Progress

Wow, it's been ages since I've written! 

I've been spending my time looking at birth films, year by year, casting the net looking for potential ancestors.  I've also been looking at 1901 census films and at Tithe Applotment films. 

I have obtained a few books on Irish names and I've learned that the name Owen, to my surprise, is interchangeable with Eugene.  That explains why, in the Hourihane records Margaret at Skibbereen Heritage sent me, Owen is listed as Eugene.  I also learned that Marty, Murty, and Morty have all been used for Mortimer.

MCCARTHY

I found an article in the Ireland news archives about Daniel McCarthy, the schoolteacher whom Aunt Peg remembers.  The article did not give the names of the member of his nuclear family, but it mentioned his first marriage.  His first wife's name was Margaret Fitzgerald, and they married in 1888. 

I figured from that piece of information I would get Daniel's father's name and the townland he lived in before he got married.  So I sent away to the GRO for a copy of that record.

The 1911 census shows his elderly mother living with the family - his mother's name was Kate.

The marriage record said that he was 25 at the time of the marriage and that his father's name was Cornelius.  His residence was Curraghalicky in Drinagh.

In my research notes from film-scanning I found a Catherine McCarthy born in 1865 in Curraghalicky to a Cornelius McCarthy and a Catherine Burke.  What luck that I found a sibling born late enough to get recorded in the general registration!  Now I had the surname of the mother. 

In addition, the marriage record showed a Michael McCarthy as a witness.  I figured that might be a possible brother.

Armed with all that information, I contacted Skibbereen Heritage.  Margaret immediately found the family, in neigboring Garryglass.  She was unable to find a marriage record, so where Catherine Burke was from is a mystery, as it assumed that Cornelius went to Catherine Burke's Roman Catholic parish to get married.

I may have to resort to more letter-writing to Daniel's descendants, to see if anybody knows anything about his parents, particularly his father's family.  We think that Daniel's father was possibly a brother of Mary McCarthy, Granddad's grandmother.  I am in the process right now of looking for the death records of Mary and Cornelius.  From those records I will get their estimated age and therefore the approximate years they were born.  But it would be nice to know a little more before venturing into another search.

HOURIHANE

I was contacted by somebody who is probably a distant Hourihane cousin, named Pat.  Pat's great-grandfather was named Mortimer Howard, and there is reason to believe that Irish emigrants often changed the name from Hourihane to Howard upon arrival here.  This Mortimer Howard emigrated during the famine, in the late 1840's.  Pat also mentioned that there was a brother named Eugene.  Because of the similar family names, Pat thinks that his great-grandfather is somehow connected to the Hourihanes of Clohane, and I think it is true. 

Unfortunately, there are huge gaps in the records and therefore in our knowledge.  We don't know the details about the families of the Hourihanes listed in Clohane in the Caheragh Tithe Applotment, which was taken in 1827.  We only see the names of the men who were farming.  And unfortunately, Griffiths Valuation just adds to the confusion. People started getting creative with the spelling so Hourihane became Hourahan in the Clohane area. As I keep searching birth, death, and marriage films, perhaps something will illuminate this family.

THE LARRYS

I had to split my Larrys folder into two folders - one for Collins out of Colomane East, and one for Collins out of Adrigool, in Castlehaven.

Colomane East

Aunt Peg mentioned on the phone one day that "we have cousins down in Kenmare."  They are Collinses out of Colomane East.  There aren't many people named Collins in County Kerry when compared to Cork, and in Kenmare the name is rare.  Somebody named Laurence Collins is about as rare as Haley's Comet, so I was easily able to find the birth record of somebody named Laurence, born in 1913.  Aunt Peg said something about a policeman.  Laurence's father, Daniel, was an ex- R.I.C. (Royal Irish Constabulary) constable.  The mother's name was Elizabeth Lavery, which is not nearly as common a name in the Irish Republic as it is in Northern Ireland.

