Kilmihil, Ballingarry - Donohue/Donoghue Research
Hello from the US. I’m researching my Donohue family from Kilmihil, Ballingarry, County Limerick, and I’m hoping someone here may recognize the family or have local knowledge that could help.
My great-great-grandfather was Cornelius John Donohue/Donoghue, born in 1853. I have found what appears to be his baptism in the Ballingarry Catholic parish registers, showing his parents as John Donoghue and Johanna Nunan/Noonan. Another son, Michael, was baptized to the same parents in 1855.
While there were likely additional siblings, I’m aware of four brothers: Daniel, Cornelius, Michael and Patrick. Cornelius emigrated to the United States around 1875. Daniel is said to have remained in Ireland and taken over the family farm.
I believe I have now traced that Irish branch fairly well:
Daniel Donohue, farmer of Kilmihil, married Margaret Hartnett in 1880 and died in 1906.
Margaret remained in Kilmihil after Daniel’s death and appears there as a widowed farmer in the 1911 census.
Their son John Donohue, born about 1889, was still farming in Kilmihil in the 1926 census. One record describes his farm as approximately 40 acres. He remained unmarried and died in 1970.
Their daughter Catherine/Katie Donohue appears to have married John Bennis and lived nearby. My father met Katie Bennis during a family visit to Ireland in 1965.
Another son, Michael Donohue, born around 1890–91, is remembered in the family as having been something of a well-known local character, although I am still trying to separate family stories from documented history.
There is also a John Donohoe in Griffith’s Valuation at Kilmihil occupying a house and roughly 41 acres. I strongly suspect this was the earlier family farm and that the holding later passed through Daniel, Margaret and John, but I have not yet been able to prove that succession.
I would be especially interested in hearing from anyone who:
knows the history of Donohue/Donoghue families in Kilmihil or Ballingarry;
remembers, or heard older relatives speak about, John Donohue of Kilmihil who died in 1970 or his brother Michael;
knows anything about the Bennis family connected with Catherine/Katie Donohue;
might know where members of this family are buried;
knows anything about the old Donohue farm or what became of it after John’s death;
can recommend a particularly knowledgeable local historian, genealogist, parish contact or graveyard researcher in the Ballingarry area.
I’m hoping to visit Ballingarry and Kilmihil later this year, so I would also be very interested in any suggestions for places or people locally that would help me better understand the family and the area they lived in.
I have census records, parish records, civil registrations, Griffith’s Valuation material and other documentation and would be very happy to compare information privately with anyone who thinks there may be a connection.
Many thanks for any help or local knowledge.
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