Driscolls of Garrane, version 2.0

After setting aside the problems of my Driscolls for awhile, a few pieces of information about some of the sons fell into my lap.

One of the problems that has made this family especially difficult to research is that the sons I have found - if I have identified the right men - did not follow a naming pattern convention that I know. However, 3g-grandmother Margaret Looney got around. Also, some in-laws and cousins stepped up and filled in as godparents. It was seeing names like Tim Cadogan, Margaret Looney, and Maguire that helped me identify some of the men I think are my gg-grandmother's brothers.

Another curious fact about this family is that despite at least seven people named Regan who were godparents, the relationships with Regans did not show up to a large degree later on.  It makes me wonder if perhaps the Regans were friends rather than relatives of Dan Driscoll or of Margaret Looney.

Florence Driscoll (1825 - ?)

The godmother of James Driscoll (b. 1856) of Lahertydaly was grandmother Margaret Looney.  The father was Florence and the godfather was probably his uncle James (b. 1835).  The godfather of Florence's daughter Ellen (b. 1867) may have been Florence's brother-in-law Tim Cadogan, married to sister Margaret.

Florence married Catherine Healy of Lahertydaly 1-Jul-1855 in Skibbereen R.C. Parish.  Then came James (1856); Margaret (1859); Mary (1862); Patrick (1865); and Ellen (1867).

Florence and Catherine were apparently the godparents of Denis Driscoll of Hollybrook, son of Denis Driscoll and Margaret Fitzpatrick, 15-Aug-1869.  In October, Catherine Healy Driscoll died, age 36.

Florence married Margaret Minihane of Lahertydaly 26-Feb-1870. The priest wrote "3tis et 3tis affinitatio gratibus dispensatos..."  Margaret Minihane was a relative of the late Catherine Healy. From the union of Florence and Margaret came John (1871) and Daniel (1872).

John Driscoll (1842 - ?)

John is an exceptionally difficult case. There were uncertainties about him from the start, as he is indexed as "Tim" in the online church records but was given to me as John by Skibbereen Heritage.

The children of John's sister Johanna Driscoll and Denis Crimeen McCarthy of Dromore had baptism sponsors named Keohane for their children.  I noticed the Keohane name again for the children of John Driscoll and Mary McCarthy, of Lacka, as well as the more familiar Maguire name.

The documentation for John Driscoll and Mary McCarthy is in a rocky state.  They were married 2-Feb-1869 in Caheragh R.C. Parish.  The civil registration record has his surname wrong (as McCarthy) as well as his father Dan. (See "Errors in Civil Registration Records.")  In addition, Mary McCarthy is recorded as Mary Keohane on one record.  Given that the Keohanes were so involved with their lives, it should not be a surprise.

John and Mary had children Margaret (1870); Ellen (1871); Pat (1872); Mary (1873); Daniel (1875); Johanna (1876); Florence? (1877) and Jeremiah (1879).  I have my work cut out for me digging all of this out of civil registration.

Pat Driscoll (1820 - ?)

Pat remains a bit of a mystery. I am assuming it was he who was the witness of the marriage of his sister Mary Driscoll to Andrew Maguire (1846), and who witnessed the marriage of his brother Florence to Catherine Healy (1855).

A Patrick Driscoll married a Catherine Sullivan 21-Feb-1841 in Skibbereen R.C. parish.  One Cornelius Driscoll was a witness.  This strikes me as rather young for Patrick to marry. If I am tracking the right parents, Margaret (1843) was born in Garranebeg, with godparents Daniel Driscoll and Ellen Twomey.  Then Mary, with godparents John Reagan and Mary Minihane, of Garranebeg, was baptized 24-Jan-1846.  My next guess is that Catherine Sullivan died, possibly from childbirth.  A Patrick Driscoll married Mary Regan of Dromcorragh 24-Feb-1846 with John Reagan and Bridget Reagan as witnesses.  From the union of Patrick and Mary came John D in late 1846, godparents John Driscoll and Bridget Hennigan, and Patrick in late 1848, with godparents John Reagan and Eliza McCarthy.

