Looking for Noonan

Carol:

Do you know when Timothy was born presumably in Ireland? Do you know when he came to America? Did he marry Ellen in Ireland or America? Any other information which might allow one of our volunteers to determine where he came from?

Roger McDonnell

Hi Roger,

Here is my info about Timothy Noonan.

Timothy Noonan, along with his wife Ellen (nee Dowd) and infant daughter, Mary, (as reflected on the ship’s manifest) left Cork, Ireland on the S.S. Onward to immigrate to the US in the last part of 1851. The S.S. Onward was a British ship that left Liverpool and stopped in Cork.   During the voyage, their infant daughter, Mary, died as reflected on the ship’s manifest.

Timothy Noonan arrived with his wife Ellen in New York City on December 11, 1851. After their arrival, Timothy and Ellen most likely took the Erie Canal to Ohio. It was far cheaper than using the train and many immigrants used that method to get to the Midwest. About a year later, Timothy and Ellen were married in Ohio, probably because they needed proof of their marriage, and for some reason were unable to bring that proof with them from Ireland. (The redoing of one’s marriage vows was a common occurrence for immigrants.)

After staying in Wooster, Ohio for several years, during which Ellen gave birth to John in 1854 and James in 1855, they moved to Eaton, Manitowoc, Wisconsin where they lived next to Patrick Dowd and family. (Any family relationship between Ellen and Patrick is unknown as of this date.) Ellen died in 1866.  Timothy never remarried.

Timothy’s son, James married Mary Elizabeth Murphy (daughter of John and Abrigail [O'Conner] Murphy) and named their first son, John Timothy, (my grandfather). I assume that John Timothy was named for the father of James and the father of Mary Elizabeth.  However, I have no proof of that. John could also have been Timothy’s Great grandfather’s name.

So based on my research, Timothy and Ellen were married before they left Ireland.  According to the ship’s manifest and the US census records, Timothy was born about 1821-22.  According to the ship’s manifest, Ellen was born about 1823.

I really appreciate any help you can give me.  My mother died in 2010 after a long battle with Alzheimer.  I miss her every day and it would mean so much to me to be able to fulfill my promise to her about our Irish roots.

 Carol Lynn

Hi Carol,

rootsireland.ie has birth/baptism records for Timothy & Ellen.

If you google the site and register you can find the records by searching for surname, first name, year and county (Cork).

There are 3 for Timothy but 1 is 1820 & the othet 2 are probably the same one repeated (often happened).

Similarly, search for Ellen - her name came up as Doody 1822 - there was a lot of illiteracy and transcription errors then - or it could be an early form of Dowd.

To get the parents' names and parish from the record you need to purchase them. 

There are 106 Noonans in Cork listed in the Tithe Applotment Books (free search) 1823-27 so one could be the father of Timothy. 

Col

Although your ancestors likely came from Cork, my great grandfather Charles Dowd had a sister Ellen who was baptized in St Michael's Parish in Limerick City on July 13, 1823.  I found a marriage certificate  in the same parish for an Ellen Dowd and a Francis Bovenizer on January 26, 1845.  While I assume that it is the same Ellen Dowd, I do not know for certain.  Another of my great grandfathers was Thomas Noonan from County Roscommon.  In my research, I do not think that I have come across any Timothy Noonan's in Roscommon.

Hi Everyone,

Thank you for all your help.  Irish people are simply the best! 

I have found a baptism record of Timothy Noonan's  in Kenmare Parish  in 1822.  And by using the names of his parents on that record, I found the records that show Timothy Noonan had five other siblings that had all been baptized in South Parish in Cork.  However, I do not know if this was my Timothy.  I started with the assumption that since they left from Cork - and not from Dublin or Sligo- my Timothy probably lived in the south of Ireland. Using his birth date, I found that record.  It fits but how do I know if that is my Timothy?  This record is the only one that fits the time period and that I found on line.  Does anyone know if all of the records are online? 

In addition, if this is my Timothy, how do I find the descendants of his siblings?  According the records I found, Timothy's parents, John and Mary ( Murphy) Noonan had five other children, Joseph, John, Mary, Peter and Margaret, as far as I can find. If they stayed in Ireland and got married and had children and so on, then it would be possible that I have cousins in Ireland today.  It is those cousins I am trying to find. Those are the cousins that my mother told me about.

