Looking for the Descendants of Martin Lavin and Margaret Carroll of Cordarragh

The anglicized townland name Gurtgarriff (in Irish, An Gort Garbh) is now written as Gortgarve, and you can see more info about it at this link (it lies very close to Kiltimagh, just a bit to the southwest of the town):   https://www.townlands.ie/mayo/gallen/killedan/kiltamagh/gortgarve/

Cordarragh (in Irish, Corr Dharach) is not far away, just to the south of the town, and you can see more info about it at this link   https://www.townlands.ie/mayo/gallen/killedan/kiltamagh/cordarragh/

Both townlands are visible on Google Earth (using Gortgarve when searching for that townland).

There is a good chance that the Michael Gill listed as a witness in the Lavan/Gill marriage record which Roger found was an uncle of my grandfather, James Peter Gallagher.  His aunt, Mary Gallagher, married a Michael Gill in Kiltimagh around that time.  They raised their family in Kiltimagh town, and there were a number of Lavin/Lavan's and Gill's who acted as sponsors for baptisms in my Gallagher line.  One of my closest DNA matches thus far is a Gill who is descended from Michael and Mary, and I also have some Lavin DNA matches, though I don't know their connection to me.

In Griffiths Valuation (to which there is a link at the site which I mentioned above), there are several John Lavan's listed in Cordarragh, and a number of other Lavan's.  Since there is a listing for each tenancy, though, that might be the same John Lavan in each case.  I saw only two Gill's listed, a Thomas Gill and a Martin Gill.  They were probably brothers, or a father and adult son.  If my Michael Gill and your Bridget Gill were siblings, then Thomas or Martin may be their father (or one may be their brother).  In Gortgarve (to which there is a link at the other site which I mentioned above) , there are a number of Lavan's listed (including a John, again), but no Gill's.

Wow...thank you Roger and Kevin.  I had performed a search on the https://civilrecords.irishgenealogy.ie/ but figured that the names Bryan and Owen didn't fit in my family's naming convention (all the RC saints).  Plus the search results page had the Mother's info as N/R.  I thought that meant Not Recorded.  My BIG mistake!  That's what I get for thinking!

And I was going to reply asking for help for "translating" the places of birth/dwelling place...when I reread the replies to my post and there was Kevin...translating the script for me.  Thank you.

I never thought that I would ever find the ancestral home of my gr-grandmother, Catherine Lavin.  I only wish this had been passed down the generations....but it will be now.

And Kevin...is your DNA test through Ancestry?  One day I will allow my results to be public but not just yet.

Thanks again.

I did my DNA testing through FTDNA, but have also uploaded my results at MyHeritage and at GEDMATCH (which is a free site).  If you upload yours at GEDMATCH, you can compare them to my kit number, which is T780556.  I have several second and third cousins on the Gallagher side here in the US and in Ireland who have also been tested, and their results are also at GEDMATCH, in case yours and mine don't show much of a match (we're very likely to show at least some match - the families in the area intermarried quite a lot).

In case you're interested, An Gort Garbh probably means "the rough field", and Corr Dharach probably refers to a local hill or promontory with an oak tree or an oak grove on it (corr can have several meanings, but they're all hill-related).

The surname Gill may come from the Irish surname Mac an Ghaill ("son of the foreigner"), which is an Ulster name originally, but many people from Ulster settled in Mayo in the 1600's, after the Plantation of Ulster (and some before then as well).  The reference to a foreigner is often a reference to a gallowglass (gallóglach in Irish), a foreign mercenary (often from Scotland or elsewhere in Ireland) brought to an area to fight for the local lord.  Many people in Ireland have gallowglass ancestors.  However, Gill can also be a shortened form of many other Irish names.  Many Irish surnames take the form Mac Giolla _____, which means "devotee/servant of ____", as in the name Mac Giolla Bhrighde ("son of the devotee of Brigid"), which was usually anglicized as (Mac) Kilbride.  That's why so many Irish names start with Gil- or Kil- in their anglicized forms.  Sometimes, however, the anglicized form was shortened to just Gill.  It would be hard to know the exact origin of the Gill surname around Kiltimagh, but it may be possible to find out from estate records (the landlord's tenancy records), if they go back far enough.  I haven't been able to locate any of those for the area thus far, because they are spread out in many places.

