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Donovan Family Birth Town ??

Cork

Hello friends,

This is my first post. Apologies if it doesn't quite follow people's usual format. I am trying to trace the original town of my Donovan line. I have been searching for quite a while. My grandfather was John Donovan (dob 1877)John was born and lived in Wales. He married Bridget. His father William (dob1839/40) came from Ireland to Wales around 1860. His place of birth stated as Cork (Census) William married Ellen Cotter whose father was Richard. William'sfather was Timothy. It is possible that he married a K Mahoney. I have come up with many possible towns and villiages when exploring Church and Civil records online.

I have one clue in that John my grandfather would come to Ireland regularly to visit famly (told by my mother). Where did he come to ?? He had a very good friend whose family had also moved to Wales and his father had Clonakilty on his census return. The friend was Felix McCarthy.

If any of my story rings any bells with anyone could you let me know ?Or suggest any other possible search areas.

Much appreciated.

dalleen.last@b…

21 replies

Dee Mary:

Welcome to Ireland Reaching Out!

www.irishgenealogy.ie is a free Irish government site which likely you have already accessed. I did locate an 1838 William Donovan baptismal record in Clonakilty (see below) and there is also one in 1835.

Roger McDonnell

Area - CORK & ROSS (RC) , Parish/Church/Congregation - CLONAKILTY

Baptism of WM DONOVAN of RING on 30 January 1838

NameWM DONOVANDate of BirthN/R N/R N/RAddressRINGFatherDENIS DONOVANMotherJULIA -

Further details in the record

Sponsor 1CHARLES SCULLYSponsor 2MARGT KOHANERecorded Parochial AreaCLONAKILTY

Castlemore RoscommonIrelandXO Volunteer

Thank you Roger for your reply. Yes I had hoped that one might have been the right link. I know that William's father was Timothy on his marriage certificate..So I can rule out one. .I'll have another look on the one in Ring. 

dalleen.last@b…

Dee Mary:

With the new info on the father's name, I don't think they were from Clonakilty. I see three other possibilities in 1836 1840 and 1843. The 1840 record is below. Do you know his mother's name?

Roger

 

Area - CORK & ROSS (RC) , Parish/Church/Congregation - COURCY'S COUNTRY OR BALLINSPITTAL

Baptism of WILLIAM DONOVAN of N/R on 11 February 1840

NameWILLIAM DONOVANDate of BirthN/R N/R N/RAddressN/RFatherTIM DONOVANMotherCATHARINE MAHONY

Further details in the record

Child DenominationRCSponsor 1JERRY MAHONYSponsor 2JULIA ROHANERecorded Diocesan AreaCORK & ROSS

Castlemore RoscommonIrelandXO Volunteer

Thank you again Roger.  I am just looking at William and Ellen's marriage certificate. The date was 27th December 1864. William was 25 and Ellen Cotter 19. William's father Timothy Donovan (deceased) Ellen's father James Cotter. The witnesses were Felix McCarthy and Catherine Norman. The marriage took place at St. Mary's Church , Monmouthshire.. I had previously made a mistake with Ellen's father as I thought he was Richard. I don't really know William's mother's name but must have seen the Mahoney neme in my searches and thought it might have been that. I will have another try with the 1840 one that you suggested. When it says COURCY'S COUNTRY OR BALLINSPITTAlL  what does it mean exactley? Are these Parish boundary names ? Also in my searches I am not sure where I did see records saying Addresses where births had taken place and who was present and occupation of father. I'm not sure but these must have been civil records I would think. Maybe knowing that by 1864 Timothy was already deceased may give another lead or make one more definite. I'll plod on.. 

dalleen.last@b…

Dee Mary:

Coursey's Country or Ballinspittal is the name of an RC parish near Kinsale. Here is a link to the parish register and in the upper right hand corner you will see a map. Parish was also known as Ringrone. RC parishes almost always have different borders than civil parishes.

http://registers.nli.ie/parishes/0108

Civil records which start in 1864 show the townland location, Baptismal records may or may not show a townland.

Roger

Castlemore RoscommonIrelandXO Volunteer

Thank you again Roger. I will go down a slightly different track now.. The McCarthy family seem so interlinked with my Donovans. I did see a McCarthy married a Timothy Donovan. II will have another look at that. In the new possible areas.

dalleen.last@b…

Sorry it took me a wile to sort my page out. I have been tryng to find out any burial or date of death for Timothy Donovan before 1864. Should I be able to find this on the web site given earlier in this thread?  Or can alternative be suggested by anyone please. I haven't had any success up to now.

dalleen.last@b…

I received an email saying that a reply had been posted but I don't see it. I don't know if it is an error with my coputer or that I had sent a separate email. I had had trouble attaching on to my existing thread.. This is alright now. My computer remembers the site and I don't have to sign in every time. Maybe this is the problem.

dalleen.last@b…

Dee Mary:

Very few churches maintained information on deaths in their church pre 1864. For example, Coursey's Country did not have death records when you look at the parish register.

