McCarthy from County Cork to Spafford, Skaneateles, New York, USA

Robin104 · 10-04-2014 10:00pm #1

We're looking for the McCarthy Family that emigrated from somewhere in County Cork to Spafford and Skaneateles, New York, USA about 1857 to 1867. Julia McCarthy may have arrived first with her husband Thomas Reagan. Thomas Reagan's parents and siblings lived in Spafford, NY also. Other McCarthy family members followed later. The Reagan family settled in Spafford, New York. The McCarthy family settled close by in Skaneateles, NY. My great grandfather moved to Troy, NY with his wife Margaret Fitzgerald. He had a nephew named John Casey living with him briefly in 1890.

The family names that we know so far:

John McCarthy
1805 – 1890
married in Ireland to
Margaret Nolan
1814 – 1885

Their Children:

Julia McCarthy1834 – 1902
married in Ireland to
Thomas Reagan
1829 – 1919

Ann McCarthy
1840 – 1906

Mary McCarthy
1845 –

John McCarthy
1846 – 1909

Ellen McCarthy
1848 – 1923

James McCarthy
1852 – 1880

Jeremiah McCarthy
1853 – 1919

Michael McCarthy
1854 – 1903

Thanks so much for any information!

Coolnabacky1873 · 14-04-2014 12:59pm

Hi there,

Let's see if we can help somehow. A few question to start with:

1. What is the source document that gives Cork as the county of origin?
2. Do you know how many of the children were born/baptized in Ireland before emigration?
3. On which document did you get the names for Julia's parents, John and Margaret (a death cert? Census, because they emigrated too?)
4. Have you exhausted all the likely American documents that could give possible place of origin information for ALL the Irish born ancestors: obits, headstones, naturalization documents, military records (if any), etc?
4. I see those towns are up near Syracuse. Have you tried the northern NY newspapers and Fulton History (newspapers)?

P.S. unfortunately the links don't seem to work on your post.

Robin104 · 16-04-2014 6:49am

Hello,

Thanks so much for your quick answer. I guess I should take your questions one by one.

1) I’ve been wondering if Cork is right myself. Family talk claims Cork as the origin of emigration. I found my second cousin who is a Reagan and descendent from my great aunt Julia some years ago. Her records do show Cork. Julia married Thomas Reagan in Ireland before immigrating to New York. ?????

2) They all emigrated as adults. So, they must have been baptized in Ireland. I did find a Michael and Jerh McCarthy baptized at Cork - South Parish . The parents were John McCarthy and Margaret O’Neil. Margaret’s son John’s death certificate, list his Mother as Margaret Nealon or Nolan. , The name isn’t clear. His brother Jerry gave the information (Margaret was his mother also). There was a Michael who was baptized on May 8, 1954 at Cork – South Parish. Michael was born March 18, 1854. The dates do seem to match. A son Jerry was baptized there to in 1852 with the same parents. It is a mystery to me if this is right????

3) I have a lot of Death, Marriage, Census, Obit, Cemetery record. I found many names from Jeremiah McCarthy’s will. The Reagan’s have a lot too. We’ve been looking for a long time. But we haven’t exhausted every resource yet. The McCarthy family were said to have a farm in Ireland.. They did not all come at once. I have an old letter from a relative in Skaneateles, NY. He said in the letter that his parent took in “every greenhorn off the boat.” Most were McCarthy’s. Most didn’t show up in the Skaneateles area until about 1860. Around that time they all started to flood into the area.

4) I found many articles from Old Fulton. It’s an exceptional website! I found a news article from 1907 that a Timothy McCarthy was going to visit his “old home in Ireland.” He was from the Parish of Kilcrohane - West Bantry, County Cork. I don’t know if this Timothy is related? Until I’m sure I can’t say if this is the place.