Because of the youth of the groom, I am more in doubt of this data, which is why I have not added it to the Driscoll tree yet.

Dan Driscoll (1829 - ?)

I still have yet to learn anything about him.  I have not yet been able to conclusively distinguish him from his father in the land valuation records.

Conclusion

After I found the marriage of son James Driscoll (b. 1835) to Mary Minihane of Lahertydaly, it had not occurred to me to look to Lahertydaly for more relationships between the Driscolls and the Minihanes. But they were there. Furthermore, the godmother of James was an Eleanor Minihane.  Just how far does a relationship with Minihanes go back?  Was there an earlier blood relationship?

Why weren't the first-born sons by the sons of Dan Driscoll not also named Dan?  From looking at the Caheragh church records, I am inclined to think there were so many Dan Driscolls running around the area that maybe the sons decided not to add to the confusion.  An interesting fact is that if the four men I have found are in fact the right sons of Dan Driscoll and Margaret Looney, the first born daughters of all of them are named Margaret.

I am very much in the same position as when I posted the last time about the Driscolls.  I know a more about the outcomes of the daughters of Dan Driscoll and Margaret Looney, but I still don't know what happened to the sons by the 1901 census.  All I know about the Driscolls in Garrane is that they were gone by about 1886 according to the land valuation records.

Updated charts can be found on my own family history page.  In addition, the Driscolls of Garrane are documented at the Driscoll of Cork website - I need to update that document with my recent findings.

Errors in Civil Registration Records

If you have been researching your Irish ancestry for a while, you have probably used the civil registration index and may have on occasion come away perplexed that the person you are looking for isn't there.  There are numerous reasons why this might occur.

1. The event might not ever have been recorded. I have seen estimates that maybe as many as 15% of events eligible for civil registration suffered that consequence. In that case, you obviously won't find your record.

2. The family was legitimately recorded under a name that you don't expect, for example, a secondary name or agnomen. Although civil registrars did generally achieve some consistency in how family names were recorded, sometimes inconsistencies fell through. For example, I have seen inconsistencies as late as 1880, in which a child was recorded as Driscoll in the baptism record but as Cadogan in the civil registration record, and the other children in the family were recorded in civil registration as Driscoll.

A good book about the subject is Varieties and Synonyms of Surnames and Christian Names in Ireland, by Robert Matheson, published in 1890 as a guide for registrars.

3. An error was made either while creating the civil registration record or while transcribing the record for the index. Registrars may have had hard-to-decipher handwriting.  And they did make errors. Just as priests may have transposed the name of the father and the godfather on a baptism, a registrar may have put the surname of a witness on one of the bridal party, for instance. Errors while transcribing names, volume numbers, page numbers, and districts will negatively affect your search.

Here is one example in which the surname of the groom and of his father are wrong, in my opinion. However, the burden of proof is on me to show that it is wrong. Otherwise, I would be fabricating my family tree, and that would be fraudulent just as much as it would be to claim people have certain parentage without supporting documentation. When faced with a record containing an error, I have to find other evidence supporting the family history model. Ideally, if I were to turn over all my documentation to an independent researcher, that independent researcher would arrive at the same conclusion.

In this civil marriage record, I believe the groom and his father were named DRISCOLL, not MCCARTHY. It is easy to see how this mistake was made. The bride's name and that of her father were MCCARTHY, as were the two witnesses. I think the MCCARTHY name accurately appears four times. Now imagine a busy, distracted civil registration clerk copying down this information, and it isn't a great stretch of the imagination to see how this mistake might occur.

Marriage Record showing Name of the Groom as McCarthy, not Driscoll

Where is my evidence that this record is wrong?

