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Visiting Kilcar area, would like a guide

DonegalKilcar (Donegal)

My family will be visiting co. Donegal, staying in Teelin, arriving 1 July and leaving 3 July. We are interested in Daniel and Mary (Doherty) Dugan who lived in Letter, Kilcar parish. They and their daughter Annie (b. 1850) are ancestors. Annie left Ireland in the early 1870s and went to Cincinnati, Ohio, USA. We are interested in learning some history of the area, and in seeing the land where the Dugan family lived. Daniel (premumably my ancestor) appears on Griffith's Valuation as Daniel Dugan junior. The Patrick Dugan who is listed in Letter is possibly Daniel's father since the oldest son in Daniel's family was named Patrick. I have many many DNA matches who are linked to the Kilcar area. Unfortunately, as you probably already know, there are no Kilcar parish records prior to 1848, so the earlier history of this family is a mystery. I have found the baptism records for four children of this couple, and I know of three others. Six of the seven went to Cincinnati. I have attached a photo of Annie from about 1876.

I  hope someone is interested in meeting with us for an hour or two to give us some information about this family and/or the area in which they lived. From what I see on Ask About Ireland, they lived at the edge of a cliff overlooking the sea, and I'm curious to know how any family could survive on such a small piece of land.

Thank you!

Nora Galvin, Connectitcut, USA

noragalvin

3 replies

Nora:

I will let our HQ know about your trip. We had a volunteer in the area but she is no longer available to assist.

I checked the 1833 Tithe listings for Letter and almost all the households were Dugan/Doogan

http://titheapplotmentbooks.nationalarchives.ie/reels/tab//004587455/00…

In the 1901 census, Letter was incorrectly transcribed as Litter. In any event, there were 11 households and 4 were Doogans.

http://www.census.nationalarchives.ie/pages/1901/Donegal/Largymore/Litt…

Make sure you check out Slieve League while you are in the area.

https://www.ireland.com/en-us/destinations/regions/slieve-league-cliffs/

Roger McDonnell

Castlemore RoscommonIrelandXO Volunteer

Roger, thanks so much for your input. We definitely jave Slieve League on our agenda. That entire coastal area looks spectacular, and I am looking forward to visiting there. BTW I also have ancestors from Roscommon--Fallons from Clonown. We are still in touch with descendants whose ancestors stayed in Ireland--150 years after my g-gf William Fallon left. We will be visiting there right after Donegal.

Patricia, that is an excellent idea. I will make that contact today.

Nora

noragalvin

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