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I am searching for the civil parish in County Cork where Ellen/Elenor DONAHUE was born.  Her birth date was 10 March 1827.  She immigrated to Manayunk, Pennsylvania in Nov 1845.  On 1 July 1849 she married David Joseph SPENCE [born in County Waterford] in St. John the Baptist Church in Manayunk, PA.  She died 24 March 1899 in Derrynane, Le Sueur, MN.

Their children were:

Hannah Jane SPENCE born 5 March 1850 in Manayunk, Philadelphia, PA

Robert James SPENCE born 11 April 1853 in Manayunk, Philadelphia, PA

David Joseph SPENCE born 11 Oct 1856 in Manayunk, Philadelphia, PA

John SPENCE born 10 June 1858 in Tyrone, Le Sueur, MN

Mary Ellen SPENCE born 17 Nov 1860 in Tyrone, Le Sueur, MN

Martin SPENCE born 7 Nov 1862 in Tyrone, Le Sueur, MN

Thomas SPENCE born 19 Dec 1864 in Tyrone, Le Sueur, MN

James SPENCE born about 1866 in Tyrone, Le Sueur, MN

Agnes SPENCE born 24 May 1869 in Tyrone, Le Sueur, MN

I have done extensive research on this family in the US, but have never been able to discover where Ellen DONAHUE was born or the names of her parents. 

Any help would be appreciated.

Thanks, Jean

 

JeanMary

Friday 11th May 2012, 04:22AM

Message Board Replies

  • Hi Jean,

    County Cork is a very big county with many, many parishes. This makes it very difficult to find your ancestor. I could suggest any number of documents to you, but it may not help you. You need to bear in mind the many variants in spelling of the surname Donahue. Check this link to see just how many there are! http://www.irishtimes.com/ancestor/surname/index.cfm?fuseaction=Go.&UserID=  You must remember to check the variant spellings when carrying out your research.

    There is a website that is avery useful for County Cork in particular: http://www.failteromhat.com/

    Do you know if you have any family papers, documents, letters, etc. at home. There might be some clues to a more exact place of origin in them. Perhaps you know a bit about her emigration from Ireland? Have you tried checking for more documents there? Generally, more information was given at the port of arrival rather than the port of departure. If you knew which city they arrived at, this could be a good place to find more information, and perhaps even find out an exact place of origin.

    Please make sure you link anyone else in your family who is interested in their Irish heritage to our site - and indeed anyone else you know of Irish heritage.

    Kind regards,

    Sinead Cooney

    Genealogist (Ireland XO)

    Saturday 12th May 2012, 09:41AM

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