Exhibit 1: Church Marriage Record

Caheragh R.C. Parish record of John Driscoll and Mary McCarthy

The groom's name is recorded as DRISCOLL. It has the same date, same priest, and same witnesses as the civil registration record. In addition, these were real witnesses. In other words, they were acquaintances or relatives of the bride and groom and not just standing in at the convenience of the priest while he performed several marriages. Look at the other marriages the priest did around the same time. There are different witnesses for each marriage performed by this priest. Also - very important - there is NO marriage around this time between a John McCarthy and a Mary McCarthy performed by John Wall in this parish at this time.

Exhibit 2: Children's Baptism Records

I am showing only one here for brevity.

Baptism record of Margaret Driscoll

Exhibit 3: Children's Birth Records from Civil Registration

I am showing only one here for brevity.

Civil Registration record of Margaret Driscoll's birth

Exhibit 4. Land Valuation Records

Revision of Cloghdonnell DED

It is impossible to demonstrate the non-existence of something. However, I have to do due diligence and look for a John McCarthy, son of a Daniel McCarthy, residing in Garranemore. From checking Caheragh Tenure books and Griffiths Valuation, so far I have come up with McCarthys but not a Daniel or a John. My final check is the Revision Book up to the time of the marriage.  I notice there is a Jeremiah McCarthy, and in fact that is the name of one of the witnesses to the marriage.  But still no Daniel or John.

I consider the land valuation books the weakest evidence, as non-leaseholders would likely not have been recorded.  The better evidence is probably the parish register showing there was no such marriage.

Conclusion

If you can, view the civil registration data films, not just the index films. Browse through all the entries for that that registry office.  A strategy that has paid off a few times for me has been to estimate the quarter and year the event I am seeking would have been recorded and browse the data film for that time period, even if the event is not in the index. Every time I have done so and have found a record, I've learned something in the process.

TA transcriptions of Clear Island, Kilmocomoge, and Kilmonoge now online

Full TA transcriptions of the parishes of Clear Island, Kilmocomoge, and Kilmonoge (Kinsale) are now completed.  Like the other corkgen.org transcriptions, they are Google map linked and contain footnotes on many surnames.  The civil parish indexes now show a year for each record, because some of these parishes underwent multi-year enumerations.

Main TA page. 

CorkGen TA page. 

Enjoy.

National Archive releases Tithe Applotment books online

The National Archives is in the process of releasing some additional genealogical materials online, and has released Tithe Applotment books.  Enjoy!

Adrigole Collins Developments

Since my post on the Collinses of Coornishal, I have found out a little more about the Adrigole Collinses.  I have identified two more women whom I believe were daughters of "Larr" (1783-1867) and their families.

In the Collinses of Coornishal post I wondered about a Catherine Collins in the family tree of a DNA match and whether our shared ancestry was through that Catherine. I still don't know if that is our common connection, but I did find a Catherine Collins, married to Daniel Sullivan before 1852 and living in Laherdane, Castlehaven parish.  The children I could find were Patrick (1852), Mary (1854), Catherine (1856), Michael (1858), Nancy (1860), Margaret? (1862), and Johanna (1865). Larry Collins was a godfather of Mary in 1854.

I have tried tracing Sullivans in the 1901 census but they are no longer obviously there. I will have to search the revision books after Griffith's to determine when they left Laherdane.  So far, I have not even been able to guess a potential birth year for this Catherine, therefore I'd be interested in obtaining her death record if possible.  I think she and Daniel Sullivan may have been listed as godparents in the 1870's.

Another person I found was Mary Collins, who married John Young of Derryclough, Drinagh in 1855.  I think Larr witnessed the marriage.  The children I could find were Margaret (1855), Jane (1857), Thomas (1860), Edward (1862), John (1864), Richard (1867), Mary (1870), and Michael (1873).

I believe Mary was the godmother of Catherine's child Patrick Sullivan; that Catherine was the godmother of Mary's child Richard Young, and now I think this Catherine was likely the godmother of Daniel Collins of Cullomane East (1865), the youngest child of Daniel Collins and Mary Mahony.  I think Mary Collins Young is in the 1901 census, widowed, in Derryclough Lower in Drinagh.  Judging from the census record I estimate she was born about 1830.

