Searching for info regarding Daniel Donovan of Ballymartin, c 1828

Hi Elizabeth,

Even though the headstone says "parish," I believe Ballymartin was a townland, not a parish.

I'd also recommend that you not consider 1828 the exact year of birth. Old records often give the wrong date. People weren't constantly being asked to show ID in those days, and date of birth was not necessarily the first thing on a person's radar.

I hope this helps.

Hi Elizabeth,

Even though the headstone says "parish," I believe Ballymartin was a townland, not a parish.

I'd also recommend that you not consider 1828 the exact year of birth. Old records often give the wrong date. People weren't constantly being asked to show ID in those days, and date of birth was not necessarily the first thing on a person's radar.

I hope this helps.

Elizabeth:

Following Patricia's suggestion that Ballymartin was a townland, there are two Ballymartin townlands in Co. Cork. The first is in Dungourney civil parish and the second is in Grenagh civil parish. In both situations the records for the corresponding RC parish start later than 1828 so likely no baptismal record would be available for Daniel.

For the Dungourney Ballymartin, the RC parish is Imogeela   https://registers.nli.ie/parishes/0059  and for Grenagh Ballymartin the RC parish is Grenagh  https://registers.nli.ie/parishes/0058

I looked at the 1852 Griffiths Valuation head of household listing for both civil parishes and no surprise there are a number of Donovan records in both parishes. Two of the records in Dungourney are in Ballymartin-- Michael and Ellen while in Grenagh there are no Donovans in Ballymartin townland. Consequently, I believe your Daniel Donovan came from Ballymartin Dungourney civil parish and likely he was related to Michael and Ellen.

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

https://www.failteromhat.com/griffiths/cork/grenagh.php

Let me know if you have questions.

Roger McDonnell

Thank you so much.  I had figured out that Daniel was from Dungourney Parish, but that parish seems to border both Middleton and Cloyne, so I was just reaching out to those parishes in addition to Dungourney.  I appreciate your help.  

Elizabeth 

Elizabeth, I dont want to get your hopes up but I have some Donovans from Ballymartin, Dungourney Parish in my tree - they are ancestors of the husband of a cousin of my fathers but I know some of the living relations..

1. The good news may be that

there is a Timothy Donovan born in or around 1832 - date based on estimated age at death in the tree and your list has a Timothy of similar vintage - he may be related to your Daniel.

there were two Donovans listed in Dungourney in the Tithe Applotment Surveys taken around the 1820s/30s here in Ireland - John and Timothy Donovan farming 179 Irish acres (286 statute acres)  but in an adjacent townland to Ballymartin - might be the father and uncle of your family 

2. Some of the 'not-so-good' news -

naming patterns were strong in Ireland at that time especially for male children - first son named for his paternal grand-father, second son named for this mothers father ....etc.  There is no Daniel in my version of the tree, neither is there a Cornelius - the first born in your list and by extension likely to be the name of their Donovan grand-father. The fact that neither Cornelius nor Daniel appears in my later generations is not a good sign but not fatal

the names of the Donovans recorded farming in Ballymartin in Griffiths Valuation surveys of the 1850s dont include any Daniel or Cornelius

3. How to progress this and possibly establish a link or demonstrate a missing link - 

Have you done a DNA test and if yes have you or can you submit the file to gedmatch and we can see what turns up. If your test was in 23andme then that might also be helpful. 

The fit is not perfect but there is enough there that it seems likely that they families maye be closely related. Let me know the story on the DNA test etc.

Liam