So first I have to determine if the Timothy I found in the South parish is my ancestors - not sure how to do that- and then if he is, find the relatives who descended from that family.

Can anyone give me ideas on how to accomplish this?

Carol Lynn

Carol,

I think that the records from several counties, including the southern part of Cork, are not online.  Also, the dates for which church records are available vary greatly among parishes.

In my own search for my ancestors and their descendants in County Limerick, I had Limerick Genealogy prepare a report for me.  They did an excellent job and found information and made connections that I would never have been able to do on my own.  Now, that I have a better idea of who my relations in Ireland may be, I am trying to verify this by DNA testing.

Good luck on your search.

Carol:

I wrote a response and it was rejected by the system. I'm sending this thru to see if I can post.

Roger

Carol:

This will be shorter than my first attempt. I agree that you can't tell if you have the right Timothy. I looked at the Griffiths Valuation head of household data for Noonans and there were many in Co. Cork but quite a few in Co. Limerick, Co. Tipperary. Emigrants frequently left those counties to meet the ship in Queenstown.

I assume you have looked at all USA records on Timothy for some hint on his home townland or town in Ireland. Have you looked at Patrick Dowd since there may be a connection?

You may want to look at the 1852 Griffiths data for Cork (very few Dowds in Cork by the way) to see if you can confirm the baptismal record data.

Good luck. Come back with questions.

Roger

Hi Roger,

I have not been able to find Timothy death cetificate or his son James.  However, I did find marraige certificates for James's brothers, Andrew and Frank Noonan, so I have sent away for those.  I am hoping it will tell where there father, Timothy came from.

I am also going to do a DNA test and ask one of my male Noonan cousin to do the same.  I know this won't tell me where he came from, but I am hoping that if I my Timothy that i found in Ireland is the right Timothey, I can use the DNA testing to locate current relatiives.

I have not looked at the Griffiths Valuation becuase I am not sure what they mean and how to use them to locate my Timothy's family in IrelaND.  Do you know?

Carol Lynn

Carol:

The Griffiths identifies head of households who leased or owned land in the mid-19th century. The survey was done county by county from 1848-1864. It only lists the head of household, where he (or she) lived, how much land he had and taxes due. Since the censuses were destroyed, it is a good substitute. I copied the five Dowds in Co. Cork. ( I did not include the records with the name Doody that Col mentioned). Below are the five Dowd records from www.rootsireland.ie  (Griffiths is free on Roots).The other good Griffiths site is www.askaboutireland.ie which is free. The good thing with that site is that you can get a map the land with Google Maps superimposed so you can see the land now. For your purposes, it depends on whether or not John Noonan was still alive in 1852 (which of course you don't know). If he was alive, he would likely be one of the John Noonas listed. It would only be a lead.

Roger

HI Roger,

I am going to look at Griffiths Valuation for both John (Re Timothy) Noonan and for Dowd.  I did find  a record of a baptism for Ellen Dowd in Kerry, Co., but it is for Oct 25 1819.  That would make her older than Timothy.  I asked a friend who is an historian, and he told me that women did not necessary tell their correct birthdate to officials. That baptism date would have made Ellen abt 43 when she gave birth to her last child in 1862 which is possible. The baptism record has her parents were Jeremiah and Margaret (Connor) Dowd.  I will continue to look to see if I can find any siblings for her with that set of parents - hopefully a Patrick. I am hoping that one of the marriage certificates that I ordered about Timothy other sons will have a location on where Timothy came from.

I sent an email to a genealogist in Ireland to see if I could hire her to do some research for me over there but she never replied.  I was planning on going to Ireland this year for the Gathering, but in June I fell and broke my neck.  Thank goodness it is healing but the doctors told me that I was so very lucky, - when I was in the hospital, different doctors kept coming to see me which I could not understand, untill one nurse told me that everybody wanted to see the luky person who fell and broke her neck - because the break I got could have resulted in instant death.  I told the doctors that I have the luck of the Irish in me so that explained why I did not die!

But my neck will not be fully healed until December, so no traveling for me this year. BTW,  do you know of a  genealogist in Ireland that you could recommend?

Carol Lynn

Carol:

Wonderful story! I'm not aware of a genealogist in Ireland. Why don't you contact the Mallo Heritage Center and see what they recommend.

Roger

http://mallowheritagecentre.com/