One Thomas Young was identified as a nephew to Jeremiah Collins in the latter's funeral writeup from the Southern Star on May 9, 1903.

I have viewed an 1856 Skibbereen bridewell record in the Ireland Prison Registers for a Laurence Collins who was picked up and detained for being drunk and disorderly, but the record does not state where he was from or state any family members or otherwise give any further details about the arrest and detention.

There are two other couples I have my eye on.  Patrick Collins and Ann Regan were the parents of Laurence Collins, baptized 18-Aug-1819 in Caheragh R.C. parish.  The couple may have moved to Kilmeen civil parish;  Patrick was baptized 11-Feb-1822; Mary was baptized 28-Jul-1824; and twins Catherine and Julia 25-Oct-1826.  Lance (Laurence) Collins was the godfather of Patrick and of Mary.  I have no further information on this couple or this Laurence and so far I  have not tied them to people in Adrigole or Coornishal.

Jeremiah Collins and Johanna Collins were the parents of Larry Collins, baptized 20-Aug-1860 in Castlehaven & Myross R.C. parish.  One Catherine Barry was the godmother.  I am pointing her out because I have seen the name Catherine Barry as a witness to the marriage of John Collins and Catherine Sheily of Adrigole.  Other children for Jeremiah and Johanna Collins are Daniel (1857), Margaret (1866), and Jeremiah (1869).  This couple is associated with a family named Byrns.  Their residence is recorded as Lahane or Lahern, which might be Lahardane Beg or Lahardane More - perhaps where Catherine Collins and Daniel Sullivan lived.

There was a Patrick Collins who was a godfather of Laurence baptized 17-Mar-1849 in Castlehaven & Myross, while Daniel Collins and Mary Mahony were still living in Adrigole, before their move to Cullomane East.  I have been trying to find out more about this Patrick, without much success.  There was a Patrick Collins in Adrigole in the Tenure Book (the pre-Griffith's notebook) in 1850, but he was gone by the publication of Griffith's Valuation a few years later.  For a while I thought that perhaps this Patrick had settled in Garranes, near Castletownsend, and I investigated the Collinses down there, but have subsequently learned the Garranes/Castletownsend Collinses came from elsewhere. 

Squeeze more juice out of your Family Finder DNA test

gedmatch.com is a website with tools for genealogy research.  At gedmatch it is possible for Family Finder testers to go "deeper" in comparison of their autosomal test results to others.  You also can compare your results to other gedmatch users who tested through 23AndMe.  If you are willing to fuss around with a computer and a not-too-easy-to-use website, you can go further with your autosomal test results.  In gedmatch tables I have seen people who may share ancestry with me as far back as 11 generations by gedmatch's calculation.

In addition, you can compare your uploaded data with others in the West Cork & Kerry ancestors project.

In my own case I think my match generation calculations are too generous, and should go back further.  For example, I have a match who "should" be a third cousin according to FTDNA but we cannot even find a surname or geographic area in common, much less figure out how we are supposed to match.  So if I see a match labeled, say 4.3 generations in gedmatch, I tend to think it is more like 6 or 7.  But that is just my experience.

There are two files you need to download from FTDNA once you've logged in to your account:

1) Under Family Finder | Matches, at the bottom of the page it says "Download Raw Data."  Download the CSV file.  That is a file of your matches.  The file will be named starting with your kit number, then "_Family_Finder_Matches_" then a date and then the file extension is CSV.  e.g.

N73108_Family_Finder_Matches_20120825.csv


2) Under Family Finder | Download Raw Data, you want to download "Autosomal Raw Data."  It is in  GZIP (compressed) format. It will be very large, maybe 24 megabytes. The file will be named starting with your kit number, then "autosomal-o-results" and then the file extension will be .CSV.GZ. e.g.

N73108-autosomal-o-results.csv.gz

3) You will need something like Windows Zip utility or gzip (decompress option) to unzip this file.  After you decompress the file, the file extension will be CSV.  e.g.

