I have been hot on the trail of my 4th Great-Grandmother, Catherine Donoghue, for years. She is my immigrant ancestor on my direct maternal line and I know by her death certificate that she was born in 1833 in County Kerry, Ireland and probably immigrated around 1845 at 12 years old. She died in 1897 in Algiers, New Orleans, Louisiana, USA. She married Francis "Frank" Hanratty (b. New York). I am positive that Donoghue is her maiden name due to the fact she was married to Frank and had her first child at 18. There are only two baptismal records I have found (on Ancestry) for a Catherine Donoghue b. 1833 in Ireland....one whose mother's maiden is Cullotty and one whose mother's maiden name is Cournane. I know that Cournane and Courtney are rather interchangable in Ireland. Out of the 6 dna match lists of close family members and myself, there are no Cullotty matches nor matches with Cullotty in their trees. However, though there are no Cournane matches, every one of us have matches with the surname Cournane in their family tree's. I am leaning toward that being my Catherine...but have nothing else to really verify. I would appreciate any help or information that may help me to find out who my Catherine's family in Ireland is and where in County Kerry they came from. Thanks!
sweetmagnolia
Thursday 11th Jun 2020, 01:51AMMessage Board Replies
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Welcome to Ireland Reaching Out!
Are you aware of any sibling to Catherine? I searched the subscription site Roots Ireland and the 1833 Catherine Donoghue in Killarney with parents John Donoghue and Catherine Cournane had three siblings: Ellen 1829 John 1836 Elizabeth 1840t Ages provided on death records are not always accurate since many immigrants made themselves younger or older in their new country. Ages in general were less exact in the 19th century.
The townland for the family above would be Coolies in Killarney civil parish.
Roger McDonnell
Castlemore Roscommon, IrelandXO Volunteer ☘
Thursday 11th Jun 2020, 12:24PM -
Attached Files
Roger, thank you so much! I wish I had more information on her, but I don't- which makes it really hard...including immigration information. My guess that she immigrated about 1845 at around 12 years of age came from her death certificate which stated that she had been a resident of Algiers, New Orleans, Louisiana, USA for 52 years, and she died at 64. I added that document below. She could have been younger if this was not their first stop. I just can't find any immigration records for her around that time. I will try earlier years. On your end, can you tell if anyone else in this Cournane/Donoghue family immigrated? Thank you for any and all help- you have no idea what finding her family means to me! -Blessings, Patience West
sweetmagnolia
Friday 12th Jun 2020, 12:15AM -
Patience:
There is very little information of people leaving Ireland in the mid-19th century. As you know well over a million people left during the years 1845-1850 dur to the terrible conditions in the country.
You may want to add Catherine to our XO Chronicles site https://irelandxo.com/ireland-xo/history-and-genealogy/ancestor-database
Roger
Castlemore Roscommon, IrelandXO Volunteer ☘
Saturday 13th Jun 2020, 01:37PM -
I have! Thank you so much!
sweetmagnolia
Saturday 13th Jun 2020, 03:57PM
