Dunnion and Cullen Families from Ballynashannagh & Magherawarden.

Vince:

Welcome to Ireland Reaching Out!

I have the same issue with my Donegal families. The RC parish registers start very late in that county compared to other counties. Have you considered autosomal DNA testing?

Roger McDonnell

Vince:

I forgot that we have a parish liaison in Clondavaddog parish. Let me alert him to your message.

Roger

I have done AncestryDna and FTDNA testing. My mothers parents came to the US in 1928 from Scribly. Her father was Charles Hugh Devine and her mother Maggie McDaid. I still have a lot of cousins in the Letterkenny area but as with most people the records run out in the early 1800's.

                       Vince

Hi Vince,

Thanks for getting in contact and Welcome to Ireland Reaching Out!

I am glad you enjoyed the article, it was well put together by Claire, Laura and the team at Irelandreachingxo and was a great experience for all involved including Deborah Davis who is one of the friendliest and most helpful person anyone would have the pleasure of making acquaintances with.

Deborahs  family came from a small townland called Magherawarden, near Porsalon in Fanad quite close to where I think your Dunnion and Cullen family may possibly have come from also.

We had a lot of correspondence after Deborah's trip to Fanad, and we were successfully made one or two connections with other Dunnion Families in the States that were direct descendants of the Magherawarden family also.

What we did find out also was as far as records for the Dunnion or Durning name in Clondavaddog/Fanad, it would be scares enough on the ground with there only be about seven or eight for Clondavaddog/Fanad itself available to view in RootsIreland..

I have prepared a list of them and all the others family name variations that I have found for surrounding areas such as Rathmullan, Ramelton and Milford I will post up here.

Your G.G Grandmother Mary Dunnion I am afraid was not on the list, as unfortunately she would have been born in 1832 and the first RC Church Records were not recorded in the Parish of  Fanad/Clondavaddog until 1847. 

This would have confirmed for us her date of Birth, Baptism and most importantly her Parents names and from this, we might have working out their location of their homestead back in the 1850’s.

 However I only just lately came across a Registered Death in RootsIreland for a Daniel Dunnion (d.25 Dec 1879)

He came from an incorrect transcribed location of Ballydeskin in Fannett.I am sure the location that it is referring to is Ballynashannagh, a well known crossroads junction near Portsalon, in Fanad.

There would be a Donald Dunnion recorded in that location of Ballynashannagh in the 1858 Griffith Valuation for Clondavaddog and I believe this to be the same person.

I attached both these records below to see what you think. Strangely enough I do not have any children for Donald/Daniel in Ballynashannagh as I did for the family in Magherawarden, yet I would lean towards perhaps placing your GG Grandmother Mary Dunnion as a being a child to Donald quicker than Magherawarden, simply due to names of his nextdoor neighbors that come from that small location of Ballynashannagh and most importantly on the record of his Passing.

I will have to wait and see what you think perhaps Vince.

I hope this is of small help to you on your search..

Regards

Seamus

Ballynashannagh is definitely the place. An elderly cousin of my mother wrote notes back in the 1980's and that was the town but I had never heard of it. Thanks so much. I can't wait to visit and see Donegal as i have heard about it my whole life. My cousins still live there and one owns a farm equipment business ( Eamonn Tinney and Sons) outside of Letterkenny. My fathers family came from Sligo, Tyrone and mostly Mayo.  Vince

The Charles Cullen is most likely the right one since Daniel and Mary named their first son Charles. Vince

That is great to hear that Vince. It seems to me that you and Deborah Davis will have a lot to chat about over the next few months as both Dunnion families in Magherawarden and Ballynashannagh are very closely related.

Whenever Deborah and her husband were travelling to Fanad I would have sent on a short slideshow to aid their journey showing just some of the findings for the Dunnion families in Clondavaddog, and directions to where the Dunnion family homesteads were back in 1858. I don’t think Deborah would mind if I also post it up here, and I have also added a few slides within it showing the location of your Cullen family descendants to aid your travels also.

Who would have thought that a simple note that an elderly cousin of your mother’s wrote down some 40 years ago would have so much bearing today on confirming the origins of your family in Ballynashannagh going back 200 years.

