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Richard Higgins, b 1815, of James Higgins & Eleanor Kennedy

CorkAghada (Cork)

Hello,

First, my great thanks for the opportunity to message with those who are familiar with this parish, and the County of Cork. For several years I have looked for the county of origin of Richard Higgins, likely born about 1815. Richard Higgins married Catherine Fitzmaurice; unsure of location. I have documentation for the following children: John, Thomas, Martin, Richard & Ellen; the death certificates for John, Thomas & Ellen confirm their parents as Richard Higgins & Catherine Fitzmaurice. The obituary for John Higgins (c. 1836-1914) noted he was from the village of Cong (near Mayo/Galway border). The 1846 & 1848 baptism records for Martin Higgins & Richard Higgins are Balla Parish, Mayo County.

In searching my Higgins family, and allied families such as Flanagan, Madden, Mahoney, Sullivan, Fitzgerald, O'Malley, I find that several who are in the Galway area during the period 1820-1835ish, later moved up into the Balla & Castlebar area of Mayo County. These allied families also appear in Cork County records around the time that Richard Higgins would have been born, c.1815.

My question is this (and I ask knowing that you have better knowledge of family migration patterns) - did families, or individuals move, within Ireland, a distance such as that between Cork County and Galway and/or Mayo counties? Certainly I know of the migration out of Ireland to other countries, but I'm really trying to determine if it was feasible/likely that one would move such a distance within Ireland. If the Richard Higgins from Cork County is my line, then I've found the record for my 2nd great-grandfather.

Again, many thanks for your help. Mollie

mgstanley30@ea…

3 replies

Mollie:

Welcome to Ireland Reaching Out!

You can go to this site maintained by one of our volunteers https://www.swilson.info/sdist.php    and you can see by county where Higgins' families were found in the mid-19th century. Data is based on Griffiths Valuation data. You can see that large numbers were found in the counties of Connacht province. There were also a large number in Co. Cork and also in Ulster.

I have a question first. Did you know that Richard's parents were James Higgins and Ellen Kennedy before you located the baptismal record in Aghada or did you find the record which gave you those two names?

When I looked at the subscription site Roots Ireland there are six Richard Higgins baptismal records in Co. Cork from 1813-1818 including the one you located in Aghada parish. There were none in Mayo for the same period. However, in general the churches in Co. Mayo do not have records back to 1815 where many parishes in Cork do have early records. Cong parish for example has records starting in 1870. Balla starts in 1837. 

My theory is that Richard was born in and around the Cong area where he married Catherine at some point and had three children at least and then they moved north to Balla where Martin and Richard were baptized. Fitzmaurice is not a common Co. Cork surname.

Let me know.

Roger McDonnell

 

Castlemore RoscommonIrelandXO Volunteer

Hello Roger:

Thank you so much for your reply and for the information you have shared with me. To answer your question - no, I did not have names for Richard Higgins' parents before I found the Cork County record for James Higgins and Eleanor Kennedy. Complete speculation that they could be his parents, and concern that Cork County is a considerable distance from the Cong area, and eventual Balla Parish, Mayo County. Still, I thought it should be a point of exploration. 

Your theory makes great sense. At present, I'm looking for books/articles that tell of family migration patterns within Ireland during the early 1800s. Most of what I find tells me that families remained fairly close to their home village or location. 

Again, my great thanks for your assistance, and for the opportunity to learn so much more with help from Ireland Reaching Out! 

Mollie

mgstanley30@ea…

There is a small townland in Aghada - called by several different names.  My Kennedy family were tenants there and the Higgins were either the landllord or owners of the land.  I need to go back to my tree and see if I have a eleanor/ellen kennedy.  The time frame is correct.  Patty Davis

Patty Davis

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