Dennis O'Sullivan/Sullivan

Hello there John

The parish registers of Kilgobinet RC parish begin in 1848 for both marriages and baptisms so are unfortunately are too late for Denis O'Sullivan.  I checked the Tithe Applotment Books 1823-37 (a vand valuation) but there's no Sullivan/O'Sullivan listed for Kilgobinet.  

The parish of Kilgobinet is quite rural and includes part of the Comeragh mountains within its boundaries.  The river Colligan also runs through it and altogether it creates a very picturesque setting.  In Irish Kilgobinet is Cill Ghobnait which means the Church of Saint Gobinet (female).   The wider area of west Waterford saw great hardship during the Famine years (1847-50) with significant emigration as a result.  

The emigrant trail from Waterford and surrounding counties to Newfoundland had begun a couple of generations earlier in the late 1700s when scores of men left here for the fishing season to fish for cod in Talamh an ?isc - which translates as 'the fishing grounds' or 'the land of fish'.   In time they began to overwinter rather than risk the long and hazardous journey across the Atlantic.

I hope the above is of interest to you John.  Good luck with your search

Tony Hennessy