I am glad I was able to help, there no getting away from it, your next trip home you will have to visit Fanad!

Take care

Seamus Callaghan

Hi, Vince. So glad to hear you are also researching the Dunnions from Fanad. Can we figure out how we are related? Do you have a tree posted somewhere, perhaps on Ancestry? I have also done DNA testing on Ancestry and I will go try to find you now. Are you in the States? I am in Colorado. You are so lucky to have made contact with Seamus. He said some very kind words about me, and the same could be said of him. He is a doll! Can't wait to meet him. :) He put so much work into helping me. So if he's on your side, you're in luck!

deborah davis

Hello, my name is Catherine Noble and I think I might be related to Daniel Cullen and Mary Dunnion too. My g grandmother was Isabella (or Bella) Cullen. She had 3 illegitimate children, one of which was my grandmother, and then married a William Mooney. Apart from the facts that 1) she lists her father as 'Dan Cullen', deceased, labourer, on her marriage cert to William Mooney, 2) she had the 3 illegitimate children in Milford Workhouse, which means her parish of settlement must have come under that Poor Law Union and 3) the only Isabella I can find being baptised that corresponds to her given age (born c 1869) has her parents listed as Daniel Cullen and Mary Dunnion, I know nothing about Bella. There is another Isabella, born to Charles Cullen and Mary Ward, but that girl dies, aged 16, so she cannot be my relative, although that couple are from Ballynashannagh, as are other children born to Daniel and Mary Dunnion. There was an Owen Cullen there in Griffiths Valuation...is he a relatve I wonder? Father of Charles and Daniel? As they both named daughters Isabella, was that their mother's name? If anyone knows more about the Cullens, I'd love to know! I curse whoever had the bright idea to deliberately destroy half the census records and whatever idiot decided to blow up the library in Dublin which destroyed the other half...it just makes Irish genealogy so hard! :-)

CULLENS OF BALLYNASHANNAGH.

Hi Catherine, Thanks for getting in contact. I also happen to think you are related to Daniel Cullen and Mary Dunnion.
I have had a good look at different resources and I had found a fair few little bits of info, yet your family tree on ancestry seems to have them attached to it already. Great tree by the way!
Would you leave it with me for a while and I will see what I might be able to find out about the older genereations of Cullens from Ballynashannagh or nearby townlands in Fanad.
If anyone reading this can help, even if this post has been up a long while..please feel free to add it here... It all helps!
Many thanks
Seamus

Daniel Cullion ( Cullen ) was from the beginning & to his death a blacksmith at least two of his sons followed in his footsteps. All his children don't know about Isabella followed the naming for at least two generations & some of those children did the same. I believe Charles Cullen (who married Mary Ward )is Daniels brother as he also followed the naming. This is one reason that I personally don't think Donald Dunion could be the father of Mary ( Daniels wife) as there is no where coming forward that a child has been named Donald either by them or by any of their children. Regards Sue

Catherine,

      Looking back at some of the correspondence I have had with some of my Cullen/Collins cousins I found this from J Harkins a Collins cousin of mine..............Yes, my GGM was Mary (Collins) Griffin. I believe the name Collins was "Americanized" from the Irish "Cullen". Her brother Frank Collins was in your tree. Frank and Mary lived next door to each other in the "Blue Bell Hill" section of Germantown in Philadelphia. Her mother was Mary Dunion and her father was Daniel Cullen. I believe your ancestor "Maggie (Cullen) McDaid and my GGM Mary Collins were sisters. Maggie didn't "americanize" her name because she never left Ireland...only Frank and Mary (myGGM) used the Collins surname. Besides Frank, Mary and Maggie there was two other sisters Isabella "Bella" (Cullen) Mooney and Sarah Cullen. Bella married and never left Ireland and I'm still looking to what happened to Sarah.