I searched and searched but was unable to turn up anything in the 1911 census for Daniel and Elizabeth.  I don't know if he had already left the R.I.C. and if not, what sort of living arrangements that constables had.  I did find a baptismal record of Laurence's sister Mary Ellen in 1906, on a website called Irish Genealogy, but I was unable to locate a marriage record for Elizabeth and Daniel.  It is strange how Daniel and Elizabeth stayed off the radar.

Who is this Daniel?  Is he Great-granddad Denis's youngest brother, born in 1865?  Or is he the son of another brother?  How are Laurence and Daniel related to Grandmom?

Adrigool

I am trying to figure out the Collins families from the 1900's and work backwards from there.   I continue to follow the trails of Larrys.   The death record of Laurence Collins, who died in 1867, shows a Jeremiah Collins present at death.  This is probably a son.  A Jeremiah Collins of Adrigool died in 1903, age 82.  Unfortunately, that does not neatly match the Jerry Collins I found farming with Laurence in Adrigool in the Castlehaven Tithe Applotment, taken about 1828.  Either the newspaper obituary underestimated the age, or there is another Jeremiah Collins wedged in there.

The Tithe Applotment also shows a William Collins and a Daniel Collins.  Grandmom's Granddad Daniel is "Danny Larr", son of Larry Collins.  Again, the ages don't match.  Could there have been another generation wedged in between Daniel and Laurence, maybe another Daniel, who would have been Danny Larr?  I think it is odd that Great-Granddad Denis did not have a brother named Laurence, at least, not one that I am aware of!  I have been going through scads of Daniel Collins records and so far I have been unable to turn up anything about any Daniel Collins in our family!  Who was Daniel in this Tithe Applotment and when did the Daniel who was Grandmom's granddad go to Colomane East?

There was a John Collins married to a Catherine Shiely.  They had three children I know about, including John J, born in 1871.  I think John J. Collins shows up later in the newspapers, and he purchased land in Smorane.  Was he somehow related?!?

In 1866, 26 year old Laurence Collins of Ballyriree (just northeast of Adrigool) married 24 year old Mary Hayes.  His father was John Collins.  Was this John Collins from Adrigool?  Was Laurence named after his paternal grandfather?  From the IGI, it looks like Laurence and Mary moved to the Rosscarbery area and had several children.  I have not found one named after the dad.

The Jeremiah Collins I am puzzling over married Mary Hourihane (a different bunch of Hourihanes), and had several children.  I *think* they could have had a son Laurence born in 1857 but I am not sure.   A Laurence, son of Jeremiah, married Elizabeth Sullivan in 1904.  This Laurence was living in Brahed (Brade), Myross at the time of the marriage.  But this does not match what I find in news archives.  There was a Lawrence Collins in Brade but his wife's name was Mary, they moved to Lissard in 1924, and he died in 1929. 

As you can see, there are several jigsaw puzzles to solve.

Drimoleague graveyard Treasure Hunt

Margaret at the Skibbereen Heritage Centre informed me today that she is trying to get local volunteers to help her identify unknown tombstones in the Drimoleague cemeteries.

She plans to be in Drimoleague Sunday, May 2, 2010 to look at tombstones.  If you are in a position to help her I encourage you to participate!  If you know people who can help her, please encourage them to do so!

Hourahan, McCarthy, Collins, Tithe Applotment

I am continuing my strategy of casting my net wide and searching the birth films starting from 1864 in the hopes or piecing together some of the nuclear families of interest in the Lissane and Tooreen areas for Granddad's relatives as well as looking at Adrigole for some of Grandmom's family.  To speed things I am limiting my search to the Drimoleague registration sub-district, which will include Granddad's areas, and I want to start looking out towards Dunmanway and look at McCarthys.  I'll even start looking for Driscolls in the general Drimoleague area.

