Twohig's of Millstreet

Julia:

The town of Millstreet is in Drishane civil parish just to the north of Clondrohid civil parish. As you have determined already the Millstreet RC parish records do not begin until 1853. That parish is also in the Diocese of Kerry. There was a chapel in Millstreet in 1837 and I'm sure well before but the earlier records were lost. See this excerpt from the Lewis Topographical Dictionary (the RC info is at the end of the article).

https://www.libraryireland.com/topog/D/Drishane-West-Muskerry-Cork.php

It looks like the larger number of Tuohig families were in Clondrohid parish but your family migrated north to Drishane at some point. If you check the Tithe listings http://titheapplotmentbooks.nationalarchives.ie/search/tab/index.jsp&nb…; there were a number of Tuohig leaseholders in Clondrohid and none in Drishane parish.

The 1852 Griffiths Valuation head of household listing shows a Honoria Toohig in Mill Lane in Millstreet and I'm Wondering if that is the mother of the family before she emigrated?

https://www.failteromhat.com/griffiths/cork/drishane.htm

You don't mention DNA testing but you may want to consider a test. You may come up with some third cousins.

Roger McDonnell

Hello, Julia.  

Re the issue of whether or not "Towhig" is the same name as "Twohig" -- yes it certainly is.  I've now cataloged over 20 variants of the name.  The most common is "Tuohy," favored in county Kerry and elsewhere, but the versions found in county Cork are "Twohig," "Towhig," "Tuohig," "Touhig," "Toohig," etc., that final "g" perhaps reflecting local dialect.  Remember that our ancestors may have been illeterate and relied on the parish priest to create a spelling for them, which led to all kinds of curious variations.  There are anomalies in early Cork city registers that record our Twohig ancestors as "Fouhig" and "Fouhey," as the recorder decided to add a little cross-hatch to the capital "T" for some reason.  And if your head isn't swimming enough right now, I'll mention that I've even found ancestors from Cork given as "Doohig," and "Duhig" in early newspaper articles.  (The only name I'm not sure of is "Twomey," which I currently take to be a different thing altogether.)

Even within the same family, you may see variants emerge.  For instance, a marriage record might spell out “Denis Touhig” and “Catherine Casey,” but when their first child was baptized, Denis might appear as “Denis Twohig.”  And when a second child was born, he might then be listed as “Denis Toohig.”  All in the same register.

My understanding is that "Darby" is a nickname for "Jeremiah."  The latin version of "Wiliam" is "Gulielmus, Guglielmus," etc.

I have an extensive tree at Ancestry for the "Twohigs of Bawnmore and Macroom," which also crosses over into townships like Horsemount, Ballinagree, Rahalisk -- all south of Millstreet but in the same general area.  If you post an email address, I'll send an invite.  The tree may or may not apply to your Twohigs.

D. Twohy, California

Hi   The  name Twohig, seems to be found only in parts of Co Cork.

. Found Hannah Twohig widow in  Ballycannon civil parish Aglish.

Found  Mary Twohig widow owning 44 acres in  Horsemount townland,  civil parish Clondrohid.

In the 1901 Census you will find the same family under the townland name in Irish, Knocknagoppal,

D,E,D, Rahalisk.

Let me know if you have any queries.

Christina Irelandxo, Volunteer.

A huge thank you to all who responded to my inquiry about the Millstreet Twohigs.

I am grateful for the rich sharing of information from Roger McDonnell, D. Twohy, California and Christina, an IrelandXO Volunteer.

I have begun to investigate all the suggestions given and will respond again when I find anything interesting.

What a great resource IrelandXO provides.

Many thanks and blessings on all,

Julia

Hi Julia

I live in Kanturk, 20 minutes away from Millstreet and there is a big Twohig family living here - Michael Twohig owns and runs the local grocery store, Twohig's Supervalue. I would suggest you post a query to the Kanturk Facebook page below

https://www.facebook.com/search/top?q=kanturk%20memories

Best wishes
Denise

Thanks so much Denise for the tip.

I have sent an email to Michael Twohig of Kanturk Supervalu and wait eagerly for his response.

All the very best,

Julia