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Elusive Irish Ancestors

9/23/2014

24 Comments

 
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You have looked everywhere...you know what your ancestor's name was...you even know roughly where they came from but you cannot find them! We have all been there.

So what can you do next?

Let's go back to the drawing board and remember that spellings of Irish family names were not standardised until the 1920's. This can cause huge problems for the person who is just beginning to search for their Irish ancestor. I am going to give you a few examples which may help you in your search.

Let's take the surname Mc Gillicuddy.
There are 3,454 returns for this name in Kerry Roman Catholic Church Records on www.irishgenealogy.ie
When I enter Daniel, the man I am looking for I am given 9 returns but my Daniel is not there. A brick wall.... or maybe not. 
Daniel is there but his name is recorded as Daniel Mack.
Bullseye!

How about Edward Sheehan? Recorded as Sheekan in the 1911 Census. I initially thought that Edward had left Fenit before 1911 until a search of the placename Fenit instead of his family name revealed him still living there with his wife Catherine and 6 children.

Christina Gowan is variously recorded as McAuvern, Mc Gowan and Mc Gowran. The spelling of her name is different on her marriage record and on the baptism records of each of her children. And she moved from Dublin to Killarney and then to Tralee apparently following the expansion of the railroad. But that's another story!

Then there is the Lane family whose name in the 1800's was spelled Leyne.

Sometimes the Prendergast family name was recorded as Pendy.

A branch of my family tree bears the name Counihan, by simply entering O'Counihan into the www.irishgenealogy.ie website, I gained another generation. This one is well worth a try no matter what your family name is! 

Then there was Catherine Wyles of Derrymore. I could not find her... but she was hidden in plain sight, recorded as Catherine Wylde and married to Matthew O'Shea in 1839.

I could go on but I hope this is enough to whet your appetite and point you in the direction of trying spelling variations in your search

photo credit: cdsessums via photopin cc
24 Comments
Séamus Ó Línecháin
9/23/2014 01:22:12 pm

Martine, while recording the Dingle RC Parish Baptismal records (1826 - 1836) not only were Surnames spelled differently but so were TOWNLANDS. Some of the townland names I have found don't seem to matchup with current townlands. Something else to consider!

Reply
Martine Brennan link
9/24/2014 02:45:42 am

Thanks a million for your comment Seamus. A long time ago I came up against this 'invisible' townland problem and I found that the place name was the one that local people used in the 1800's. 'Every field has a name!' Looking forward to that cup of coffee. Martine

Reply
Laurie
9/23/2014 04:22:51 pm

I figured this out a while back now, my family thinks it is wrong but I assure them that I am sure Thady Coggans is our Timothy James Coggins from Co Sligo...

Reply
Martine Brennan link
9/24/2014 02:49:51 am

Hi Laurie, I have a grandfather and 2 gr grandfathers Timothy. Their names were usually recorded as Thady or Thadeus and there is only the letter 'a' different in the surname. So chances are that unless there was another Thady Coggans living in the area you have found your man! Congrats! Martine

Reply
Dawn Keough Norton
9/23/2014 04:59:16 pm

My family name is Keough, changed from Keogh, which was changed from Kehoe. Also another spelling is Queogh which is on my great grandfather's marriage certificate. I thought it was perhaps a spelling error made by a french priest. Not so, it is another way to spell Keough. I found only one Queogh in Ireland but unfortunately not mine.

Reply
Martine Brennan link
9/24/2014 02:52:55 am

Congrats Dawn on figuring it out. But what a shame your whole family didn't hold onto the 'Q' spelling as that would have made them so much easier to find! Martine

Reply
Lisa Dougherty link
9/23/2014 06:27:53 pm

This is a fantastic post! I volunteer helping people with their Irish family history, and so many people who are just starting out have a hard time accepting that their surname could have ever been spelled any other way! People of other ethnicities are often used to recognizing variant spellings of their names, but many of the Irish surnames are so common and recognizable it can be a tough sell. Recommending this article as a "must read" for any of the patrons I encounter in the coming weeks at my volunteer gigs. Thanks so much for writing it!

Reply
Martine Brennan link
9/24/2014 02:57:02 am

Hi Lisa, you just made my day! I am delighted that you will share this article with others, knowing this can save a lot of heartache and wasted time. You can also invite people to sign up for the E-Book if you like... though I haven't put it all together yet. I teach genealogy classes here in Ireland and understand the challenge you face. What part of the world are you in?

