Searching for my roots

Dear Kathy, Bessie was usually the pet name for women called Elizabeth.

To give you an idea of the extent of the search here is a link to all the Elizabeth's of that name 375 of them!

http://churchrecords.irishgenealogy.ie/churchrecords/search.jsp?namefm=Elizabeth&namel=Donaghue&exact=&name2fm=&name2l=&location=&dd=&mm=&yy=&diocese=KERRY+(RC)&parish=&century=1800&decade=&sort=&pageSize=100&ddB=&mmB=&yyB=&ddM=&mmM=&yyM=&ddD=&mmD=&yyD=&locationB=&locationM=&locationD=&member0=&member1=&member2=&member3=&member4=&member5=&member6=&member7=&member8=&member9=&namef0=&namef1=&namef2=&namef3=&namef4=&namef5=&namef6=&namef7=&namef8=&namef9=&namel0=&namel1=&namel2=&namel3=&namel4=&namel5=&namel6=&namel7=&namel8=&namel9=&keyword=&submit=Search

But don't be disheartened, my best suggestion is that you check any and all records you can find of Bessie,

marriage certs

other siblings

census records

naturalization papers

passenger lists

gravestones

At age 7 it is unlikely that she travelled unaccompanied. The people she travelled with would usually have been family or  neighbours. Knowing their names would help us narrow down the search.

I look forward to hearing from you again and will gladly do some more when we have more information.

Martine

Hello Martine,

Thank you for replying. My sister traveled to Ireland a few years ago and did find more information on our great grandmother. She gave me this birth record that she got in Dublin when she visited. It lists Bessie's birth as Jan. 19, 1973. Her father was Cornelius Donoghue and her mother was Elizabeth Donoghue (Brennan).  It says they were from Killarney parish but someone told her they were from Glen Flesk although I can not find anything on Glen Flesk. There is also something written on this birth record attachment - I think it is barriglencullia or Carriglencullia... do you know what that might be?

The location name looks like Carrigeenaculla to me.  Found O'Donohue familes in that townland in 1901/1911,

http://www.census.nationalarchives.ie/pages/1901/Kerry/Knocknahoe/Carri…

http://www.census.nationalarchives.ie/pages/1911/Kerry/Knocknahoe/Carri…

The locations can get really confusing.  Here is a reference on the civil parishes, baronies etc. Killarney is the civil parish for Carrigeenacullia.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_townlands_of_County_Kerry

Not on this list is Glenflesk which is a Catholic parish. If you go to the Church Records site and look for the family, you'll find them in Glenflesk parish, There are families from two locations with Cornelius Donohue and Elizabeth Brennan as parents.  You'll have to determine whether they are one or two families. Maybe someone local could tell you about all these locations. 

http://churchrecords.irishgenealogy.ie/churchrecords/search.jsp?name2fm…

Also on the familysearch website if you put in the parent names, you can find similar birth info referenced. In addition, you'll see possible siblings in the US via marriage, death record references to the parents. 

https://familysearch.org/search/records/results#count=20&query=%2Bfathe… %2Bfather_surname%3Adonahue~ %2Bmother_givenname%3Aelizabeth~ %2Bmother_surname%3Abrennan~

Cathy

Hi Cathy, are you living in Kerry? Maybe we could meet up?

Martine