Percy Patrick McDonald or McDonnell born 1887 Roscommon

 

Hi Roger

He was definitely born 1887 census, death and marriage certs agree with that.  There is no mother’s maiden name on death certificate.  I remember my mother saying McDonald was the right name, whether true or not I’m unsure.  On his death certificate and marriage certificate he spelt his name McDonnall.  1911 UK census and I found something from when he worked on railway online, they both said McDonald, some of his children were called McDonald, my father was, others called McDonnell spelt differently again.  1911 census said Roscommon as though it could have been the county and the town.  I once sent a birth certificate application to Roscommon Registry Office, lady rang me was really good, searched all names and also said the Percy could have been added when he came here.  He was a Private in 7th Hussars in Norfolk when he married in 1907.  I wonder if he could have completely altered his name when he came here.  I did wonder about if I could find out from the Hussars record office.  Could he have had the name without the Mc it’s just a mystery.

Thank you

Joyce

I have McDonnell ancestors from across the county line in eastern County Mayo (including a gg-grandfather named Patrick McDoonnell), mostly in the parish of Killasser, and can tell you that the name was inconsistently anglicized as both McDonnell and McDonald, depending on who was keeping the records.  We're probably distantly related, but there are a lot of McDonnells in the area.  In Irish, McDonnell is Mac Domhnaill, which means “son/descendant of Donal”.  According to MacLysaght’s Surnames of Ireland, the McDonnell surname is of three separate origins in Ireland.  One branch was a "gallowglass" (in Irish, gallóglach, or “foreign fighter”) mercenary family living in the Glens of Antrim, who were part of the Scottish Clan MacDonald (in modern Scottish Gaelic, the surname is very similar to its Irish form, being MacDhòmhnaill -- the addded "d" in the anglicized form MacDonald was a later development).  The Irish branch first settled in Antrim in the 13th century, and by the 15th century controlled all of North Antrim.  A large number of them were brought from Antrim to Mayo in the late 14th century to assist the ruling family of that area, the Anglo-Norman Burke family.  The surname is still very common there, especially in eastern Mayo, and spread from there to surrounding counties, such as Roscommon, so if you decide to search through the parish registers, you may want to start with the parishes bordering Mayo.

I have family trees posted on a number of sites, going back to around 1800, in case you're interested, but I suspect that any connection we have may lie before then.  I have my DNA results posted at GEDMatch, in case you do as well and wish to compare our kits.  My kit number is T780556.

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Hi Kevin

Thank you for your reply, did Your gg Grandfather Patrick come to UK he lived in Norwich, Norfolk, could he be the same one, I don’t  know much about him as my parents split up when I was 6 month old and my mother never let me meet them.  I lived in Sheffield, Yorkshire which was a long way off anyway, live in Cornwall now.  I would possibly have to go to Ireland to search the parishes, but will see what I can find.  I have my tree on Ancestry UK if you want to look, if you do and send a request on there I can give you access to my tree it’s Brand2Hall.  I haven’t got my DNA I do keep thinking about doing it, but was put off by something on TV a week or two ago    saying it wasn’t a good idea as the companies were selling it on can’t remember exactly what they were doing with it then.  I did know about the Mc meaning son of Donnall or Donald.  I did have a bit of my tree under same name on Genes Re-united but not been on for ages, as I pay to Ancestry.  Do use Family Search but not put tree on.

Thanks again

Joyce

 

Joyce, you can serarch the parish registers online from your home.  The link is http://registers.nli.ie and each page (or pair of pages) in the parish register comes up as a downloadable photo file, so you can download a whole seciton of the register and search at your leisure.  There's also an interactive map which lets you see what other parishes are near the one you're searching, in case you want to search them.  It can be a bit tedious to search a large number of pages, but it's a massive improvement over going to the parish (or the library) to view the records..

I don't know whether my gg-grandfather ever emigrated, but I suspect not, because his children and grandchildren (including my grandmother) were all born in Mayo.  However, I do know from a history book I have which was written about eastern County Mayo that many familes went annually to England or Wales to find seasonal work, and some did stay there, and I suspect that was also true for neoghboring parts of Roscommon.  My mother's father was born in Wales while his family (also from Mayo) was there, though they went back to Ireland, where he grew up.  The siblings of my Mayo grandmother mostly came to the US (to New York, and many descendants are still there), but two went to England.  One went back later to farm the family land in Mayo, after the economic situation improved, and they are still there.  The other stayed in England and married a man named Broderick, but I've lost track of them (I've never met them, although I've visited the ones in Mayo).