MCCARTHY
Aunt Peg provided an excellent lead on McCarthy cousins when she mentioned that Granddad's maternal grandmother Mary McCarthy came from a family of schoolteachers whom she thought were from Drinagh.  In the 1901 census I found the household of Daniel McCarthy, schoolteacher, who had many children.  Aunt Peg recalled visiting the family when she grew up - it was a major event to go out and see the McCarthys!  Bridget McCarthy married Paddy Connolly and they had a B&B in Owenahincha, where Mom and Aunt Peg stayed back in 1971.  Eileen McCarthy became Eileen Daly, and I think later in life she was well acquainted with Aunt Eileen.

Unfortunately, I don't know much else about Daniel (Donal) McCarthy's origins, other than to note that his mother Kate is on the 1911 census record.  I tried searching the news archives but so far have not found a funeral notice.  I have searched half the relevant 1864 birth rolls, and one Daniel McCarthy with a mother Catherine turns up in Dunmanway town, but it says the father was a weaver.  If this is supposed to be a family of scholarly professionals, I don't think that's him. 

I did find a wonderful 1996 article about a 'Master' McCarthy family reunion in the Southern Star.  It gives details about his first wife, her accidental death, and the date of his marriage to his second wife.  The daughter from the first marriage is not mentioned, but the eleven children from the second marriage are. 

To find out his father's name and where he lived prior to Carrigbaun, I can send away for one of his marriage records, or I can contact one of his descendants (or both).  The article says he died August 8, 1945 at the age of 82, which would put his birth year as 1863, so if this is accurate then I won't find him on LDS birth film. But if he had younger siblings, I would eventually find them.

HOURIHANE (HOURAHAN)
Ellen Hurley's mother was Margaret Hourihane, daughter of Owen.  According the to 1867 marriage record of Margaret and John Hurley, she was from Clohane Beg.  Cousin "Jo" says that Margaret had a brother Patrick Hourihane who married Ellen Daly, also in 1867.  The 1901 and 1911 census records show an Ellen Hourihane, widow, with five children in Clohane Beg.

All five children are adult and still living at home in 1911.  They were Bridget, Catherine (Kate), Eugene, Marty (or Morty - or Murty?), and Julia.  I think this was Patrick Hourihane's family.

Griffith's Valuation from the early 1850's shows Owen Hourahan in Cloghane Beg; another in Cooradowny and another in Coolanuller (all Caheragh parish).  Searches matching Owen Hourihan land me in Lurriga (Abbeystrowry), and Oughtohig (Kilcoe), and Baurgorm (Kilmocomoge).  There is nobody spelled Hourihane in Caheragh parish.  I think the Hourahan in Cloghane Beg is the right one.

If I look for more Hourahans in Cloghane, there is a John Hourahan.  There are other Hourahans in the immediately surrounding area.

There are other variant-spelling Hourihanes out toward Bantry, in Trawlebane.

From the Family History Center I had ordered Tithe Applotment Book films. For Caheragh parish the information is dated about 1828. 

Looking at the parish of Caheragh, I see there is an entry in Clahane for "Murty Hourihane and sons", and another that says "Murty Hourihane Junior and brothers."  In Clahane More there are Owen, Tim, and John Hourihane.  No ages are given in the Tithe Applotment books.

I have ordered from GRO a possible death record for Owen Hourahan in 1864; if this isn't it there are others to try. 

This death record puts his age at 84 - meaning he would have been born about 1780.  Margaret Hourihane Hurley reports her age as 64 in the 1911 census, which would put her birth year around 1847.  I have ordered a death record in 1929 for a Margaret Hurley, who is listed as age 88, which would put her birth year around 1841.  If this is the correct Owen and this is the correct Margaret, then Owen would have fathered Margaret around the age of 60 - which is certainly not impossible, though not a frequent occurrence.  Owen would have been about 48 at the time of this Church of Ireland tithing.

OTHERS IN THE TITHE APPLOTMENT
The Tithe Applotment Book lists "Humphrey and Michael Collins" in Lower Lissane, and then further on down the ledger for another property just Humphrey Collins.  Griffith's Valuation from 1852 shows Humphrey and a Michael Collins, whom I am pretty sure is Granddad's paternal grandfather.  I think this Humphrey is the one who died in 1872.  The Tithe Applotment survey is about 1828, and Granddad's grandfather was born I would estimate 1817-1822 timeframe.  So who exactly is this Michael Collins in the Tithe Applotment?  Could this be yet another generation further back in the patrilineal line?