Roger

Castlemore RoscommonIrelandXO Volunteer

Thank you for your latest information. I have been looking at possible Baptisms now for Timothy (1820 onwards) bearing in mind that William was born in 1839/40. Ones that look possibles are in RINGRONE ,COURCY'S COUNTRY OR BALLINSPITTAlL. I hoped to find something in census records but I am having some difficulty with accessing civil records. Maybe like the death records they are not there for those dates ? I would just like to pinpoint a town if I could by August as my Donovans are visiting Ireland then. I really appreciate the help that you have given in this search.

dalleen.last@b…

Dee Mary:

Civil Registration of births started in 1864. Images are available from 1864-1915 on www.irishgenealogy.ie  If you need help searching, let me know.

Roger

Castlemore RoscommonIrelandXO Volunteer

Thank you Roger for the latest link. On this I found some records of death for Timothy Donovan. As William's Birth year was 1839/40 I guessed that Timothy's might be around 1819/20. He was already deceased by 1864. (Hoping that this is realistic guessing.) Today I am not able to get that information re deaths again.from the civil records. What I did get a few days ago looked like Ringrrone was the area. I managed to open up the images and place/cause of death was shown. I thought from this I might get the town/village. However today I am not so lucky in accessing the site. I used your link to start from. I also went into the ceensus link but no success there I'm afraid. If you did have any time to help me searching to find the town I would be very grateful. Things seem to vary so much for me.

dalleen.last@b…

Dee Mary:

Civil registration of deaths started in 1864 and images for death records from 1864-1890 are not available yet but hopefully by the end of the year. 

If Timothy died pre-1864, I'm not sure what record you located earlier. Was it a church record?

Roger

Castlemore RoscommonIrelandXO Volunteer

Yes I think it was Church records but I could open up image. Then I could see sevaeral columns. Persons' name and  date of death, cause of death, person whi registered and also place e.g. hospital where death occured. Doctors names and nursing Sisters were there. I thought it went back to 1856 so I don't know exactly what it was I found. I will try and find it again and let you know details. I didn't get the Timothy I was looking for. Also with the births rlink thet you gave me I wasn't able to read the micro films.  

dalleen.last@b…

Hello Roger, 

This is the page I found.

https://civilrecords.irishgenealogy.ie/churchrecords/civil-perform-sear…

Death of TIMOTHY DONOVAN in 1864

Group Registration IDN/RSR District/Reg AreaSkibbereenDeceased Age at Death65Returns Year1864Returns Quarter2Returns Volume No10Returns Page No443

I don't know if this could be my Timothy. Then there ere these https://civilrecords.irishgenealogy.ie/churchrecords/civil-perform-sear…

I just can't find the open image option with the different colums giving date, place and cause of death. I did see now a more detailed search option but didn't try it in case I lost the main page. 

I don't know if you think any of these might be relevent or if I have gone off on a tangent again. Always glad of your help please.

dalleen.last@b…

Dee Mary:

 I mentioned earlier that images of death records from 1864-1890 are not avialble at this time but hopefully they will be available by the end of the year. In the interim, you would have to write to the General Register Office to get a copy which costs around 4 euros each. Since you don't know for sure that any of the 1864 records are for your ancestor, you probably should wait for the images.

Roger

Castlemore RoscommonIrelandXO Volunteer

Dear DeeMary:

 

I have spoken to the local gentleman in Skibberreen who I had previously mentioned to you.  He is aware of your query, but due to the Hurricane aftermath, it will be several days before he replies.  Please be patient, as he is very actively involved with a genealogy group in that area. 

If you have any further questions, you can contact me at:  jhalloranryan@irelandxo.com.

Kind regards,

 

Jane.

jhalloranryan@…

Thank you Jane. I know you have had terrible times with the weather in Ireland. I thought of you all when I saw it on TV. I remember that storm in 1987 and the problems it caused here.. I hope that things will get better there soon. I look forward to hearing from the gentleman in Skibberreen whenever he is able to contact me. I really appreciate everyone's help.  I will be thinking of you all in that coastal area.. God bless.. Dee Mary

dalleen.last@b…

Thank you Jane. I know you have had terrible times with the weather in Ireland. I thought of you all when I saw it on TV. I remember that storm in 1987 and the problems it caused here.. I hope that things will get better there soon. I look forward to hearing from the gentleman in Skibberreen whenever he is able to contact me. I really appreciate everyone's help.  I will be thinking of you all in that coastal area.. God bless.. Dee Mary

dalleen.last@b…

Thank you Jane. I know you have had terrible times with the weather in Ireland. I thought of you all when I saw it on TV. I remember that storm in 1987 and the problems it caused here.. I hope that things will get better there soon. I look forward to hearing from the gentleman in Skibberreen whenever he is able to contact me. I really appreciate everyone's help.  I will be thinking of you all in that coastal area.. God bless.. Dee Mary

dalleen.last@b…

Thank you Jane. I know you have had terrible times with the weather in Ireland. I thought of you all when I saw it on TV. I remember that storm in 1987 and the problems it caused here.. I hope that things will get better there soon. I look forward to hearing from the gentleman in Skibberreen whenever he is able to contact me. I really appreciate everyone's help.  I will be thinking of you all in that coastal area.. God bless.. Dee Mary

dalleen.last@b…

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