Coolnagarrane, in Abbeystrowry parish. Michael and Bridget married 25-May-1838 in Kilmacabea R.C. Parish. Witnesses, if I'm reading the record correctly, were Bryan Adams and Cate Sheahan.
Michael Hurley may have had a sister Ellen, who appears in the Skibbereen church registers January 22, 1815. There is other evidence strongly suggesting she was a relative and went on to marry John Sweeney February 22, 1846. Michael and Ellen probably had a brother Daniel. It is through Daniel that the Herlihy connection, and possible second Cahalane connection lie.
This Daniel and his wife Honora McCarthy were the parents of the aforementioned Ellen Hurley Young. Another daughter, Kate (1855) married Michael Herlihy the schoolteacher in 1886. Hence the Herlihy-Hurley connection.
What about Cahalanes?
Michael Herlihy's parents were Denis Herlihy and Mary Regan. If I'm reading the records right they married in Kilmacabea R.C. parish February 8, 1834. One Cornelius Cahalane was a witness.
The odd thing is that I cannot find any children until May 1844, and I think the child's name was Johanna, who went on to marry a Denis Leahy. Then another gap, and Michael Herlihy was baptized April 13, 1851. Then twins John and Thomas, April 7, 1855. John's Godfather was a Denis Cahalane.
The 10 year gap before any children appear, and then the twins some 21 years after the marriage, makes me wonder if I'm reading the records right. But that is what I have so far.
Update: I have found many more children. Patrick, baptized 12-Apr-1835; Daniel, bap. 9-Aug-1840; Denis, bap. 14-Dec-1842; Johanna, bap. May-1844; Catherine, bap. 19-Apr-1846 (her mother is recorded as Catherine, which I think is a mistake); Michael, bap. 13-Apr-1851; William, bap. 18-Apr-1853; and John and Thomas, bap. 7-Apr-1855.
Michael Hurley = Bridget Cahalane had four boys: John 1839; Patrick 1841; Daniel 1843; and Michael 1849.
The Godmother of John 1839, my gg-grandfather, was one Catherine Cahalane. The Godmother of Patrick 1841 was Mary Cahalane. I had assumed they had only the four boys, but last night discovered a missing fifth child. Ellen was baptized September 21, 1845 (mistranscribed as Hooly). Her Godfather was one Michael Cahalane.
I think I know who this Michael Cahalane is, and I have corresponded with some of his descendants. He married Honora Donovan in 1851. The Godfather of son Michael, 1861, was one John Hurley.
The oldest child of my gg-grandparents, John Hurley and Margaret Hourihane, was Michael, 1868. One Michael Cahalane was the Godfather. Then any documented connections with Cahalanes stop. I have not checked the extended family of Daniel Hurley = Honora McCarthy for Cahalane sponsors. Ellen Hurley Sweeney's family did not have Cahalane sponsors from what I have dug up so far.
I cannot find a meaningful death record for a Bridget Hurley after 1863, so I assume that Bridget Cahalane Hurley died before civil registration. What is her relationship to Cornelius Cahalane, who witnessed the wedding of Denis Herlihy and Mary Regan, and to Michael Cahalane? Is this Michael the Michael Cahalane from Cloonkeen, whose descendants I correspond with? And how were the Herlihys linked to Collinses in Adrigole?
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