Looking for Info on great-great-grandparents (COUGHTER)
My great-great-grandfather, Patrick Coughter, was born near Castlebar, County Mayo during or close to the year 1800 and was married to Catherine Coughter, also born in or near the first decade of the 1800's. They had two sons, Martin (b. 1835) and Peter (b.1840), and possibly a daughter Bridget and other children. Martin was my great-grandfather and emigrated to the US in January 1852, at age 17, along with his younger brother Peter (age 13). Oral tradition passed down in my family was that Martin always said he came from "near Castlebar" in County Mayo. It has always been a big family mystery as to what happened to Martin and Peter's parents, Patrick & Catherine Coughter. We simply don't know. Did they stay behind in County Mayo and just ship their two young boys off to the US? Had they too gone to the United States, at a different time - but never connected or got reunited, unable to locate one another? We know Martin was pretty much on his own, doing farm work as a hired hand, during his early years in the US until he met and, at age 24, married my great-grandmother in 1859. They had 13 children.
We've searched for years but have never been able to find any confirming evidence for certain, one way or the other, as to what happened to Patrick & Catherine Coughter (of the "Castlebar area"). Perhaps they were in Aglish parish and some record exists of their names, their children's names, and whether or not they perished there either before or after 1852, the year of Martin's emigration to the US. Any record in Aglish parish about Patrick and Catherine Coughter would be most welcomed, indeed!