                                                                     Vince

I have decided to do what amounts to a one name extraction in the Milford Union for the Cullen surname (which also appears as Cullion) and in doing so, I may have solved the Ballynashannagh/Ballydeskin riddle. On the 'All About Ireland' site you can search Griffiths valuation and overlay an old valuation map with a modern Google map. After having some fun with this, I noticed that the townland north of Ballynashannagh was called Cloghfin, and within it was the name of a farm or house called 'Lough Lane'. I have been searching for that name for over 10 years as it is the place of residence given by my GGrandmother Bella Cullen when she enterd the workhouse. I had another look at the map today and within the townland of Cloughfin is a small hamlet of houses called 'Ballydeesgin'...sounds awfully like 'Ballydeskin', doesn't it?  I also found the birth registration of another son of Daniel Cullen and Mary Dunnion, with Daniel giving his usual occupation of blacksmith but his place of residence as...Cloghfin! In 1881, there is a death registration for a Daniel Cullen aged 50, occupation 'smith', residence Cloghfin again. I think it is a fair assumption to say that sometime in the late 1870's, Daniel and Mary moved to Ballydeskin/Ballydeesgin and Isabella was still there by the late 1880's when she found herself pregnant and had to enter the workhouse.

Has anyone heard any news about the Valuation revision books for the republic of Ireland being digitised? The revision books for Northern Ireland are on the PRONI website and I've been looking into those for another branch of my dads family who were from Tyrone. I'm hoping the books for the Republic will be digitised soon. I'm wondering if I can pick up the Cullens moving to Cloghfin/Ballydeesgin/Lough Lane?

I'll try to attach a small screen cap, if this is not allowed, please just remove it.

Hi Cath, Daniel & family moved sometime between April 1874 after the birth of Sarah & April 1876 the birth of Margaret (our line) Daniel died 

14 SEPTEMBER 1881 • MILFORD LETTERKENNY DONEGAL

DANIEL DIED ON THE 14 SEPTEMBER 1881 IN CLOUGHFIN REGISTERED IN THE DISTRICT OF FANNETT IN THE UNION OF MILFORD DONEGAL. HE DIED OF PHITHUSIS...(TB / CONSUMPTION. FOR 1 YEAR CERTIFIED. ANNA CULLEN HIS DAUGHTER WAS PRESENT AT HIS DEATH.   This is from his death certificate. I think the other son you mention would be Charles who was also born in Ballydeskin. As you say that Isabella was still at home in the late 1880's (B; 15 March 1863) so would have been 18 when her father Daniel died in 1881. Her sister Mary was the 1st to leave for USA with her husband via Scotland.in 1881.  Regards Sue

Sue, Thank you for your prompt reply. I did find the birth of Charles in 1878, but also another son I didn't know of. Anthony Cullen, born 26 Dec 1879 in Ballydeskin (spelt 'Ballyduskin' on baptism record), father Daniel Cullen (no occupation listed as this is a baptism record, rather than a civil registration document) and Mary Dunnion. Sponsors Bernard Friel and Bridget Toy.

I have also found an earlier son getting married. John Cullen married Anna Green on 18 Feb 1881, father of groom Daniel Cullen, occupation smith, residence Ballydeskin. Anna Green, father Daniel Green, cottier, residence Carland. Both bride and groom stated that they were 'of full age' (although I have many instances in my family history where I know this to be a lie!), meaning at least 21. This would put John born at least c1860. As he has a sister Mary born in 1860, i think it's safe to asume that he was earlier. I have found no baptism record for him. I also cannot identify him and his wife Anna in other records i.e census records and I wonder if he too left the country?  If John Cullen was the eldest son of Daniel Cullen, and the eldest son of Charles Cullen (who we are assuming was the brother of Daniel) was also called John (born 1865) and if they were following the traditional Irish naming patterns that first born son is named after the paternal grandfather, then we have to assume that the father of Daniel and Charles was called John Cullen. I can not find any deaths for a John Cullen, or an Owen Cullen for that matter, who would be of the right age to have been the father of Daniel and Charles (and none in Ballinashennah/Ballideskin anyway, see below). The names of John and Owen Cullen appear in the 1834 Tithe Applotment Books for Ballynashannah, and I am assuming at this point that these would have been adult men of at least 21 years. By the time of the Griffith's Valuation for Donegal, completed in 1858, the name Owen still apprears in Ballinashannah, but John does not. A Charles Cullen is shown in Ballynashannah, and I wonder if this is the cooper who then dies in 1868 (see below).   I found the following deaths with a place of residence of Ballinashannah (various spellings)

08 Mar 1865 of a Patrick Cullen, labourer, aged 64,  residence Ballinashenda (sic), informant Charles Cullen, Ballinashenda.