The second listing of Humphrey Collins shows up with Florence McCarthy and Callaghan McCarthy.

In what was later Upper Lissane, there are Charles McCarthy, Daniel McCarthy senior and junior, Charles McCarthy senior, James McCarthy, and Charles and Con (Cornelius) McCarthy. 

In Tooreen (Thureen) there is a Daniel McCarthy and a Denis McCarthy listed twice.

(Granddad's maternal grandfather Cornelius McCarthy would have been a child at the time of the survey.  Given that Granddad's mother's family was in Kilmore for a time, I will eventually have to look at the Tithe Applotment Book film for Drimoleague and look for McCarthys there too.)

Cullomane entries have me confused.  There *shouldn't* be a Collins in Grandmom's family there yet, so I am assuming the Denis Collins listed with Denis Donovan is unrelated.  But on another separate page for Cullomane East, there is a Dan Collins listed.  This cannot be Danny Larr, unless we are mistaken about the Collins line of descent.

In Castlehaven parish under Adrigole, there are a Jerry (maybe Jeremiah) Collins and a Lawrence Collins listed together.  There are also listed a John Collins and a Dani Collins.  Lawrence is probably "Larr" and Dani is possibly "Danny Larr."  Grandmom's paternal grandfather, is another person whom I am having great difficulty placing an age on.  It seems to me he ought to have been a child at the time of this tithe, but he may also have sired his family (starting around 1852) at an older age.

mtDNA Full Genomic Sequence results came in - just in time for St. Patrick's Day!

It took over five months for Family Tree to test my sample to the lab's satisfaction.  The test had to be run a number of times.

My Irish direct matrilineal line is H6a1. 

HVR1 = 16362C 16482G
HVR2 = 239C 263G 315.1C
CR differences from CRS = 750G 1438G 3915A 4769G 8521G 8860G 9380A 11155T 15326G

Now who out there matches that!

The riches pour in

So I devoted roughly 50-60 hours reading all those birth films I ordered. In the process, I discovered two siblings of Ellen McCarthy - Catherine and Julia.

At that point I felt like I had enough information for Skibbereen Heritage, and sent Skibb a research request. The first week, Margaret found yet two more girls - Hanora and Mary - in addition to Ellen, Catherine, and Julia. They were in the Roman Catholic parish of Caheragh. She was not able to find Margaret or a parental marriage record.

I asked Aunt Peg about it, and she thought Mary McCarthy the mother was one of the McCarthy "masters" who were schoolteachers, and she thought they were from Drinagh.  So I told Margaret "try Drinagh."

A week later Margaret did indeed report that she found Margaret and another sister Bridget in Kilmore, plus a marriage record for Cornelius and Mary. This all happened in the RC Parish of Drimoleague and Drinagh.

So there were seven sisters as far as we know. That certainly fulfills the folklore that there were "many sisters."

McCarthys of Tooreen
 
In addition, I discovered a McCarthy schoolteacher in the 1911 census living in Carrigbaun. Aunt Peg remembers the family vividly. She has mentioned a cousin Bridget McCarthy, whom she and Mom visited in Owenahincha in 1971. That is Daniel's youngest child in the 1911 census. There is also another child Agnes, though she does not appear in either the 1911 or 1901 census. The child Ellen was known as Eileen, married as Daly, and later in life was friends with Aunt Eileen.
 
In addition, cousin "Jo" from the Hurley side who appeared from out of the blue has been filling me in with many Hurley details.  I was able to get baptismal records of all the Hurleys from Skibbereen Heritage Centre.  I also got the John Hurley - Margaret Hourihane marriage record from GRO. 
 
On looking over the Hurley chart, Aunt Peg recalled a "Mrs. Tomalin" from her childhood who visited the Collins family and left the children a wonderful construction set toy as a gift.  Mrs. Tomalin was Grandmom's aunt Mary Hurley.