If you want to look at my family tree at the FamilySearch site, that's where I have the most info.  It sounds as though you're somewhat familiar with the site.  The Patrick McDonnell mentioned above has ID number LRQV-3BB at the site, and from there you can go up and down the tree (you won't be able to see me, because they don't allow one to view the records of living people unless you're the one who input them).   I'm not a Mormon myself (it's their site), but I use the site because it is the largest one in the world, one can search for amazing kinds of info there, and the records are arranged in a way that's really easy to use, and of course it's free!

I had my DNA tested at FamilyTree DNA (no relation to the FamilySearch site).  They say that they keep the info confidential, unless one chooses to share it with others, but I suppose one never knowws.  I'm in my 60's, so at this point I don't really care who has my DNA, and I've uploaded my data at a number of sites, because I'm still trying to find the birhplaces of two of my great-grandparents.

Take care and feel free to keep in touch if I can be off help.  My direct email is kevin45sf@yahoo.com

I forgot to add that I've never used Ancestry UK, but I'd be happy to look at your tree there and see whether I can figure antything out.  I think you have to send me an invite to do that, though (someone did that with the US Ancestry site, so that I can see her tree).

Joyce

 

 

Hi Roger

I had a look at the record it does make me wonder, but Ihave his marriage certificate from 1907 it said he was 21 years,  his 1911 census said he was 25 then his death certificate in 1960 said he was 73.  Would he have been so consistent right up to his death in 1960 or would he have to be?  Your Patrick couldn’t be him could he because it could have been 1986 depending on the dates of the other later documents, but my Patrick did stay in UK and married Ada May Bacon. I wonder if the father’s second name was Martin and he used his first name at times or  other way round.  I have several past relatives who did that.  The only other point is there is a man on  Ancestry related to my cousin who is doing her grandson the tree, he doesn’t seem to know much either but he has an actual birth date in April 1887, I was going to message and ask where he got it from, but he also has the parents, he didn’t know who they were when I last spoke to him so I wondered if he had found them online and thought they seemed right.  I don’t put anything in unless I’m sure it seems pointless.  I have been told the military museum for the Hussars will tell you about someone but they are closed at moment for refurb, I emailed and it came back as unsent

Thanks

Joyce

 

 

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Hi Kevin

I sent you an invite to Ancestry yesterday.  I hadn’t heard of the site you gave me I will try it, I have googled loads of times trying to find sites it’s never come up.  Your gg Grandfather can’t be the same because mine lived and died in Norwich UK, I will look at your tree on Family Search.  If I do my DNA I will let you know.  I have found loads of information on Family Search, I also went into one of their search rooms when I was in Sheffield.  I can’t remember exactly what it said on TV about the DNA being passed on it was a discussion on morning Breakfast programme, it was something about it being passed on and it was a bit iffy how it was being used, something like ID details.  If you haven’t got my Ancestry invite let me know.

Thank you

Joyce

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Hi Kevin

I sent you an invite to Ancestry yesterday.  I hadn’t heard of the site you gave me I will try it, I have googled loads of times trying to find sites it’s never come up.  Your gg Grandfather can’t be the same because mine lived and died in Norwich UK, I will look at your tree on Family Search.  If I do my DNA I will let you know.  I have found loads of information on Family Search, I also went into one of their search rooms when I was in Sheffield.  I can’t remember exactly what it said on TV about the DNA being passed on it was a discussion on morning Breakfast programme, it was something about it being passed on and it was a bit iffy how it was being used, something like ID details.  If you haven’t got my Ancestry invite let me know.

Thank you

Joyce

Hi Kevin  I had my DNA taken about a year ago and recently joined Gedmatch and did the one to one match with your number, my number is MB5996598, I matched in think it was 5 areas but only very low highest 3.7, all above 3cm. it could be that we are related several generations back.  Don’t they also say it can be coincidental when you have low matches. Joyce

 

 

Yes, our small matching segments indicate at best a fairly distant connection, Joyce, and the Ancestry tree didn't indicate a specific connection either (as you know from our email lexchange back then.. That isn't surprising, though, given that the McDonnell's came to Mayo more than 600 years ago from Antrim.  Good luck in your further searching!

 

Hi Kevin

It’s most likely from several generations back.  Thank you for your reply.

 

Joyce