Margaret Cullen on 23 Nov 1868, aged 75, of Ballinashena, a coopers widow, informant Charles Sheerin, Ballinashena.

Charles Cullion (sic), 24 May 1868, aged 70 of Ballinashena, cooper, informant Charles Sheerin, present at the death, Ballinashena

I have obtained all this information from transcriptions on Roots Ireland, and haven't seen the actual death certs which may contain more information.

At the moment, i am working on the assumption that Charles Cullion and Margaret were husband and wife. Patrick Cullen would have been born c1801, making him a contemporary of Charles born c1798. Were they brothers I wonder? Without an age for John, who dissapears between 1834 and 1858, and no death for Owen, we are left guessing!

Semaus  and  Roger are wonderful fellas they helped with my search ofthe Martin records of Fanad. John coyle another researcher is my cousin, he knows Semaus. These people enjoy helping , as I do when I can.

Some of the tons in Northern Ireland have their own geaneology group which is free so anyone searching can just put the townland or section such as Donegal first then look for fanad or whatever area you need.

Roger has also helped my cousin find the Roe family of Abbeyleix, all I knew was my Grandmother's name Teresa Roe married to Jeremiah Ryan. Now I have her who family. I am just in heaven now , Roger.

Mary Martin

Mary:

Very glad that Seamus and I could help you with your families.

Roger

Hello.

My family name is Deeney/Deeny. My Deeny family originates in Magherawarden, Fanad, Donegal. Their are descendants of the Deeny family still on the land there. The earliest record of our presence in Magherawarden is from an 1820 document given by Catherine Babington, the wife of Baptist Barton, the landowner.

There is one baptism in the Massmount register for a Dunion who was born in 1846. It is a Richard Dunnion, born to a Peter Dunnion and a Sarah Deeny. Even though the baptism register does not begin until February of 1847, there is an insertion in the the mother of June that gives the baptisms that "belong to the previous year". Anyway, I strongly believe that it is possble that this is a marriage involving my Deeny family and that Sarah is a sister of my 2nd great-grandfather whose name was Edward Deeny. That is the only registration in Clondavaddog of a Dunion baptism. So, either the Richard was the last child or the Dunnion/Deeny family moved. There is another Dunnion named John born to a Peter and Sarah later in another parish. The transcriber misread Deeny as Deveny.o

I have also noted a Dunnion family in Newark area of New Jersey that is there in the middle to the end of the 19th century. One was an Anthony Dunnion married to a Mary Deeny. They would also fit the time frame of emigrants from the famine years to the States. Also in Newark is another Deeny named Hugh who would have been born in 1813/1818 and emigrated in the 1840's. I suspect that this Hugh may also be a sibling to my 2nd great-grandfather, as well as to Sarah Deeny Dunnion and Mary Deeny Dunnion.

All of this is suspicion at this point. I have tested my DNA with Ancestry and FTDNA and loaded my results to GEDmatch. My kit numbers are A857326 and T714543.

Thank you for reading this.

George Deeney

Hi, George.

My 2xGreat Grandfather was Anthony Dunnion (b.1838) from Magherawarden. He had two brothers, John Dunnion and Hugh Dunnion. Their parents were Francis and Bridget Dunnion. Anthony Dunnion married Mary Duffy (b.1842) in 1859 in Donegal. They left for America shortly thereafter and settled in Newark and Irvington, NJ. I don't have any records that say Mary Deeny. Could they be the same person?

Your name doesn't come up in Ancestry DNA as a match for me. Are you under a different name? Also, do you have any suggestions regarding loading my Ancestry.com DNA results to GEDmatch?

Let me know what you think!

Thanks,

deborah

Hello,

Deborah and George,

I have Dunnion Ancestors from Donegal. My mother's mother was Letitia Dunnion, her mother was Margaret Dunnion who married Daniel Dunnion.