So ... it really pays to go fishing through the LDS birth films and cast your net wide.   You never know just what treasure you will haul in.

Eureka. I found my matrilineal Great Grandmother.

While I was waiting for a huge order of films to come in, I rethought how I was approaching my research.

Over the Christmas break, I realized that when I had a birth, marriage, or death film, it was far better to focus the research on that roll of film, rather than a specific person.  In other words, go back to the index film for that quarter and year, scan the index, and write down the reference for anybody who might be of interest on the register film.  Then look at the register film and write down the details of all the references.

This method works.  While I was knocking off lookups of Collinses and McCarthys, I found Ellen Hurley.  She was born 6-Jul-1871 in Coolnagarrane (Coolnagrane), exactly where her marriage record said she was from.  And her mother's name was Margaret Hourihane.  Now how cool is that?!?

Well when I go to the Family History Center I don't normally expect to actually FIND somebody important.  On Saturday, I was expecting to spend my day looking over these register films.  But instead I immediately went to the 1901 census film, which I fortunately have on hold.  I found the household record, and it appears that Ellen's father was already deceased.  There were two siblings listed.  One was a younger sister Katie.  Another was a younger sister. Annie.  "Annie" is making a lot of bells clang in my brain, as this could have been Annie Sullivan's mother.

I also ran over to the computer, used the PILOT function on the Family History website, and found the index reference for the marriage of John Hurley and Margaret Hourihane.  So I'll be able to find out where Ellen's mother was from.  I've already got that marriage information on order.  So now I have a new obsession to pursue - Hourihane.

It turns out that one of my Internet genealogy buddies emailed the basic information about this Ellen Hurley to me a few months ago.  Only the information was very general for Skibbereen, it didn't say where in Skibbereen these Hurleys were.  My buddy also found a few other siblings.  So I know much more about the Hurleys now.

I also found the birth record for Ellen McCarthy Maher.  She was born 15-Sep-1869 in Tooreen.  Her mother was Mary McCarthy McCarthy.  I still do not know her relationship to Greatgrandmother Margaret McCarthy Collins.  But we are one step closer to finding out.

The real Ellen Hurley ended up being four years older than I was lead to believe from census and death records.  Ellen McCarthy Maher ended up being five years older.  This just goes to show how difficult it can be to find somebody!

More later...

What not to do

Up to now, I'd been assuming that Ellen McCarthy was a sister of Granddad's mom Margaret, and they would therefore have the exact same parents. Well, from the looks of their marriage records, it looks like two different Cornelius McCarthys could have been their fathers.

If I had to make a wild guess, I think Ellen's father and Granddad's mom could have been siblings. Margaret McCarthy Collins was born around 1862, which so closely matches Leila McCarthy Mayberry's research.

Aunt Peg said something over the phone about Ellen McCarthy having a sister Margaret, who in turn was the mother of some distant cousin Jack McCarthy. Well if that is true then obviously this Margaret McCarthy could not have been Granddad's mother.

So why did I title this post "What not to do?" Because, when I placed a research request with the GRO, I was still assuming that Greatgrandmother Margaret McCarthy and Ellen McCarthy were sisters, having a mother named Mary (which I have off of census records). So I asked GRO to look for an Ellen McCarthy born between 1870 and 1874 whose father is Cornelius and whose mother is Mary. That was too restrictive, and they came up empty handed.

When I placed the order, I should have paid slightly more money and had GRO send me the images of the Ellen McCarthy births they looked at. I did not, so now I am empty handed and have to revisit all this territory.

