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O'Rourke

Leitrim

I have been searching for 10 years to learn more about my great-great-grandfather PETER O'ROURKE, who was born in 1810.

Just within the last two years I have tracked down a Peter O'Rourke from County Leitrim, possibly from the Carrigallen Parish.

He had several children and I have learned the practice of naming your chidren from your ancestors so this might be of help:

Mary Elizabeth

Ellen L

Peter Cornelius

Sarah (after his wife) Cecilia

Charles (after father-in-law)M.

Francis John

Anna Maiggy

George Myles

I think (????) his mother's name may have been Elizabeth but am only guessing.

Any help will be greatly appreciated.

Deb

debharvey.fl@aol.com

9 replies

Deb:

Welcome to Ireland Reaching Out!

Unfortunately none of the RC parishes in Co. Leitrim have records back to 1810. The earliest Peter O'Rourke baptismal record I located was in 1836.

I assume Peter stayed in Ireland? I looked at the 1857 Griffiths Valuation for Co. Leitrim  and there were ten Peter Rorke/Rourke records including five in Oughteragh civil parish. There was one in Carrigallen civil parish in the townland of Mullanadarragh.

Roger McDonnell

Castlemore RoscommonIrelandXO Volunteer

No, Peter left Ireland at the age of 17.  He had a good friend, who I think must have been a relative that was always with or next to him,  James Conroy.  In fact, when Peter died in 1874, his widow married James Conroy.

debharvey.fl@aol.com

I was wondering if you could locate a Michael O'Rourke born around 1828 in County Leitrim. He came to the US and married Catharine Gleason prior to my great grandfather Michael H's birth in 1859. Unfortunately, I have no additional info. Thanks for your help.

Joandrum@hotmail.com

joandrum:

Welcome to Ireland Reaching Out!

I looked on the subscription site Roots Ireland and there was an 1827 Michael Roarke baptismal record in Mohill RC. See below. There were no Michael O'Rourke records in 1828 and 1829 but many in the 1830s. We would need his parents names to confirm any record. It may be that your Michael was baptized in a church that no longer has records back to 1828.

Roger McDonnell

Name:Michael RoarkeDate of Birth:28-Dec-1827
Date of Baptism:03-Jan-1868Address:DrumkilveyParish/District:MOHILL CIVIL REGISTRATION DISTRICTGender:MaleCountyCo. Leitrim
Denomination:Not Recorded
Father:Edward RoarkeMother:Bridget MoranOccupation:Farmer
Sponsor 1 /
Informant 1:Edward Roarke

Castlemore RoscommonIrelandXO Volunteer

Hi Roger,

 

Thanks so much for checking! Unfortunately, I can't find any information like parents' names on any Irish ancestors prior to their arrival in the USA. Since they all came prior to1840, I haven't had much luck.

Cheers,

Joanne

Joandrum@hotmail.com

Hi again Roger,

 

Did you mean to write date of baptism 1868, not 1828?

 

Joanne

Joandrum@hotmail.com

Hi Joanne!

I pasted and copied that record from Roots Ireland. Looks like they got the date of birth correct but the date of baptism was mistranscribed as 1868 instead of 1828. I did not notice their error when I copied the record from their data base. 1828 is correct.

Roger

Castlemore RoscommonIrelandXO Volunteer

Thanks again Roger. Do you think it's reasonable to believe he would have changed his name like that? I know that my O'Connor ancestors were listed as Connor in the US census, but I don't know how much people changed their names when they left their country of birth. 

Thanks,

Jaonne

Joandrum@hotmail.com

Joanne:

The prefixes O and Mc were frequently not used in the 19th century records  since the "authorities" frowned on using these prefixes.

Roger

Castlemore RoscommonIrelandXO Volunteer

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