I have traced my herritage back to the following person in Ireland: Dennis Driskell who immigried to Somerset County, Maryland, America in 1680. He was married to Hannah Holden (1st wife) then to Winnifried ?. He was from Kingsdale, County Cork, Ireland
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There is no Kingsdale listed in the official townlands for Co. Cork. Likely Kingsdale was a local placename 340 years ago but over time the name for the area changed. Driskell/Driscoll is a very common surname in Co. Cork so there would be no way to isolate a particular area within the county. There are no church records back to the late 17th century.
Roger McDonnell
Roger: Thanks for the information. My bad, the town was Kingsale or Kingsail which is suposed to be the oldest town in Ireland. Dennis Driskell was born in circa 1660 and was a farmer affiliated with the Church of England. Dick
Hi Dick & Roger, by chance I am just reading a book on Irish pirates in the 1500s or there abouts and there is a piece on the Driscoll pirates of Kinsale, Cork, does not end well, The O'Driscoll pirates in 1537, also see a story about a famous lady pirate in America called Anne Bonney from Kinsale. The book was published ab.out 2018 and is called Ireland's Pirate Trail by Des Ekin.
On a separate note I spent a couple of weeks in East Cork about 25 years ago and was surprised to learn that John Bunyon who wrote the Polgrims Progress spent time there and that William Penn of Pennsylvania fame had a castle there in the 1600s, there is also a possible link with the Mayflowe and Bandon in Cork, this link appears to stem from the names of the settlers that founded Bandon in the 1600s have the same surnames as those who were on the Mayflower. My point really is there were some links with the general Cork area and the US at the time.
https://www.buildingsofireland.ie/buildings-search/building/20908917/penn-castle-penn-house-shanagarry-castle-shanagarry-south-county-cork There are other little bits on it if you search.
A course I took on genealogy by a professional genealogist and medival historiam mentioned that if you can find someone in Irleand at that time it is often not too difficult to find more on them but it is is way beyond my ability and is I imagine expensive, however the larger companies here and I understand all genealogists will scope the project and give a price before any work is done.
Good Luck
Pat