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I posted this message on the Leitrim message board. It was suggested that I post it here because the court case took place in Arvagh - for relatives from Carrigallen, Co. Leitrim by the name of DONOHO.

I am trying to learn more about my Donoho relatives who lived in Carigallen. There was quite a legal case concerning the estate of Philip Donoho who traveled to the US and then on to San Francisco around 1850. He died in 1878 and a relative by the name of James Donoho who lived in Carigallen attempted to claim Philip's estate despite the fact that Philip left his estate to my gr. grandmother Maria Donoho Carroll and her two siblings who went to the US at the same time.

After ascertaining that my gr. grandmother was indeed alive, James Donoho who traveled from Carigallen to the US to claim the estate was denied any part of the estate.

There was testimony taken in late 1879 of my gr. grandmother Maria. She traveled to Ireland with her lawyer. Although she grew up in Carigallen, the testimony and family testations were done in Arvagh, Co. Cavan.

Maria's father, Bernard Donoho traveled to the US before his children. I do not know what happened to his wife in Ireland or what her name was. She may have died in a workhouse or from cholera.

I have newspaper articles from here in the US. I would just like to be able to acquire the paperwork from the testimonies there and any other information about the Donoho family. From what I understand, Maria and her family were part of the diaspora due to famine. There may have been other siblings etc. who died in Ireland. James Donoho, trying to claim the estate, declared that they were all dead but of course it turned out that they were very much alive in the US (or I wouldn't be here!).

Any help on finding out more would be so very much appreciated.

Bridget

Saturday 2nd Mar 2013, 01:29PM

Message Board Replies

  •  

    Hi Bridget,

    Thank you for your message.

    For information on the Donoho family prior to 1864, you could try looking in Church records. Most Catholic records are held locally so you may need to write to the local parish priest for possible assistance. One website that you may find useful is the Irish Times where they give an overview of what records are available in specific parishes. For Carrigellan parish, follow this link:

    http://www.irishtimes.com/ancestor/fuses/rcparishmaps/index.cfm?fuseaction=showidrecords&CityCounty=Leitrim&parish=Carrigallen&churchid=820

    For information on Church of Ireland records check:

    http://ireland.anglican.org/about/42 and http://www.nationalarchives.ie/.

    Civil registration became mandatory in Ireland in 1864, so for events such as births, marriages, deaths after this time you can look in civil records. These are available from the General Register?s Office in Dublin. Here is their website:

    http://www.groireland.ie/research.htm

    You can search the indexes to these registers online at:

    https://familysearch.org/search/collection/1408347

    You could also try looking for the Donoho?s in the land records pertaining to Ireland in the 19th century. There are two:

    The Tithe Applotment Books (1823-1838) found at http://titheapplotmentbooks.nationalarchives.ie/search/tab/home.jsp

    and Griffith?s Valuation (1848-1864) found at http://www.askaboutireland.ie/griffith-valuation/

    Please be aware when you are searching for information, that there are many variations of the surname Donoho that may have been used. Follow this link to see some:

    http://www.irishtimes.com/ancestor/surname/index.cfm?fuseaction=Go.&UserID=

    Have you tried looking in local newspaper archives to see if you can find some article relating to this case? You could contact the Local Studies Department of Leitrim and Cavan county libraries to see if they have any newspaper archives available:

    Leitrim: http://www.leitrimcoco.ie/eng/Services_A-Z/Library/Archives/Local_Studies.html

    Cavan: http://www.cavanlibrary.ie/Default.aspx?StructureID_str=17

    The National Library of Ireland also has a huge newspaper archive, here is their website:

    http://www.nli.ie/en/family-history-introduction.aspx

    There is also a newspaper database available online for selected newspapers. You can search the database for free, however there is a small fee to view the article:

    http://www.irishnewsarchive.com/

    I hope that some of these links are helpful. It may also be an idea to contact the Leitrim Genealogy Centre for some assistance, however a fee may apply. info@leitrimroots.com

    Please be patient - as our programme has only begun to rollout across the island of Ireland and volunteers in some areas may not yet be organized.

    Kind regards,

    Genealogy Support

    Monday 29th Apr 2013, 11:25AM

  • Hello and thank you for you really helpful post. I have researched some of the databases you mentioned BUT some of them are new to me and I will go ahead and see what more I can find.

    Finding out that my destitute gr gr grandmother had inherited, along with her brother and sister, close to a half a million dollars (in today's money) was a rather daunting surprise. No one in my grandparents, parents, or my generation had ever heard this story. And if they did... they didn't bother to mention it. My goal is to learn more about my Leitrim ancestors, the Donohos, and if I can find some of the things I am missing still, I think it will do a lot to increase my knowledge of them.

    I'm attaching a file from the New York Times here that sheds more light on this story. This is just one of many that I found here in the US.

    Thanks again.

    Bridget

    Bridget

    Monday 29th Apr 2013, 05:16PM

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