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Twohig's of Millstreet

CorkClondrohid (Cork)

Hi, I am researching my paternal side of the family and have struck many blocks.

My Great Grandfather James William Twohig migrated to Adelaide, South Australia . He was born in or near Millstreet, Co Cork, Ireland about 1840 and died in 1906 in Adelaide. He married Mary Anne Fitzgerald in Adelaide. My Grandfather William James Twohig 1877-1937 and his son, my father James William Twohig 1913-1978. Two of his siblings Mary and Jeremiah also came to Adelaide. The family story is that at least two brothers also went to Chicago. I have recently discovered, by finding the grave of my Great Great Grandmother in the West Terrace Cemetery, Adelaide, that she also came to Adelaide. Her name was Hanorah Twohig 1808-1885. The headstone just says she was a native of Cork. I presume that her husband had died in Ireland before she arrived.

Very few records exist for the time period before 1840 in the Millstreet parish and it is possible that all Twohigs in that line of the family migrated. When I visited Millstreet I phoned most of Twohig's in the telephone book but did not succeed in making any connections. To complicate things further the early records from Millstreet and surrounding parishes such as Clondrohid and Kilnamartyra held in the National Library of Ireland contain both Twohigs and Towhigs. I'm not sure if Towhig is a misspelling or a completely separate family name. Both are anglicised since there is no 'w' in the Irish alphabet. Also discovered lots of Darby's Twohigs which I understand is a replacement for Irish names such as Dermot, but not William. It doesn't help that most of the old baptisimal records in Millstreet are also recorded in Latin.

The Twohigs that came to Adelaide seem to have stuck to the Cork naming pattern and for this reason was hoping that my Great Great Grandfather's name might be William James.

I would love to revisit Ireland when the madness of this pandemic has settled and would be grateful for any help I can get.

Kindest regards,

Julia Twohig

julia@healingw…

6 replies

Julia:

The town of Millstreet is in Drishane civil parish just to the north of Clondrohid civil parish. As you have determined already the Millstreet RC parish records do not begin until 1853. That parish is also in the Diocese of Kerry. There was a chapel in Millstreet in 1837 and I'm sure well before but the earlier records were lost. See this excerpt from the Lewis Topographical Dictionary (the RC info is at the end of the article).

https://www.libraryireland.com/topog/D/Drishane-West-Muskerry-Cork.php

It looks like the larger number of Tuohig families were in Clondrohid parish but your family migrated north to Drishane at some point. If you check the Tithe listings http://titheapplotmentbooks.nationalarchives.ie/search/tab/index.jsp&nb…; there were a number of Tuohig leaseholders in Clondrohid and none in Drishane parish.

The 1852 Griffiths Valuation head of household listing shows a Honoria Toohig in Mill Lane in Millstreet and I'm Wondering if that is the mother of the family before she emigrated?

https://www.failteromhat.com/griffiths/cork/drishane.htm

You don't mention DNA testing but you may want to consider a test. You may come up with some third cousins.

Roger McDonnell

 

Castlemore RoscommonIrelandXO Volunteer

Hello, Julia.  

Re the issue of whether or not "Towhig" is the same name as "Twohig" -- yes it certainly is.  I've now cataloged over 20 variants of the name.  The most common is "Tuohy," favored in county Kerry and elsewhere, but the versions found in county Cork are "Twohig," "Towhig," "Tuohig," "Touhig," "Toohig," etc., that final "g" perhaps reflecting local dialect.  Remember that our ancestors may have been illeterate and relied on the parish priest to create a spelling for them, which led to all kinds of curious variations.  There are anomalies in early Cork city registers that record our Twohig ancestors as "Fouhig" and "Fouhey," as the recorder decided to add a little cross-hatch to the capital "T" for some reason.  And if your head isn't swimming enough right now, I'll mention that I've even found ancestors from Cork given as "Doohig," and "Duhig" in early newspaper articles.  (The only name I'm not sure of is "Twomey," which I currently take to be a different thing altogether.)

Even within the same family, you may see variants emerge.  For instance, a marriage record might spell out “Denis Touhig” and “Catherine Casey,” but when their first child was baptized, Denis might appear as “Denis Twohig.”  And when a second child was born, he might then be listed as “Denis Toohig.”  All in the same register.

My understanding is that "Darby" is a nickname for "Jeremiah."  The latin version of "Wiliam" is "Gulielmus, Guglielmus," etc.

I have an extensive tree at Ancestry for the "Twohigs of Bawnmore and Macroom," which also crosses over into townships like Horsemount, Ballinagree, Rahalisk -- all south of Millstreet but in the same general area.  If you post an email address, I'll send an invite.  The tree may or may not apply to your Twohigs.

D. Twohy, California

 

 

 

dntwohy@gmail.com

Hi   The  name Twohig, seems to be found only in parts of Co Cork.

. Found Hannah Twohig widow in  Ballycannon civil parish Aglish.

Found  Mary Twohig widow owning 44 acres in  Horsemount townland,  civil parish Clondrohid.

In the 1901 Census you will find the same family under the townland name in Irish, Knocknagoppal,

D,E,D, Rahalisk.

Let me know if you have any queries.

Christina Irelandxo, Volunteer.

 

 

 

 

 

 

ChristinaIrelandXO Volunteer

A huge thank you to all who responded to my inquiry about the Millstreet Twohigs.

I am grateful for the rich sharing of information from Roger McDonnell, D. Twohy, California and Christina, an IrelandXO Volunteer.

I have begun to investigate all the suggestions given and will respond again when I find anything interesting.

What a great resource IrelandXO provides.

Many thanks and blessings on all,

Julia

julia@healingw…

Hi Julia

I live in Kanturk, 20 minutes away from Millstreet and there is a big Twohig family living here - Michael Twohig owns and runs the local grocery store, Twohig's Supervalue. I would suggest you post a query to the Kanturk Facebook page below

https://www.facebook.com/search/top?q=kanturk%20memories

Best wishes
Denise

IrelandXO Mode…IrelandXO Volunteer

Thanks so much Denise for the tip.

I have sent an email to Michael Twohig of Kanturk Supervalu and wait eagerly for his response.

All the very best,

Julia

julia@healingw…

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