I therefore placed the following order for films from LDS:

Ellen McCarthy, Skibbereen, births
101194 1869 v15 p588,597
101199 1869 v20 p578
101204 1870 v5 P725
101209 1870 v10 P742,749,761
101219 1870 v20 p621
255816 1871 v5 p751,772
255824 1871 v10 p762
255831 1871 v15 p575
255838 1871 v20 p603,605
255847 1872 v5 p751,763
255855 1872 v10 p727
255860 1872 v15 p568
255865 1872 v20 p606,621
255866 1872 v20
255873 1873 v5 p699,702
255898 1874 v5 p662
255906 1874 v10 p712,728
255913 1874 v15 p581
255919 1874 v20 p551

This only covers up through part of 1869. There are more Ellen McCarthy births in Skibbereen in 1869 and up through 1868. If If I have to, I'll eventually order those leftovers, but I'll eliminate these first.

Aunt Peg said something about Ellen and her sisters being "close in age", so on the off chance that father Cornelius got married not long before Ellen was born, I want to look at the following marriage records:

Cornelius McCarthy, Skibbereen, marriages
101474 1865 v5 p825,826
No Skibb marriages 1866,1867
101525 1868 v5 p749
101542 1869 v5 p687
101546 1869 v10 p348
101559 1870 v5 p797
1871 no marriages.
1872 no Skibb marriages
1873 - order from GRO

Marriage films only go through 1870, so I will order the 1873 Skibbereen marriage record from GRO.

To strengthen Grandmom's family tree, I went ahead and ordered film for the registry entry of the birth of her youngest paternal uncle, James Collins (Dec-1866):

James Collins, births
101139 1866 v20 p571,573

There is some confusion out on the Internet about this James Collins. Apparently in the International Genealogical Index (IGI) there is a James Collins born around late 1866 to a Denis Collins and Margaret Mahoney in the Drimoleague area. I suspect that "Denis" is really "Daniel" and "Margaret" is really "Mary". The birth record will help clarify this.  I already have brother Daniel's record from 1865 and it shows father Daniel and mother Mary.

How am I doing on the Hurley end? I've been asking questions about Grandmom's cousin Annie Sullivan. I turns out her married name was Donovan, and she died around August 2008, not 2007. Aunt Peg was in Ireland that summer and went to her funeral. I checked a website of obituaries called RIP and there is an Annie O'Sullivan O'Donovan from Drinagh listed. That's her.

Now I need to find out who her parents were, specifically her mother. If I know the name of her mother, I will know the name of one of Ellen Hurley's sisters. Arggh!

So the next thing I need to do is order birth records from GRO. I have the following two in mind:

Name: Anne Sullivan
Registration district: Skibbereen
Record type: BIRTHS
Registration date - quarter and year: Jul - Sep 1922
Film number: 101229
Volume: 5
Page: 359

Name: Annie Sullivan
Registration district: Bantry
Record type: BIRTHS
Registration date - quarter and year: Oct - Dec 1923
Film number: 101229
Volume: 5
Page: 21

There is an interesting census record in Coolnagarrane in the 1911 census. It is interesting not only because it is filled out in Irish, even though the occupants of the household spoke "Bearla" (English). But the household name is O'Sullivan, spelled the more traditional way. There was a famous Irish politician named Gearóid O'Sullivan, and he came from Coolnagarrane. He would have been 20 in 1911, and there is definitely a "gap" in the children between the ages of 16 and 22 in this census record. Could Gearóid O'Sullivan have come out of this household?

Aunt Peg said something about Annie being from Coolnagarrane. So could Annie Sullivan have been a daughter of one of these sons, being a niece of Gearóid O'Sullivan?

The nice thing about the film order above, is that the date range 1869-1874 coincides with many of the Ellen Hurley's on my list, so I'll be able to knock off a bunch of Ellen Hurley lookups at the same time:

 Ellen Hurley, births
101219, 1870, v20, p614, Skibbereen
255824, 1871,  v10, p736, Skibbereen
255831, 1871, v15, p567, Skibbereen
255838, 1871, v20, p253, Dunmanway
255855, 1872, v10, p28, Bantry
255860, 1872, v15, p225, Dunmanway
255873, 1873, v5, p280, Dunmanway
255898, 1874, v5, p265, Dunmanway
255913, 1874, v15, p234, Dunmanway
255913, 1874, v15, p579, Skibbereen