The history of the Lavan/Lavin name is clearer.  There are two forms in modern Irish, Ó Laimhín and Ó Lamháin, which are both believed to have been originally Ó Flaithimhín, based on the Irish word flaitheamh, and meaning "descendant of the ruler".  That was the name of a sept (or tribe) living off to the east, in what is now County Roscommon (the counties were a fairly late creation).  The name was also sometimes mistranslated as "Hand", through a false etymology which assumed that it was derived from the word lámh, meaning "hand" (that sometimes happened when names were anglicized, and a government official didn't realy understand Irish, or the family had forgotten the origin of their surname.

Hi, I have just started researching my ancestors and am interested in your post.   My father was Michael Gill, (born 1936) son of Michael Gill (born 1911) from Kiltimagh.  I do not have too much more info to share at this stage but I was windering if I am somehow related 

We're probably related at least distantly, Sue (and also to fyrgrrl).  My grandfather, who grew up just outside Kiltimagh, had 7 male Gill cousins (and 5 female ones) who were more or less all of an age to have been the father of your grandfather in 1911 (I'm guessing that I'm a generation older than you).  Your grandfather isn't listed in the family records which I have for those Gill's, but the records I have aren't complete.  I have information about the spouses and children of some of those cousins, but not all of them.

If you've done DNA testing and have results posted at GEDMatch, FTDNA, or MyHeritage, then we could compare results. I have a number of second to fourth cousins who've also been tested, so we could compare with their results as well.  If your great-grandfather was a first cousin of my grandfather, then we would be third cousins, once removed, so there should be a decent amount of DNA match.

I have MANY Gallagher and Carroll relatives from the area listed. My GEDMATCH numbers are:
 

PM8149070

SN2387006

DM2557330

Hi, PSW2.

GEDMatch doesn't seem to recognize that first kit number (the PMS one).

I compared our results using the other two and they showed no match for either at the default minimum segment length of 7cM.

I then lowered the match threshhold to 3 cM.  The result was only about 10 cM of total match with the SN kit, but 35 cM of match with the DM kit, in 10 small segments (3-4 cM).  At least three of those segments fell into areas which my cousins and I have determined to show connection to our Gallagher or King lines.  Not sure why we don't show more match, since it seems likely that we are related.  Perhaps we are only something like 5th or 6th cousins.

By the time you get to 3rd cousin, the CM match can vary widely. I have definitely traced 3rd cousins with slightly less than 35cM match. I have a DNA chart I use to track my Gallagher and Carroll family members. I would be happy to email it to you. You might find names on there that are familiar to you. If so, we should start comparing notes!

There was a typo on my first kit #:  PM9149070

That corrected kit number did work, but the comparison showed only a little bit of match between it and my kit.

I have a family tree posted at the (free) Wikitree site, if you want to check it out:  https://www.wikitree.com/genealogy/Jewell-Family-Tree-1523

I don't have all of my Gill info loaded there, but it's available at the Family Search site [https://www.familysearch.org/en/] ; if you have an account there (it's free to open an account there, if you haven't already).  The Michael Gill I mentioned can be found at ID number 9HCB-YPF, and it's easy to move from his record to those for other family members.

I don't like to post my email here publicly, but at either site mentioned above, you can send me a private message and we can exchange emails, then share more info privately.  At Wikitree, there's a clickable link at the bottom to use in sending me a message.  At Family Search, if you go to Michael's record, you'll see a clickable link at the right to send me a message (kevin45sf).