Hello, Community!
I am searching for any information about my 3x great grandfather, Daniel Donovan of Ballymartin townland. He was born c 1828, according to his US Naturalization papers and US Census records. He was married to Ellen Crowly or Crowley. I have seen it spelled both ways in my family's records.
I have been researching my family for about 10 years, and until yesterday, I was convinced that a couple who married in Ringrone were my ancestors. However, I was sadly mistaken. I do not know if Daniel and Ellen married in Ireland, as I have been unsuccessful in finding any records for this marriage on the Irish genealogy website or on Ancestry, Rootsweb, and Find My Past.
In addition, I have found no marriage records for them in the US or Canada. It's a mystery, for sure!
The facts that I DO know are that Daniel Donovan was born in 1828 in Ballymartin, Dungourney Parish, Cork, Ireland. He became a US citizen on 17 September 1857 in Rutledge, Rutledge County Vermont and worked as a quarryman there. Sometime before 1859, he married Ellen Crowley and they had seven children in 11 years. These include:
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Cornelius, c1859
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Terrance, c1860
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Timothy, c1860
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Patrick John, c1862 (my great-great-grandfather, a railway engineer in Illinois and Iowa)
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Ellen, c1866
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Mary Ann, c1867
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Kate, c1870
Daniel died on April 26, 1880, in West Rutland, Vermont; age at death: 53. His headstone reads "A native of the parish of Ballymartin, County Cork, Ireland." He is buried in St. Brigid's Cemetery, Rutland County, Vermont, USA.
Any information that can be shared would be appreciated greatly. I am new to this site and was guided here by another Ancestry member who helped me to correct the records that I have had regarding my ancestors' marriage.
Regards,
Elizabeth Howell
Bertsyh
Thursday 15th Apr 2021, 11:47PMMessage Board Replies
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Hi Elizabeth,
Even though the headstone says "parish," I believe Ballymartin was a townland, not a parish.
I'd also recommend that you not consider 1828 the exact year of birth. Old records often give the wrong date. People weren't constantly being asked to show ID in those days, and date of birth was not necessarily the first thing on a person's radar.
I hope this helps.
Patricia
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Hi Elizabeth,
Even though the headstone says "parish," I believe Ballymartin was a townland, not a parish.
I'd also recommend that you not consider 1828 the exact year of birth. Old records often give the wrong date. People weren't constantly being asked to show ID in those days, and date of birth was not necessarily the first thing on a person's radar.
I hope this helps.
Patricia
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Elizabeth:
Following Patricia's suggestion that Ballymartin was a townland, there are two Ballymartin townlands in Co. Cork. The first is in Dungourney civil parish and the second is in Grenagh civil parish. In both situations the records for the corresponding RC parish start later than 1828 so likely no baptismal record would be available for Daniel.
For the Dungourney Ballymartin, the RC parish is Imogeela https://registers.nli.ie/parishes/0059 and for Grenagh Ballymartin the RC parish is Grenagh https://registers.nli.ie/parishes/0058
I looked at the 1852 Griffiths Valuation head of household listing for both civil parishes and no surprise there are a number of Donovan records in both parishes. Two of the records in Dungourney are in Ballymartin-- Michael and Ellen while in Grenagh there are no Donovans in Ballymartin townland. Consequently, I believe your Daniel Donovan came from Ballymartin Dungourney civil parish and likely he was related to Michael and Ellen.
https://www.failteromhat.com/griffiths/cork/dungourney.htm
https://www.failteromhat.com/griffiths/cork/grenagh.php
Let me know if you have questions.
Roger McDonnell
Castlemore Roscommon, IrelandXO Volunteer ☘
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Thank you so much. I had figured out that Daniel was from Dungourney Parish, but that parish seems to border both Middleton and Cloyne, so I was just reaching out to those parishes in addition to Dungourney. I appreciate your help.
Elizabeth
Bertsyh
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Elizabeth, I dont want to get your hopes up but I have some Donovans from Ballymartin, Dungourney Parish in my tree - they are ancestors of the husband of a cousin of my fathers but I know some of the living relations..
1. The good news may be that
there is a Timothy Donovan born in or around 1832 - date based on estimated age at death in the tree and your list has a Timothy of similar vintage - he may be related to your Daniel.
there were two Donovans listed in Dungourney in the Tithe Applotment Surveys taken around the 1820s/30s here in Ireland - John and Timothy Donovan farming 179 Irish acres (286 statute acres) but in an adjacent townland to Ballymartin - might be the father and uncle of your family
2. Some of the 'not-so-good' news -
naming patterns were strong in Ireland at that time especially for male children - first son named for his paternal grand-father, second son named for this mothers father ....etc. There is no Daniel in my version of the tree, neither is there a Cornelius - the first born in your list and by extension likely to be the name of their Donovan grand-father. The fact that neither Cornelius nor Daniel appears in my later generations is not a good sign but not fatal
the names of the Donovans recorded farming in Ballymartin in Griffiths Valuation surveys of the 1850s dont include any Daniel or Cornelius
3. How to progress this and possibly establish a link or demonstrate a missing link -
Have you done a DNA test and if yes have you or can you submit the file to gedmatch and we can see what turns up. If your test was in 23andme then that might also be helpful.
The fit is not perfect but there is enough there that it seems likely that they families maye be closely related. Let me know the story on the DNA test etc.
Liam
LiamK