Eviction of Dohertys from Coolbaun during the Famine
My 2x grandmother and her children were one of those evicted from Coolbaun (Castletown Parish, Limerick) during the famine. They immigrated to America in 1849, almost two years after their eviction. My question is: what is the most likely survival theory for their family, and if there is any evidence to support that theory. If there were, I would greatly appreciate it.
Maurice and Bridget (Biddy) Bourke Doherty (b. 1809) lived in Coolbaun with their 10 children: Margaret (b. 1828), Thomas (b. 1830), Mary (b. 1831), Michael (b. 1833), William (b. 1835), John (b. 1837), Judy (b. 1840), Patrick (b. 1842), Morris (b. 1845), and Maria (b. 1846 or 1847). Baptismal sponsors for the children included John Cormack, Bess Cormack, Catherine Real, Patrick and Margaret Doherty, Mary Kavh, John Bourke (3x), Mary Bourke, Michael Bourke, Bridget Bourke, and Nancy Dwyer. It appears that there were both Doherty and Bourke families in the area.
Maurice died between 1846 and 1847. According to the May 1847 tenure book, the widow Bridget Doherty’s name is crossed out and the new owner John Lundergan listed. The house is noted as “down” in the house book. The family (less daughter Judy) left for America and arrived in New Orleans, Louisiana in February 1849.
It is quite extraordinary that the vast majority of family members survived that period. Unfortunately, a few years after they arrived in New Orleans, the six youngest children died from one of the yellow fever epidemics that plagued that area.
Any information or likely theories about how they may have fared after eviction would be greatly appreciated.
