Doyle in Mullaghboy

Ann:

Welcome to Ireland Reaching Out!

Great story about Andrew and if we can determine the parish maybe you can add an Ireland XO Chronicle about him.

I'm not convinced that Mullagh is the correct parish. The Andrew Doyle in the 1821 census in Mullagh parish was 30 years old meaning he was born in 1791 and would not have fought in the Civil War.

There are actually six Mullaghboy townlands in Co. Cavan and none are in Mullagh civil parish.

I just checked Roots Ireland and there were no Andrew Doyle baptismal records back in the 1820s in Co. Cavan. There are a number of parishes which do not have records back to that period.

Where do we go from here? Have you considered autosomal DNA testing? Any other family info? 

Roger McDonnell

Hi Roger,

Thanks for such a quick reply!  Yes, I have had autosomal DNA testing done, but I have not had any Doyle matches.  But now that I have a county, I'm hoping to maybe have more luck.

I have a tree on Ancestry and that is where I connected with a woman from California.  We share  Andrew H. Doyle as our gg grandfather.  She is through his eldest son's line and I'm through his youngest son's line.  We've shared information, but as far as Ireland - couldn't even figure out what county he was from.

On his marriage record, he and wife Jane Doherty didn't even list their parent names.  On his death record it says 'John and Mary' for parents, but I'm finding that those records here in America aren't always that reliable, being filled out by children who never met their grandparents.  His burial record at the cemetery lists his father's name as Patrick.  (Andrew has not made this easy on me.)

I sent for his pension file and have documentation of his being wounded at Battle of James Island, SC, taken prisoner, treated in a Confederate hospital, paroled back to Lincoln government, wounded again at Battle of Fredericksburg, put in reserve corps, back to his unit for the Battle of Gettysburg where he was wounded again.  He was mentioned in a book written by the wife of his commanding officer, "Irish Green and Union Blue" and in a medical journal for his shoulder wound.  But no mention of where in Ireland he was from.

I found court documents that show that the town of Southborough, Massachusetts tried to have him deemed a "Spendthrift" and appoint a guardian for him (at a time when Irish Catholics were not allowed to be buried in that town).  Andrew prevailed.

I have the log from the Togus Soldiers' Home in Chelsea, Maine where he went for treatment twice before committing himself there unconditionally and being found dead on the "Hallowell Road alongside the property."  But again - no mention of where he came from in Ireland.

It wasn't until Ancestry released Naturalization documents that I found his, with "Mullaghboy, County Cavan" on it.  My 85 year old uncle, the last of that generation, had never heard mention of the town or county.  Unfortunately, whenever he asked older relatives about Ireland, the answer was along the lines of, "and why do you want to know that?"

Sorry I'm so wordy.  But I'm willing to check out any ideas at all to further my search and figured I should let you know what I have done.  Andrew H. Doyle was born around 1826 (in his late 30s when he was in the war).  I was hoping 1821 Andrew might have been a father or uncle.

His sons were named (in order):  John Henry, Andrew, Patrick if that helps at all with naming traditions.

I've checked out rootsireland for baptism, but no luck.  He is one of the very few I have to list a middle initial (and he always included it).  Since his oldest son's name was John Henry, I'm guessing that his middle name was Henry as well, and I tried rootsireland searches for that names as well as John and Patrick as other family possibilities.  Nothing I can be sure of.

I was hoping that maybe not all six Mullaghboys existed in 1845.  

If you have any ideas at all, I will follow through and greatly appreciate your help.  I would love to add a story about him!

Thanks again!

Ann

Ann,

Many thanks for your query. I'm from the neighbouring parish to Mullagh Co Cavan. There is no Mullaghboy townland in Mullagh parish. A townland is the smallest postal area in the Republic of Ireland. We do not have zip codes.

From a quick look, 3 Doyles appear in the Tithe Applotments reports with Mullaghboy addresses, Co Cavan. http://titheapplotmentbooks.nationalarchives.ie/search/tab/results.jsp?… . Tithe applotments date from 1820s and 1830s. Only head of households owning/leasing great than 3 acres appear on this report. See if these links help you place these townlands geographically :

1. https://www.johngrenham.com/places/  my thinking behind this link is identify the tithe applotment parish in civil parish, then find its matching RC (Roman Catholic) parish. Then find out what church records survive. Church record sources and indexes are on a number of websites
   1. source list : https://www.johngrenham.com/browse/counties/rcmaps/cavanrc.php#maps/ and click on the parish or
   2. source list and index: http://ifhf.rootsireland.ie/generic.php?filename=centres/ifhf/sources.t… and select Cavan. You can see the source list free on Roots Ireland but you will need a subscription to see their records.
   3. index: alternatively for the era you are searching, www.findmypast.ie and www.ancestry.com (irish records) have indexed roman catholic church records to early 1880s for Co Cavan parishes. I found Roots Ireland indexing was better as it was done locally by Cavan Genealogy.
2. http://www.swilson.info/db/townlanddbs.php - key in Mullagh, select "starts with" , select "Co Cavan" and sort by "Civil Parish". Keep an open mind for other Mullagh*** options. I had a cousin who died in the States who came from Newcastle. His death cert said Oldcastle and the mothers name was totally incorrect.
3. google maps
4. Doyle is not a common name in Co Cavan. This link give you where they lived on Griffith valuations, a survey carried out between 1847-1864. https://www.johngrenham.com/surnames/
5. For a greater details to to the free website http://www.askaboutireland.ie/griffith-valuation/ . Select either "Griffiths Name" if you want to search by Doyle or "Griffiths Place" if you want to search by Mullaghboy. Fill in Co Cavan and leave all the other options blank for now. Drill down further into each individual result for more information. The actual report by parish by townland can be printed out.

16 Co Cavan parishes survive from the 1821 census http://www.census.nationalarchives.ie/pages/1821/Cavan/ or for the full menu go to the home page at http://www.census.nationalarchives.ie/ . This website does not do name variant.  I'm not sure, but try ancestry, findmypast or familysearch for census info also.

The Anglo Celt newspaper is the regional newspaper for Co Cavan. Its archives from 1845 to date are on a subscription website https://www.irishnewsarchive.com/ .

Graveyards headstones are another source, if your family were able to afford one. I'll have to come back to you with website suggestions.  https://www.johngrenham.com/records/county_graveyards.php?search_type=f…; does not look promising for Co Cavan online sources. I normally use a detailed ordnance survey map to locate old graveyards and visit them.

Did you see the digital copies of his naturalization papers or just relying on ancestry transcripts? Can you e-mail me the original page with Mullaghboy details, till I have a look. I only have a findmypast subscription.

DNA testing was only introduced to Ireland about 2014 and is not widespread like the USA. The database of Irish based people on any of the major US companies is still low. Upload your DNA results to www.gedmatch.com to see if you have any other Doyle matches with FTDNA or 23andme customers.

There is a genealogical research office in Cavan town, if you wish to commission research. Their contact details are:

Cavan Genealogy
1st Floor, Johnston Central Library, Farnham St., Cavan
Tel: +353 (0) 49 4361094
Email: cavangenealogy@eircom.net

I will do more research online and get back to you in a few days.

Regards

Catherine McCormack

e-mail Moynalty@irelandxo.com