Vogans from Cootehill, County Cavan

Cootehill is in Drumgoon civil parish. You don’t say what denomination your Vogan family were.

Looking at the 1901 census for Co. Cavan, there were 34 people named Vogan. 4 were Church of Ireland, the remainder Presbyterian or secession Presbyterians. So statistically your ancestors seem most likely to have been Presbyterian (indicating Scottish ancestry originally). The families were in just 4 townlands: Kilmacrane, Drutamon, Cornasus and Knocknashamner. Drutamon and Knocknashammer are both in the parish of Drumgoon

Going back, in Griffiths Valuation for 1857 there were 4 Vogan households in Drutamon, headed by Robert, Samuel, Joseph & George. There was a James in Knocknashammer.

http://www.askaboutireland.ie/griffith-valuation/index.xml

Griffiths has a map which shows you where these are today. The tithe applotment records (c 1833) don’t list any Vogan households in Drumgoon then. There were two in the parish of Kildrumsherdan.

A search of death records 1864 – 1880 produced about 20 registered in Cootehill. Several were born in the 1700s. (Samuel 1777-1865, Andrew 1787 – 1867, James 1788 – 1878 & Elizabeth 1798 -1880).

Drumgoon Church of Ireland has records from 1802 onwards, Drumgoon 1st Presbyterian church from 1870 onwards and Drumgoon 2nd Presbyterian church from 1822 onwards. (Any earlier records these churches may have held at one time have been lost over the years).

Researching in Ireland in the 1700s is notoriously difficult but this information may help you narrow your search area.

Looking at the current phone book, I can see 5 Vogan households in Co. Cavan including one in Drutamon, so there may be living descendants of the people I have mentioned in the area today.

http://www.eircomphonebook.ie/?extlink=eircomphonebook

You'll struggle to find any documentary evidence in Ireland of ancestors born in the 1600s - such records just don't exist - but perhaps the Vogens living in Cavan today might have some knowledge of their ancestry. I wouldn't worry about the spelling of the surname. Having a single "correct" spelling is very much a 20th century preoccupation. In the 1600s through to the 1800s spelling of surnames and other words varied all the time, even amongst well educated people. They really didn't care how their names were spelled.

Calling one of the families is probably about your only option because I really don't think you'll find any documentary evidence of the family here in the 1600s and 1700s (though if you are very keen you could try searching in the National Archives in Dublin for old leases and wills). Ireland is about 6 hours difference from the East coast of the USA. So 7pm in Ireland is around 11.00am in the USA.  If you didn't want to ring, you could write a letter.

The index to the National Archives is on-line but the documents themselves are not. A personal visit to Dublin is required to view them.

 

http://www.nationalarchives.ie

 

re the telephone numbers, the addresses are shown (at least on the version here in Ireland). The address is simply the person’s name and townland, plus Cootehill. That’s visible to me. Is it not shown on your version? I can’t give you those full details directly on this site because our policy is not to give out information on persons who are living. Country dialling code for Ireland, from overseas, is 00353, and you drop the first zero on the number in the directory.

Bubblezcasto,

Yes that's right. There's nothing missing in the address. Just the name and the townland will get the letter there. There are generally no house numbers, street names or zip codes in rural areas (though that is starting to change). The postman, and anyone else who matters, knows where each person lives. However as a first time visitor, it usually means that you would need to stop and ask for directions to a specific house. Or meet your host at the local pub.

Betsy,

In the absence of paper records, DNA may well be necessary for research relating to the period that you are interested in.  I can’t say how your letters will be received here. Hopefully you’ll get a friendly response. All I would say is that not everyone in Ireland has the same interest in genealogy that exists in the USA, Canada, Australia etc, and so quite often here you may find that even if they do respond, people can only tell you about their own family for about 3 generations back. (In practical terms to around 1900). They may have no idea where their ancestors came from, or they may know “we’ve been here for hundreds of years” but they are unlikely to know who the precise names and dates of birth & death of their ancestors in 1750. But I could be wrong about that. I have encountered families with papers going back to the 1700s but it’s more of an exception than the norm.

If your Vogan ancestors were Church of Ireland or Presbyterian then that points to settler origins, usually at the time of the Plantation ie 1600s. So it wouldn’t be surprising if DNA also revealed matches with families in England or Scotland.

I’d advise tact if suggesting a DNA test with a newly acquired distant relative.  Not everyone in Ireland is that enthusiastic about giving their DNA for tests. You may need to be persuasive. (So what you tend to find with DNA testing is that you get lots of matches with other people in the US but few in Ireland. That’s because far more Americans get DNA tested than Irish people. Speaking personally, I have been asked for my DNA on 3 occasions but have always declined. I shall not bore you with my reasons but I know others share my reservations).

Good luck anyway, and let us know how you get on.

Hello Betsy

My name is Pat O'Halloran and I am the volunteer for St Peters Drogheda.

Three years ago I answered a query on Vogans in Cootehill on another site and became email friends with a lady in Canada who was also tracing Vogans from Cootehill circa 1830 if my memory is corrrect. I have an interest in the area as I also have an ancestor from there but no Vogans.

The lady in Canada would like to get in touch if you are agreeable so if you email me at my Ireland XO address here

stpeters@irelandxo.com

I will put ye in touch jointly and ye can take it from there. I do not like to put private emails of other people on line but I told her about your query and she is ok to mail.

Regards

Pat