Hi Roger,
Thanks for such a quick reply! Yes, I have had autosomal DNA testing done, but I have not had any Doyle matches. But now that I have a county, I'm hoping to maybe have more luck.
I have a tree on Ancestry and that is where I connected with a woman from California. We share Andrew H. Doyle as our gg grandfather. She is through his eldest son's line and I'm through his youngest son's line. We've shared information, but as far as Ireland - couldn't even figure out what county he was from.
On his marriage record, he and wife Jane Doherty didn't even list their parent names. On his death record it says 'John and Mary' for parents, but I'm finding that those records here in America aren't always that reliable, being filled out by children who never met their grandparents. His burial record at the cemetery lists his father's name as Patrick. (Andrew has not made this easy on me.)
I sent for his pension file and have documentation of his being wounded at Battle of James Island, SC, taken prisoner, treated in a Confederate hospital, paroled back to Lincoln government, wounded again at Battle of Fredericksburg, put in reserve corps, back to his unit for the Battle of Gettysburg where he was wounded again. He was mentioned in a book written by the wife of his commanding officer, "Irish Green and Union Blue" and in a medical journal for his shoulder wound. But no mention of where in Ireland he was from.
I found court documents that show that the town of Southborough, Massachusetts tried to have him deemed a "Spendthrift" and appoint a guardian for him (at a time when Irish Catholics were not allowed to be buried in that town). Andrew prevailed.
I have the log from the Togus Soldiers' Home in Chelsea, Maine where he went for treatment twice before committing himself there unconditionally and being found dead on the "Hallowell Road alongside the property." But again - no mention of where he came from in Ireland.
It wasn't until Ancestry released Naturalization documents that I found his, with "Mullaghboy, County Cavan" on it. My 85 year old uncle, the last of that generation, had never heard mention of the town or county. Unfortunately, whenever he asked older relatives about Ireland, the answer was along the lines of, "and why do you want to know that?"
Sorry I'm so wordy. But I'm willing to check out any ideas at all to further my search and figured I should let you know what I have done. Andrew H. Doyle was born around 1826 (in his late 30s when he was in the war). I was hoping 1821 Andrew might have been a father or uncle.
His sons were named (in order): John Henry, Andrew, Patrick if that helps at all with naming traditions.
I've checked out rootsireland for baptism, but no luck. He is one of the very few I have to list a middle initial (and he always included it). Since his oldest son's name was John Henry, I'm guessing that his middle name was Henry as well, and I tried rootsireland searches for that names as well as John and Patrick as other family possibilities. Nothing I can be sure of.
I was hoping that maybe not all six Mullaghboys existed in 1845.
If you have any ideas at all, I will follow through and greatly appreciate your help. I would love to add a story about him!
Thanks again!
Ann
