Lackan Parish - Cloonalaghan Townland - Togher/Rogan/Grier/Kilgallon

Greetings to IrelandXO! As an adult in 1979 I heard, for the first time ever, stories from my grandfather’ sister, then age 85, about her four Irish immigrant grandparents … one of whom was Mary Togher (1828-1901). She recalled events at age 6 at her grandmother’s wake! Although I’ve filled in much of Mary’s story about her life in the United States, I‘ve learned nothing at all about her home in Ireland – which leads me to now to ‘ReachOut’ to Ireland.

A. Two years ago I was notified by MyHeritage that a DNA cousin by the name of Togher had been identified in Ireland! He said that his ancestors farmed in Cloonalaghan townland, Lackan Parish, Mayo as far back as the early 1800’s, and identified his grandfather as James Togher b.1863. Using available census and parish records, I have identified the parents of James as Patrick Togher and Ellen Loughney. My new cousin said that he heard family stories of an aunt of his grandfather (in other words, a sister of Patrick Togher) who left Lackan and settled in America. I’ve begun to go through available birth, marriage, death records for Lackan and surrounding parishes, but have not yet been able to identify the parents of Patrick Togher.

Q1: Was this aunt from the story, in fact, my gg-gm, Mary Togher? If true, then can the parents of Patrick Togher be identified in order to more firmly connect me to my new cousin?

B. According to family lore, Mary Togher was married in Ireland to John Rogan (1828?-1855?). Passenger records from 22 Feb 1849 indicate that a couple named John and Mary Rogan arrived in New York City on the ship Dewitt Clinton – assumed to be ‘my’ John and Mary Rogan. It appears that after returning to Ireland for a visit, they again arrived back at New York City on 16 Jan 1854 aboard the ship America with their three year old daughter, Mary Rogan. (This Mary Rogan was well-remembered in my family … my grandfather’s half-aunt.) This young Rogan family settled in Baltimore, Maryland where John Rogan died sometime in the mid 1850’s.

Q2: Can John Rogan’s parents be identified? [Note that Griffith’s Valuation (1856) lists an Ellen Rogan living in Cloonalaghan townland, not far from Patrick Togher.]

C. Family stories state that after her husband died, Mary Togher Rogan was invited by her husband’s relatives to visit them at their home in Waukesha County, Wisconsin, and it was there that she met the man who later became her 2nd husband, Cornelius Gahagan – also from Mayo. It appears that when they met, Cornelius Gahagan was most likely living with his brother and sister, both of whom were enumerated shortly thereafter in the 1860 US Census for Waukesha County, Wisconsin. In possible confirmation of this story, the same census lists a Cecily Rogan b.1785 living just four farms away from the Gahagan siblings … in the household of Patrick Grier b.1810 and his wife, Mary, b.1817. The exact relationship between Cecily on one hand and Patrick and / or Mary Grier on the other hand, remains unknown. In fact, one family tree suggests (without any support) that Mary Grier was born ‘Mary Rogan’. Ten years later the 1870 U.S. Census for Waukesha County clouds the issue when this same Cecily, still living with the Grier family, was called Cecily Grier, rather than Cecily Rogan.

Q3: Was the Ellen Rogan in Cloonalaghan in fact the mother of John Rogan? And what (if any) was the relationship between Ellen Rogan, Cecily Rogan, John Rogan, and this Grier family?

D. When John Rogan died in Baltimore, Mary Togher Rogan had no family near, so she took her two daughters to Clinton, Iowa to live with or near the family of her own sister, Catherine Togher, and Catherine’s husband, James Kilgallon (1817-1890). It was there that the marriage of Mary Togher Rogan and Cornelius Gahagan was later recorded in June 1859. Kilgallon descendants have remained in the Clinton area until WWII or later. Stories handed down indicate that sisters Mary and Catherine Togher were among 80 couples wed in a mass ceremony before they sailed to America. The young people had been brought together and given only a few days before the ceremony to decide on a potential mate. I’ve heard that one or more landlords paid for their tenants’ passage out of Ireland when they determined that transportation cost was less than the cost of relief for their tenants … part or all of which was provided from taxes levied on the landlords. Is it possible that a landlord arranged for such a marriage ceremony as a ‘benefit’ to entice young men and women to accept the offer of free passage to America … by helping them find a mate with whom they could start a new life across the sea?

Q4: Is there any historical evidence to suggest that such a ‘mass marriage’ event ever took place in north Mayo - or anywhere in Ireland?

Q5: Do Kilgallon/Kilcullen records exist in Lackan parish – or Killala diocese – that can help identify James Kilgallon or his birth family before he arrived in America?

In summary … Can anyone with roots in Lackan parish or Killala diocese help shed light on Mary Togher and her birth family; her first husband’s Rogan family; the Grier family (and Cecily Rogan/Grier); the Kilgallon family; and, ultimately, my new cousin’s Togher family?

Thanks for any information or suggestions!