On Ancestry Margaret is often described as Margaret Dunnion Dunnion as her maiden name was Dunnion and she married a Dunnion. On my father's side I also have Dunnions and my parents are related at Grandparents level. My Susan Dunnion married Edward Slevin and theses are my father's Grandparents. Susan's parents were Peter Dunnion and Anne Tinney, Susan brother was Daniel who married Margaret and are my mother's Grandparents Daniel b 1835-1892 lived in Townalaghan in the Townawilly Mountains.

I have had my DNA tested through Ancestry and my Gedmatch number is A418536. I compared my to George Deeney and there is a small match on Chromosome 19 at 6.0 on both numbers.

Two of my grandmother's sisters went to New York along with some Dunnion cousins, one of them married a Joseph Shearon and that's all I know. The other cousin Agatha Dunnion married a McAuley.

It would be interesting to see if there are any other DNA matches.

Margaret Green nee Stewart.

Hello Deborah and hello Margaret,

Thank you, the both of you for taking the time to respond.

Deborah, I got the name Mary Deeny from a family tree on Ancestry, but, of course, you are right that it was Mary Duffy which is what the parish register of Massmount records. There were also Duffys in Magherawarden until most recently. One of my great-grandfather's uncles was married to a Duffy from Magherawarden.

About Ancestry's lists of matches, there are some defects in what is reported. I put my family name in the search form and get back two results. But when I scroll through to say page 150, I find a man with my same family name who is from the same place that I am from, Philadelphia and he is looking for the same names that I am. It is just that he is possibly has a very small cM share. Ancestry only reports the closest mathes I think.

If you join www.GEDmatch.com, they will give you instructions on how to download your Raw DNA Data from Ancestry and how to upload to GEDmatch.

Margaret, it is not surprising that we have a small cM match. If Sarah Deeny, who was married to Peter Dunnion, was indeed my second great-grandfather's sister, as i suspect, it would mean that a common relative would have to be 5 generations back at least. I notice that we have two small matches, 6 cMs on the 19th and 4.6 on the 2nd. I did a comparison to see how many kits we share in common and there are more than 30, all of them Donegal people. 

The last Dunnion baptised in Clondavaddog was this Richard, born to a Peter and Sarah Deeny Dunnion. They obviously left Fanad during the famine years. As I said before, my family is still there. I am going to Fanad in July and bringing some extra DNA kits to try to get more Deeney/Deeny DNA into the mix!

George

Thanks George, incidentally George Dunnion is a family name. My G/M Letitia Boyle nee Dunnion had a brother George, he was a Clerk of the Donegal Union and a Superintendent Registrar, so if you look closely on some of the birth/marriage/death certs you will see his signature. If you are on the I'm Donegal town Facebook page there is a photo on there with lots of Dunnion's and local Townawilly and Ardnawark folk in it. It was taken outside the old cinema in the Town opposite the church of the Four Masters, it was an A.O.H outing. There are census entries for my Dunnion's in the  Cullionboy and Townaghorm areas of Donegal. Agatha Dunnion later McCauley son was an eminent mathematician and  his obituary was very interesting. If you follow the Irish GAA football the Sean Dunnion who is the figurehead for that is a 2nd cousin of mine, he has the Dunnion look. I am forever on the hunt for my Ancestors.

Deborah and Margaret,

Greetings from Indonesia!

Having nothing better to do (meaning: Doing genealogy when I should be doing nothing else) I decided to read through the baptismal register from Clondavaddog Parish from the beginning. I noticed something I had not seen before.

On 17 October 1847, James, the son of John Beatty and Cecilia Dunnion was baptised. The sponsors were Anthony Dunnion and Mary McFadden.

On 30 June 1850, Anne, the daughter of John Beattie and MARY SWEENEY was baptised. The sponsors were Patrick Sweeney and Mary Sweeney.