N73108-autosomal-o-results.csv

Now point your browser to gedmatch.com. 

4) This page is to upload your large file of your autosomal DNA. 

http://ww2.gedmatch.com:8006/autosomal/a-upload1.php

You need to fill in your email address, the donor name exactly as it appears in the FTDNA account, and the kit number.  You can also add an alias if you wish to.  There are more questions, then at the bottom of the screen on the left, click CHOOSE FILE to select on your hard drive your large autosomal results file.  Then click UPLOAD on the bottom right.  Be patient and wait for this to upload.


5) To upload your matches data, go to this page:

http://ww3.gedmatch.com:8004/relationship_search1.php

You answer some similar questions. Your Family Finder test was likely run on the Illumina chip so leave that  selected.  At the bottom left click CHOOSE FILE to select your matches file and then on the bottom right click UPLOAD. 

Check to see if the download is succeeding.  You will see error messages on the screen if it did not. 

In that case, you may want to open the CSV file in a plain text editor and make sure that every field is surrounded by double quotes " ", then separated from adjacent fields by a comma.  I have seen problems with this file before, however the last time I tried it there were no problems.

The field names are:

"Full Name","Match Date","Relationship Range","Suggested Relationship","Shared cM","Longest Block","Known Relationship","E-mail","Ancestral Surnames (Bolded names match your surnames)","notes".


6) This is entirely optional. In your FTDNA account there is a third file you can upload.  Under Family Finder | Download Raw Data, save the file under X Chromosome Raw Data, which is in GZIP (compressed) format.  I have seen only one of these files but after decompressing it the size was about 600K.  You can upload that file here:

http://ww2.gedmatch.com:8006/x/x_upload1.php

Note: FTDNA and other testing labs are still experimenting with this data to see what might be available through it. X chromosome data comes through fewer lines than the full-blown autosomal data, however because the contributing father's X chromosome does not recombine from his parents, in daughters his X chromosome will have survived a generation without recombining.  I don't know what to make of gedmatch's interpretation of generations, to be honest.  We have no information yet about this result.

----------------------------------------

7.  You may also want to upload a GEDCOM file.  You can do that here:

http://www.gedmatch.com/upload.php

8.  Once your data has been uploaded and you've been able to play with the triangulation tool a little, point your browser to the home page, click a link called Ancestor-Projects.Com.   Then click Details where it says "West Cork/Kerry Ireland."


9.  Email the contact person with your kit number and your GEDCOM ID number, if you uploaded your GEDCOM.  Once the administrator accesses your data, you can compare your results with others in the West Cork/Kerry project.

Update:  GEDMATCH has been upgraded and is back online, however Curtis has plans for further upgrades so please support him if you can.

O'Hourihane DNA Projects Announcement

The O'Hourihane DNA Projects have been launched.

The project home is at: http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~skibbgirl/HourihaneDNA/
Shortcut:  http://tinyurl.com/HourihaneDNAProject

If you know people named some variation of Hourihane, Hanrahan, Horgan, Horrigan, Horan, or one of the myriad ways these names may be construed or misconstrued, please give them a nudge and send them our way.  And if one of these names shows up in your ancestry, please come join us in this DNA study.  In addition to Y-DNA tests, we are accepting A-DNA (i.e., Family Finder) tests for those of us who are not direct male descendants but otherwise have relatively recent ancestry of interest in our family trees.

The website contains the project background and goals; a distribution map of surnames of interest; direct links to surname forums; small collections of extracted genealogy records, and other goodies.

While the geographic area of interest is most of Munster plus Co. Galway, these names have been spotted in other counties so our geographic curiosity is already expanding.

The project is a 100% volunteer effort, and the administrator does not receive any compensation or commissions from testing laboratories.

In addition to the project home on Rootsweb, there is a sister site at: http://www.worldfamilies.net/surnames/ohourihane

At Family Tree DNA the project is at: http://www.familytreedna.com/public/hourihane/