East of Eden
I’ve come to the belated conclusion that my previous speculation on the parents of our great grandmother, Mary Donoghue was incorrect.
The certified copy of Jeremiah Sheahan and Mary Donoghue’s marriage registration that we acquired in Ireland lists the marriage location as the Chapel at Killaha, and the place of residence for Mary Donoghue as “Barnadune”. Killaha is an area about 5 1/2 kilometers south of Maulykeavane, about 11 kilometers east of Killarney but it’s bothered me that I’ve never been able to find a place named Barnadune, near Killaha or anywhere else.
Backing up a little, in my search for Mary Meara I’ve found more than a few Meara families from the congregation of Glenflesk. A quick search indicates Glenflesk as an area about 11 kilometers east of Killarney so I wrote off most of these Meara families as not being anywhere near The Gap of Dunloe and therefore not immediately connected to our family.
But somewhere in my search of the Meara families in Glenflesk I came across a reference for the Chapel at Killaha and a place referred to as “Barraduff”. Why this place name stuck with me I have no idea.
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| Certified Marriage Certificate for Jeremiah Sheahan and Mary Donoghue |
So at some point I got bored, or overwhelmed, with my search for Mearas and decided to switch gears and go Donoghue hunting for a while. When I went back to our copy of the original document rather than the certified transcription of Jeremiah and Mary’s marriage registration (see attached) I saw something that I did not previously. Rather than “Barnadune”, the place name in the original document I now believe should be read as “Barraduve” which seems to be an acceptable alternate spelling of “Barraduff” (The spelling in various Irish records seems interchangeable). A search for Donoghue families in Barraduff in the Catholic Church records indicates a Mary Donoghue of Barraduff born Sept. 1, 1858. This would seem to fit well with Jeremiah and Mary’s marriage record indicating that Mary was 17 y/o in 1876, and the place name now makes a lot more sense.
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| Marriage Registration for Jeremiah Sheahan and Mary Donoghue, Feb. 8, 1876 |
Mary’s parents are listed as John Donoghue and Catherine Murphy. There is a marriage certificate for John Donoghue and Catherine Murphy, both of Kilquane, dated Feb. 1, 1842. Other children born to John and Catherine include Patrick (3-17-1847), Florence (9-16-1849), John (3-29-1852) Denis (5-24-1854), Jeremiah (5-22-1856) and Timothy (10-26-1860).
The original documents obtained in Ireland mention nothing about the congregation of Glenflesk. The Catholic Church records available on-line mention nothing about the Chapel at Killaha, but the principal names, the date of marriage, and the names of witnesses on all documents are identical. Glenflesk (the congregation), Killaha (the chapel), and Barraduff (the Townland) are all located in the same place.
The Glenflesk/Killaha/Barraduve issue may be best understood though information from the Casey Collection in County Kerry. These records indicate that the modern parish called Glenflesk includes townlands that were once part of the parishes of Killaha, Killarney, and Aghadoe. The pre-formation RC parish at Glenflesk was called the parish of Killaha and consisted of 64 townlands, all of which were incorporated into the modern parish. In addition three townlands from the pre-formation parish of Killarney were incorporated, one of which is Carrigeenacullig (sic), and ten townlands from the parish of Aghadoe one of which is Barraduff. “An old church, with a slate roof, probably built towards the end of the Penal days, stood in a place called "Old Chapel", its walls still stand in the old Killaha graveyard”. Kilquane is currently listed in the adjacent parish of Killaha.
I’m now inclined to believe that our great-great grandparents on our father’s side may have been John Donoghue and Catherine Murphy.
We’ll see how all this plays out in the coming months, or maybe I’ll send another corrective e-mail when I come up with yet another theory!
