Looking for Mansfield connection in Cork pre-1844 (Richard, Mary, Francis Henry & Richard Mansfield)

Hello.

My mother has been struggling with a brick wall in our Mansfield family history that has links back to Cork. 

Her 2G Grandfather was Francis Henry Mansfield, born in Cork abt 1844 to a Richard and Mary Mansfield. Francis Henry aged 18 resided in Putney, Surrey in 1861 along with his widowed mother Mary, and his brother Richard. Francis Henry Mansfield married Harriet Lamprell (from Essex) in 1865 and migrated to Brisbane, Australia on the Ocean Empress with their infant son, Richard, in 1866. His wife Harriet died in 1883, and Francis Henry passing away in 1925 in Brisbane, Australia.

While census records and death certificates note that Francis Henry was born in Cork, we have not been able to locate any birth records for Francis Henry or his brother Richard.

Richard Mansfield, born 1847, to Richard and Mary Mansfield is also first noted in the 1861 census at age 14 in Putney, Surrey along with his mother and brother. Richard married Sarah Zelpah Evans in Putney, Wandsworth on 23 May 1875. The couple had 2 children born in Rotherhithe, Richard Francis in 1876 and Mary Kingston Mansfield in 1878. Richard Mansfield worked as a police inspector at the time of his death in early 1878.

Their mother Mary Mansfield (maiden name unknown) was noted in census documents as being born in Cork around 1821. Marriage records for sons of Mary Mansfield indicate that their father, her husband was Richard Mansfield, whom was a shoemaker and also from Cork. Mary worked as a laundress and resided in Putney from at least 1861 to the time of her passing from cancer in April 1881. 

From review of census records containing Mary Mansfield, references were made to other familial connections from Ireland in both the 1861 and 1871 census. In 1861, a cousin named James Willis was noted as being at the residence along with his wife Susannah and daughter Eliza. In 1871, the census notes a Robert Whelan born Cork in 1853 as a nephew. No further references were found to any of these visitors that would assist in narrowing down a parish or family in Cork.

Richard Mansfield is noted in family records as being a shoemaker and from Cork. No birth, marriage or death records have been able to be located for him. Old stories from our great grandfather indicate that there may have been a family shoemaking business that was owned and operated by brothers in this family, continuing through to the 1970's or 80's.

We have recently been investigating a potential birth record match for a Richard Mansfield born 1821 at Chapel Cross, Dunmanway to Charles Mansfield and Mary Brien. Although the family group contains most of the names that have been passed down, we have not been able to definitively confirm that it is the right family. The recurring names across the next 3-4 generations are Richard, Francis, Charles, John and Henry. So far the only name unable to be linked is Henry.

A theory that we are working on for Mary Mansfield is that she may have been born a Kingston, or at least a close link to that family. The hint behind this one is that Richard Mansfield (jnr) daughter's name is Mary Kingston Mansfield. As Mary was not born in Kingston, and it was not her mother Sarah's maiden name (born of George Evans and Ruth Haynes), it is though that it may be Mary Mansfield's maiden name.

From DNA kit matches there have been a few leads back to Dunmanway, with links to the surnames Mansfield, Kingston, Thornton, Brien and potentially Daly, Ahern, Daunt, Sweetnam and Newman in more recent generations (4-6 cousin matches). For example, William Ahern (1831- ..) & Ellen Daunt (1840 - ..) from around Dunmanway appear in the family tree of distant DNA matches. 

Any help or leads for connections would be greatly appreciated. 

Kind Regards

Lea