On 8 February 1853, Margery, the daughter of John Beattie and Cecilia Dunning was baptised. The sponsors were Anthony Dunning and Mary Sweeney

On 8 March 1855, Cecilia, the daughter of John Beattie and Cecilia Dunning was baptised. The sponsors were Edward Deeny and Catherine Doherty

Obviously, the priest made a mistake with the mother's name at the registration of Anne in 1850. There was only on John Beattie in Clondavaddog at the time of these baptisms. In Griffiths Valuation, John Beattie is living in Magherawarden. Edward Deeny and Catherine Doherty are my second great-grandparents.

Also, I found that in 1864, on 9 February, a Hugh Dunnion, resident of Magherawarden married a Mary Deeny (daughter of John Deeny) from Bunninton, south of Knockalla Mountain

And on 28 January in 1869 a John Dunnion of Magherawarden married a Mary McAteer (daughter of Thomas McAteer) from Drumfad

The father of both these Dunnions from Magherawarden was named Francis. In Griffiths in Magherawarden there is a Bridget Dunnion in the first house.

There s a Madge Dunnion who married a man named John Caufield in 1848. Caufield is not a Fanad name. And she might be from the generation of Francis and Bridget.

Also, the house where Bridget Dunnion was eventually passed to another brother of my second great-grandfather.

I really should do something else now, I just wanted to pass of these bits of info.

George

PS. Ancestry search function is terrible!

So, in addition to the three brothers, Anthony, Hugh and John, there is a sister named Cecilia.

Hi, George and Margaret. Thanks for the clarification and the information on Dunnion, Deeny and McAteer. I'm going to widen my tree regarding these families and see if I can get a bit further in understanding the breadth of the relationships. It's wonderful to be able to have some others insight and research available. I'm deeply grateful. My goal is to find a relative in Ireland someday. Thanks for all your help. I'll let you know if I can add something to your fabulous discoveries! And, George, sure why not reseach in Indonesia! Have a great time!

Sincerely,

deborah

Hello cousins! My great-great grandmother was Annie Collins, her name at birth was Anna Cullen. Her parents were Daniel Cullen and Mary Dunnion, from Clondavaddog Parish.

I have not read all of the posts here but I'll just write down what I know and what I've been told. For reference, my GEDMatch kit number is A683539, and the Cullen/Dunnion DNA is on the 4th and 7th chromosomes for me.

Anna Cullen was born May 1868 in Fanad, Donegal, Ireland (baptized February 1869 in Clondavaddog) and died in 1912 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA. She had married James McGourn and had 14 children. Her parents, Daniel Cullen and Mary Dunnion, had at least ten other children. They are listed:

John Cullen, born 1860.

Mary Cullen, born 1861, married George Griffin, moved to Scotland then Pennsylvania.

Bella Cullen, born 1863. She had at least one child, whose father is unknown.

Daniel Cullen Jr., born 1864.

Patrick Cullen, born 1870.

Francis Cullen, born 1873, married Margaret Doherty of Fanad, moved to Pennsylvania.

Sarah Cullen, born 1874.

Margaret Cullen, born 1876, married James McDaid, and her daughter married Charles Devine in Kildare and moved to Pennsylvania in the 1920s.

Anthony Cullen, born 1879, died in 1954 in Ireland.

Charles Cullen, born 1880.

Parents Daniel and Mary married in 1854, and so it is possible that they had another (unknown) child before John was born in 1860. Daniel was born 1830 or 1831 and died in 1881 at Cloughfin; he was a blacksmith.

Something interesting for the Americans here: the father of the 15th US President James Buchanan was born in Milford!

I have spoken previously to descendants of Mary Cullen Griffin and Bella Cullen, who have matching DNA to me.

I'm astounded by the amount of research that everyone has done on here!

Josh Coneby

Some additional information that I've found - Mary Dunnion had a sister Rose Ann Dunnion, who was born about 1834 and arrived in the United States around 1847. I'm not sure where she lived at that time, but by 1860 she was married to Patrick McGowan and living in Philadelphia.

My ancestor Anna Cullen arrived in Philadelphia about 1886 and lived with the McGowans until she got married in 1889.

Patrick and Rose had 5 children (or more): Edward (1860-1952), Mary (1862-1864), James Joseph (1865-1942), Daniel (1867-????), and Francis/Frank (1870-1888).

