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Andrew & Elizabeth (Malloy) Corcoran

My name is Diane Corcoran Nielsen. My brother Chuck and I have been searching our Irish immigrant ancestors for a number of years. We are close to !00% Irish according to DNA. We are currently focusingon our great-great grandparents, Andrew and Elizabeth (Malloy/Molloy) Corcoran in hopes that we can determine where they were from in Ireland. I have attached a file outlining what we know to this point, both in terms of names and dates as well as DNA. We hope someone can help!

Diane

dnielsen@ku.edu

7 replies

Diane:

Welcome to Ireland Reaching Out!

I read your paper with interest. I assume from your years of research that you are aware that many, many RC parishes do not have records back to 1810 or earlier. In fact, the baptismal records for Clonfert parish in Galway start in 1884. 

This site https://www.swilson.info/sdist.php  is maintained by one of our volunteers and uses the data from the 1848-1864 Griffiths Valuation data to show you how prominent surnames were by each county. Molloy is a common surname but was rarely found in Co. Cork so if both Andrew and Elizabeth were from the same county than likely it was not Co. Cork. The counties that show a high number of Corcoran and Molloy records are Mayo, Galway, Offaly and Dublin. However, this is a very general indicator. 

I searched on two sites that have baptismal records. One site is a free site maintained by the Irish government www.irishgenealogy.ie ; This site has records for Co. Kerry, half of Co. Cork and Dublin city. The other site, Roots Ireland, is a subscription site and has records for the remaining counties but not for all parishes in some counties (Clare and Wexford for example). In any event I searched for a baptismal record for Andrew Corcoran and did find an 1802 record in Kingstown parish( better known as  Dun Laoghaire) in South Co. Dublin. The transcription is below but interestingly the NOTES show twin of Larry. Is this is a coincidence since you have identified a Lawrence Corcoran born 1806? What was the oldest sons name? There were about five Elizabeth Molloy baptismal records born right before 1810 inclduing a few in Co. Dublin.

Hopefully, others will comment on your post. I do have a few questions on the DNA results but will hold off for now.

Let me know what questions you have.. Your Corcorans may very well be from Clonfert, Galway but more evidence is needed.

Roger McDonnell

Name:Andy CorcoranDate of Birth:
Date of Baptism:21-Apr-1802Address:DunlearyParish/District:KINGSTOWNGender:MaleCountyCo. Dublin
Denomination:Roman Catholic
Father:Peter CorcoranMother:CattyOccupation:
Sponsor 1 /
Informant 1:John CallehanSponsor 2 /
Informant 2:Mary Rule

Notes:TWIN OF LARRY

Castlemore RoscommonIrelandXO Volunteer

Thank you so much, Roger.  Yes, I understood that baptisimal records are difficult to find so the fact that you found something with a twin named Larry is very interesting.  We don't know anything more about Lawrence Corcoran other than what we found and included in the document I created  - birth year based on age noted in census records (not 1802), farmed near Andrew in Alamakee County Iowa and emigrated to Iowa from Ireland via Canada like the Foleys).  I have tried to find Lawrence, Catherine and their children in Candadian records and have had no luck (but I did for the Foleys).  I have also not been able to find a gravestone for Lawrence Corcoran or a death record that may contain a birth year.  

Andrew and Elizabeth's first born son was named James. He was my great grandfather.  I assume you are asking about their first son's name due to the traditional naming patterns, right?  I just realized I did not include their children's names in my original document. They were: James (1844), Margaret (1846), Elizabeth (1848), Mary Jane (1851), Andrew (1853), John  A. (1855), Rose Ann (1857) - Unfortunately, no Peter or Catherine (I assume Catty is a nickname for Catherine).  

What is your DNA question?

Thanks again!

Diane

 

dnielsen@ku.edu

Dian

At what level did Church take his Y-DNA test? 37, 67, 111? What was the genetic distance to Gerard? I've taken the Y-111 and most of my close matches have a genetic distance of 4 back to the late 1700s in Mayo.

Regarding your test, which company did you use? Have you loaded your DNA data to Gedmatch www.gedmatch.com which will give you additional matches with people who tested with other companies. Another good site is DNA Painter www.dnapainter.com ; which allows you to "paint" the segments where you have matches and possibly give you clues about connections? The only drawback is if you tested with Ancestry, you can't use DNA Painter since Ancestry refuses to provide a chromosome breakout of your matches. Gedmatch will help you get around that issue.

All the best!

Roger

Castlemore RoscommonIrelandXO Volunteer

Chuck did his Y-DNA at 111 and matches with Gerard at a genetic distance of 10, so it may be tricky to figure out the common ancestor. However, hopefully Gerard knows a lot about the generations and has some insight on that question. 

