Brannigan in Killybegs Upper, Donegal c1860s

Dear WGNemmer:

Thank you for your post to the Ireland Reaching Out message board and welcome to the site!

We have several volunteers with good knowledge of County Donegal.  I'm going to copy this post to them and they will reply to you.  Please give them up to 2 weeks to do so.

In the meantime, if you would like to create an ancestor profile, please do so at the link below:
 

https://www.irelandxo.com/ireland-xo/history-and-genealogy

Kind regards,

Jane.

Hi Jane, and welcome WGnemmer,

I am afraid I was unable to much more about the Branagan Family from the 1860's in my historical searches.

I was however able to workout where the family home of William Branagan would have been by interpreting the old maps.

Unfortunatly Williams Plot 6 of land halfway up a small laneway not travelled by Google Maps,

However this laneway does seem accessable from both roads, higher and lower of its location.

I was wondering WGnemmer have you ever travelled to Donegal, and in particular Killybegs to look for the Branagan family plots.

These Links should bring you to these veiwing locations, and the photos below may keep you right also.

Killybegs Upper - Plot 6a William Brannigan - Looking from Lower Road (Google MAPS)

Killybegs Upper - Plot 6a William Brannigan - Looking from High Road (Google MAPS)

Kind Regards

Seamus Callaghan

Thank you!

Unfortunately, I have never had the pleasure of visiting Ireland but hope to visit in the not-too-distant future. I have my U.S. roots well documented but am just starting to make progress "across the pond" in Ireland. I have two other Irish lines which I may also need assistance with if I can narrow down the location (WYNN likely from County Mayo and GRAHAM likely from County Sligo).

Regarding Brannigan, attached is what may be the baptismal record of my 2nd-great grandmother, Mary Brannigan, daughter of William Brannigan and Jane McGonigle. Note the location is Killaghtee which I see is just a few kilometers east of Killybegs.

The reason I say "may be" is that the DOB shows 14 Jul 1851 while her U.S. death certificate shows 15 Sep 1852. "Maria" vs "Mary" is a minor concern. However, this also makes me wonder whether I have identified the correct William Brannigan (1820-1905) and Jane McGinigle Brannigan (1824-1907). Documentation of their DOBs would be very helpful.

Bill

P.S. The Brannigan (McGonigle) and Wynn (Graham) families settled in Evanston, Illinois which is the city just north of Chicago. I have my U.S. ancestors well documented and have written several related short stories.

Hi Bill,  

I do believe that the records you have found for Mary and Maria Brannigan are correct in that they are one and the same, Brannigan is not a common surname in Killybegs as it it may as be in other Parishes within Co.Donegal in the 1850's up to the 1900's. You have done well to find Records for your 2nd Great Grandmother from back in the 1840's. I have across many of my own family that were born in the mid to late 1800's that emigrated to the US. When I found their US Death Certificate very few of them, if any at all would suit the dates of their Birth or Baptism recorded in the local Church Records, and I know for sure that I do have the correct Records from both sides of the Atlantic because shared Family DNA has confirmed this for me. 

Unfortunately, the bad news I have for you is that Birth Records for Catholic Families in Donegal only started to be recorded in the 1840's, and so a Birth Record for William Brannigan or a Jane McGonagle (a fine Donegal name) will not be available to be found on any search. The Records and Years of Register for Donegal are as such: 

http://donegal.rootsireland.ie/generic.php?filename=centres/donegal/sources.tpl 

If you are interested in still exploring this family from Killybegs Upper further, the best advice I can give you would be similar to Janes above, putting together an Ancestor profile for Mary Brannigan. This is something which is worthwhile and when done right it makes it so much easier to connect to local Brannigan's still living in the Killybegs area. I have had some success with this in the past, and could keep you right if you need.  

The family I would be interested in reaching out to is a Thomas Branagan Family who had a House in Carricknamoghil (Killybegs, Donegal) in the 1901 and 1911Census. As I said before there is no other Brannigans living nearby within the Parish and the fact that they come from the exact location of William Brannigan was in 1850's means they were closely related, possibly even brothers.  

http://www.census.nationalarchives.ie/pages/1901/Donegal/Killybegs/Carricknamoghil/ 

http://www.census.nationalarchives.ie/pages/1911/Donegal/Killybegs/Carricknamoghil/ 

If you are interested  

Here would be a few examples of profiles that might give a few ideas for Mary Examples of Ancestor Profiles 

Documenting who her parents were and her family life going forward would be interesting for locals from Killybegs area 

Because it is so long ago chances are you wouldn’t have a photo of Mary but if you look through the Mulroy Drive facebook site you will find a few photos from Killybegs to place up instead  HERE 

When sharing your ancestor I would recommend that you post it in the Upper Killybegs and 4 or 5 surrounding parishes also. A list of Surrounding Parishes can be found here  HERE 

I am curious to hear what do you think, it is in your well capable hands now! 

Best Regards 

Seamus 

Happy New Year and thanks for your help in 2017. I'd appreciate an opinion on baptism records for 2 children who did not emigrate to the United States with the rest of the Brannigan family. The attached baptism records came from FindMyPast.

The first for Elizabeth (1846) is curious for 3 reasons:

1. according the the 1910 U.S. census William and Jane were not married until c1948.
2. there is another daughter Elizabeth ("Bessie") born 10 years later (1856-1929). Although I have not found her baptism doc her 1956 DOB is well documented.
3. Elizabeth's baptism entry is in the lower-right corner of the original baptismal document but can you explain the entry for Jane McGonagle (mother) in the upper-left corner which is circled?

The second is for a son Edward/Edvard (1853).

I would normally suspect these 2 children did not live to adulthood but I have been unable to find any death information.

Thank you.

Bill Nemmer

Hi Bill, that is no problem at all, however it may be have to be later this weekend at best as I happen to swamped with other commitments at the moment. I will be sure to spend a bit of time and check this out properly. Thanks Seamus 

Thanks Seamus ... I appreciate your help and there is no big rush.

Regarding #3, upon further review it appears Jane was a sponsor and godparent of Margaret McHugh ... likely an adult being baptized as part of her conversion to Catholicism.