- Josh

I, too, am trying to understand the Clondavaddog registries.  From DNA evidence, it is clear that my ancestors originated from the parish village of Arraheernabin.  My earliest known confirmed ancestor, Edward (born circa 1795), emigrated to the United States around 1815 to work on the building of the Union and Main Line Canals.  DNA has allowed me to determine who his likely relations were, but I would like to back this up with documentatry evidence.  Does anyone have a map of the Friel families living in the area in that time period or could anyone suggest any additional sources of information?  With deep apprecation, Paul O'Friel

Paul:

Welcome to Ireland Reaching Out!

If Seamus Callaghan has not commented to your message in two weeks, post a comment here and I will try to get in touch with him.

Roger McDonnell

Welcome Paul and thank you Roger for offering to help, very much appreciated. I am sorry, I have college assignments due and it has delayed my reply here.

That is a fascinating story Paul O'Friel, Edward Friel was no doubt a trail blazer for many other fine Fanad people that emigrated to America back in early 1800's. I am in contact with a friend that has a lot of research done on Friel families from down in Arraheera, near Fanad Head Lighthouse and I can try and put you both in contact and add what information I can.

This comment thread happens to be family research for Dunnions and Cullen's families from near Ballinashannagh and out of respect  for their families, can I ask you start your own separate Edward Friel Family comment on the Clondavaddog message board and I will reply and add whatever help I can, fairly soon after. 

Seamus Callaghan

Reaching out to all the Dunnion, Cullen and other families that have replied to the message board here. Thank you for posting up all the interesting information regarding your families. I am sure there are families back home here in Fanad that would love to read about these emigration stories on the Clondavaddog Ancestors Page  CLICK HERE

Would you please consider writing a short piece to the page, telling of your ancestor’s story, where they came from, how they emigrated, who they married and family stories thereafter. Please give it a go, it is simple to create, you can add any family photo you like and re-edit as many times as you are comfortable. Thank you.

Seamus

Thanks, Seamus, for the reminder. I've been meaning to do this about the Dunnions of Fanad. Hope you and yours are well!

Sincerely,

deborah davis

Hello again Cullen and Dunnion cousins!

I have recently done an Ancestry DNA test and uploaded my results to ftDNA and My Heritage. This is a long shot, but has anyone else who has done a DNA test getting any hits to a family in Donegal with the surname Price?

One of my DNA matches with Pennsylvania ancestry links back to a marriage of a Gabriel Smallberger born Germany c 1851 (his original name was Schmalenberger) and a Margaret COLLINS born Ireland c1854. I have traced Margaret and Gabriel through all the US censuses and found the death of Margaret in 1909. On the death certificate it gives her parents’ names as John (Jno on the cert) Collins and Isabell Price.

I wondered if, given that my earlier hypothesis that the father of Daniel and Charles Cullen might have been John, due to Irish naming patterns, and that both men had daughters named Isabella, if their mother might have been Isabella, if this John ‘Collins’ and Isabell Price might be the couple we are looking for?

There is a death for an Isabella Cullen in the Clondavaddog Catholic registers in 1859, no age given, but this could still be the mother of Margaret ‘Collins’? There is a big age gap between the births of Daniel and Charles Cullen in the 1830’s and Margaret in c1854 so if she is a sibling I wonder if she might be a half sibling? Of course, I know nothing about any other siblings there might have been that scattered to the four winds during and after the famine. Margaret might just have been the youngest child and we don’t know the ‘middle’ siblings?

Any thoughts or information on this gratefully received!

Best Wishes!

I was struck by the name Isabel Price. My Deeney family was from Magherawarden. Edward Deeney married a woman named Catherine Doherty who was from Ballycallon, next to Magherawarden. They had their children in the 1840-1855. Catherine Doherty had a sister named Una Doherty who married a man named Edward Dunleavy from Claggan. Thier oldest daughter was named Anna Dunleavy who married a man named Thomas Price. Thier oldest daughter was named Isabel Price and born on 30 June 1867. Isabel was the second daughter. The first daughter was named Una after the mother's mother. And Isabel must have been named after the father's mother. Possibly this Thomas Price is the same family of tthe Isabel Price married to John Collins.

George Deeney