I used Ancestry (Chuck did in addition).  I uploaded my raw file to My Heritage. As you probably know, they have a tool called "Auto Clusters" which "organizes your DNA Matches into clusters that likely descended from common ancestors".  I periodically run an Auto Cluster. I can tell which cluster is my Quinn cluster, but not my Corcoran cluster or other family (e.g. Clarke, Mullen, Dyer) since none of the matches within those other clusters are Corcoran-side matches from what I know.  Also, none of my matches on My Heritage are very high in terms of centmorgans other than those from the Quinn-side. From the Auto Cluster result I should be able to use their Chromosome Brower "A tool for viewing shared DNA segments between you and multiple DNA Matches, which can help point to a common ancestor" (that tool will allow me to compare segments for up to 7 matches).  I did so with the few  people on my Quinn-side since I knew those matches were Quinn-side matches (my grandmother's brother's descendants).   I have not had any luck with people on the Quinn-side responding to my messages via my My Heritage.  I think some people just want to know what % they are of different nationalities and not interested in going any futher with the family history.  I am also trying to keep focused on the Corcorans. 

I did learn about DNA Painter in one of the DNA workshops I've attended, but did not know about the Ancestry block.  It is interesting that my raw data from Ancestry into My Heritage does have a chromosome browser as I previously described.  I wonder if Ancestry had a different policy when I downloaded my file then uploaded it to My Heritage a year or so ago. It sounds like it is time for me to use GedMatch in hopes of potentially making more progress on my Corcoran side.  Do I understand it is a site where people upload their raw data from multiple sources (Ancestry, 23 and Me, My Heritage, etc?).  

Thanks again for your help, Roger. Any and all advice is so welcome and  sincerely appreciated.

Diane

 

dnielsen@ku.edu

Chuck did his Y-DNA at 111 and matches with Gerard at a genetic distance of 10, so it may be tricky to figure out the common ancestor. However, hopefully Gerard knows a lot about the generations and has some insight on that question. 

I used Ancestry (Chuck did in addition).  I uploaded my raw file to My Heritage. As you probably know, they have a tool called "Auto Clusters" which "organizes your DNA Matches into clusters that likely descended from common ancestors".  I periodically run an Auto Cluster. I can tell which cluster is my Quinn cluster, but not my Corcoran cluster or other family (e.g. Clarke, Mullen, Dyer) since none of the matches within those other clusters are Corcoran-side matches from what I know.  Also, none of my matches on My Heritage are very high in terms of centmorgans other than those from the Quinn-side. From the Auto Cluster result I should be able to use their Chromosome Brower "A tool for viewing shared DNA segments between you and multiple DNA Matches, which can help point to a common ancestor" (that tool will allow me to compare segments for up to 7 matches).  I did so with the few  people on my Quinn-side since I knew those matches were Quinn-side matches (my grandmother's brother's descendants).   I have not had any luck with people on the Quinn-side responding to my messages via my My Heritage.  I think some people just want to know what % they are of different nationalities and not interested in going any futher with the family history.  I am also trying to keep focused on the Corcorans. 

I did learn about DNA Painter in one of the DNA workshops I've attended, but did not know about the Ancestry block.  It is interesting that my raw data from Ancestry into My Heritage does have a chromosome browser as I previously described.  I wonder if Ancestry had a different policy when I downloaded my file then uploaded it to My Heritage a year or so ago. It sounds like it is time for me to use GedMatch in hopes of potentially making more progress on my Corcoran side.  Do I understand it is a site where people upload their raw data from multiple sources (Ancestry, 23 and Me, My Heritage, etc?).  

Thanks again for your help, Roger. Any and all advice is so welcome and  sincerely appreciated.

Diane

 

dnielsen@ku.edu

Diane:

Great that you moved your Ancestry data to MyHeritage. At least you will be able to "paint" those matches to DNA Painter. When you load your file to Gedmatch ( and yes, people load data from all the DNA testing companies) , you will be able to upload more matches.

People not responding to messages on DNA sites is the most frustraing issue with DNA testing. I would guess that my response rate is about 25%. You are right. People take the test just to get ethnicity breakouts and are not interested in their family tree or exchanging information. A number of my first cousins fall into that category.

A genetic distance of 10 seems a long way away to the male ancestor connection.

Roger

Castlemore RoscommonIrelandXO Volunteer

I am always hopeful that a new match will give me a good lead on the Corcorans.  After almost giving up on my husband', Niels Nielsen's Danish side (we know the Irish side well and have visited home places), a DNA match with someone who had a tree gave me a lead that turned out to be fruitful with other documentation that I had (e.g. birthdate and home community).  The match  person's tree contained parents' names. I was hopeful, but did not assume I hit the jackpot.  However,  the parents' names and my other documentation  lead to records, confirmations  of the records,  and eventually a trip to Denmark.  I don't jump and assume that I have found "our" person, rather really want multiple sources of documentation to be certain.  It can be a slow process, as you well know, but one that is so exciting when it happens.  I just keep reminding myself  to be patient and wait for genuine leads.  

Thanks again to you, Roger, and other Ireland Reaching Out staff and volunteers for your work to help us find our ancestors and learn their stories. 

Diane

dnielsen@ku.edu

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