Reply
Sdubblestein
9/23/2014 07:50:28 pm

Still looking for my Hogans, the only hint I've found is my g-grandmother's headstone says 'hoggan'...I know the one parent was from Dublin, but he went to India, married had the children at various army posts...hence my g-grandmother Maggie Hogan was born in Mhow in 1860, parent John and Ellen (or helen), dont' know what happened they were supposed to go to Thomas street in Dublin after his service, but my g-grandmother married my g-grandfather in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, can't find these folks in canadian census', but I did find a family in England that indicates the children were born in India...I'm stumped...the only other thing I have is photos of her sister Kate Hogan

Reply
Martine Brennan link
9/24/2014 03:00:12 am

Have you seen all your ancestors military records? It is not my area of expertise but I have been told that those records are substantial. I think they are held in Kew in London.

Reply
Janice Nelson Cole
2/23/2017 04:28:52 pm

Findmypast have an extensive A-Z record set that is seacrhable online, It includes military records too. Let me know if I can help in any way.

Lea M. Mitchell
9/23/2014 08:01:16 pm

My family were JENKINS from the northern part of Bray in Wicklow. John (b) between 1797 to 1817 (He is different ages in every record) (m) Mary/Maria SALMON DWYER and had John 1833, (He may actually be a DWYER) , Ralph, and Charles Henry and daughter Eliza Alice (b) 1843. To US by 1850. Maybe to Canada first.

Reply
Martine Brennan link
9/24/2014 03:06:02 am

I did research on a family where the whole family for unknown reasons adopted the use of the mother's family name, Lea. We were lucky in that case because the priest of the time recorded one child at baptism with both names.. but it was only one and without the paper records we would never have found them. Martine

Reply
Catherine Hale
9/23/2014 09:49:03 pm

My brick wall is Samuel Topping and his parents William Topping and Theodocia - Topping has been spelled with every vowel Tipping, Tapping etc - even found one under Popping but I cannot find a birth for Samuel - - -and only have death info on his parents.

Reply
Martine Brennan link
9/24/2014 03:10:14 am

Hi Catherine, it's a longshot but could Samuel have been recorded as William known as Samuel or some other family first name. When we have this problem in Ireland we find that sometimes women went home to their mother's to give birth, particularly with a first child. Failing that you may simply be up against our dreaded bugbear, missing records. Martine

Reply
Catherine
9/24/2014 08:18:31 am

no - he has a brother William born in 1849 - - -and I have searched the date only with the last name and variants. Theodocia's death in 1879 is not even registered at groni (though they are doing a manual search but its been 2 weeks and they can't find it)

Ellen
9/24/2014 07:22:46 am

I have Irish ancestors on both paternal and maternal expanding Counties Down, Antrim Sligo, Tipperary, Clare and Limerick and there are altered spellings on everyone of them at some point in my research. It is frustrating but keeping an open mind and following your advise about varied spellings is a great advise. Ellen

Reply
Karen
9/24/2014 08:11:55 am

Don't get me started on my Irish 'Tennysons'.......Tennison, Tennisson, Tenyson, Tinnason......I've sen it all.....I hope!

Reply
Andi
9/25/2014 11:36:34 am

I have been trying to find out the exact location from where my great grandfather had come from. He was born in the 1860s to 1870s in Co. Limerick, with the surname Sheehan. His parents were listed as Cornelius and Mary Sheehan. However, I think that I may have found a match for my great grandfather born in Lim. City, but I don''t know how to try to find out any further?
Also, my great grandmother with the surname, Barry, was said to have been from Co. Cork, and I can't find anything for her either.
I heard that my great grandparents were possibly related to each other.

Reply
Martine Brennan link
2/27/2017 11:02:27 am

I hope the Civil Registration records available on irishgenealogy.ie FREE OF CHARGE now may be of assistance to you Andi. Good luck, Martine

Reply
Janice Nelson Cole
2/23/2017 04:36:33 pm

Thanks for your useful comments Martine regarding variant spellings of surnames and Christian name use in Ireland. I also was interested to read about the alternate name of Timothy as 'Thady' as I have a Timothy amongst my Irish ancestors.

Reply
Martine Brennan link
2/27/2017 10:59:28 am

Hi Janice, glad you found something useful here. You will find Timothy in Latin as Timotheus but sometimes Thadeus this may help you with the older records. If you have a townland name or spouse/parent name this may help to weed out one Timothy/Thady from another.

Reply
Karen Wells
6/24/2017 05:14:29 pm

Strangely I'm looking for Daniel Mack! However it could be an abbreviation so really wouldn't know where to start. All I have is a photo so can only guess Year of birth approx

Reply
Martine Brennan link
7/17/2017 08:29:19 pm

That's a tough one Karen. Have you managed to find a death cert for Daniel as sometimes they list parents? Or maybe an obit?

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    Martine Brennan 
    Public historian
    Family names: Sheehan Fenit
    Hurley Tonevane
     
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