The link to my tree on Ancestry.com:
http://trees.ancestry.com/tree/28353622/family

Thank you so, so much,
Robin McCarthy

Coolnabacky1873 · 16-04-2014 7:29pm

Pros
That does seem to be a promising lead, what with all the baptized children in the Cork 'family' matching those in NY. There can be some considerable mutations of Irish names in the US for a number of different reasons; Neil/Neill/Nealon/Nolan is entirely possible. Those thick Cork accents would sound very strange to the ear of an American clerk/official.

While it's a very common name, McCarthy would have a lot of Cork links, and Jeremiah is pure Cork.

Cons
As you probably know, family stories can often be incorrect. One very common one I have seen is 'the family left Ireland from the port of Cork' turns into 'the family were from Cork'. This can happen in only a couple of generations.

The disparity about the family farm and that 'family' living in the city is also potentially problematic. Maybe the farm never existed or maybe the family moved to Cork City from the countryside for a generation or two before emigrating.

Some suggestions
See can you trace forward with the Cork city 'family' and see do they all disappear. That would be a possible clue for emigration. If all those kids were baptized in the Cork South parish then some of them would have married there if they stayed. See can you find possible matches 20-30 years after baptism. If you can't you might be on to something. After 1864 there would also be civil marriage certs which would give father's names.

Use the FAN club method. Expand past your immediate ancestors in those NY towns and try and find the place of origin for other Irish people who were their neighbors at the same time. Look at the census records again and see what other Irish neighbors had same/similar years when answering questions such as year of arrival/naturalization etc.

A long shot, but any luck with finding a Julia and Thomas on a passenger list? If you think any of them were in New York City for a while then try Finding Your Irish Ancestors in New York City (mods - not trying to self promote, just trying to help the OP).

Ponster · 18-04-2014 10:59am

Julia McCarthy 1834 – 1902
married in Ireland to
Thomas Reagan
1829 – 1919

Their first child, Thomas, was born around 1858 according to your tree. There is a marriage in Limerick between a Julia McCarthy and a Thomas Reagan in 1856 (the only one that I could find with matching names though the records are not fully indexed as south Cork is missing) but little else in the cert to prove that it's actually them.

Date of Marriage: 01-Nov-1856
Parish / District: CROAGH County: Co. Limerick

Can you be sure that they married in Ireland ?

Robin104 · 26-04-2014 2:20am

Wow, That is a good lead. Thanks so much. I have a feeling ( no real proof) that they were all displaced after the famine. There could be a relative Julia was living with in Limerick? I'm assuming that the groom went to the bride's Parish when they were married. Is that correct? This is well worth following down. This is the first time after hours and years of searching that I've seen the right names with the right dates. You're the best

I'm not 100% sure they were married in Ireland. When they first appear in the census records in New York they are married and the whole Reagan clan show up at the same time. Julia's brothers came a little later. I think they traveled together as a married couple. Time will tell I guess. Nothing is ever certain in genealogy.

Robin104 · 26-04-2014 2:24am

Wow, That is a good lead. Thanks so much. I have a feeling ( no real proof) that they were all displaced after the famine. There could be a relative Julia was living with in Limerick? I'm assuming that the groom went to the bride's Parish when they were married. Is that correct? Michael McCarthy married Margaret Fitzgerald from Limerick. Michael was living with the Fitzgerald's when he first came to New York. Hmmmm. This is well worth following down. This is the first time after hours and years of searching that I've seen the right names with the right dates. You're the best

I'm not 100% sure they were married in Ireland. When they first appear in the census records in New York they are married and the whole Reagan clan show up at the same time. Julia's brothers came a little later. I think they traveled together as a married couple. Time will tell I guess. Nothing is ever certain in genealogy.

Robin104 · 23-07-2014 5:34pm

Dear Ponster,

I have a little more info.

Margaret Nolan is actually Margaret Nealon. My cousin swears that the McCarthy's had a 150 acre farm in Clonbanin. He went there and saw the ruins of the house.

Coolnabacky1873 · 24-07-2014 3:34am

In Griffith's Valuation, there are three entries for John McCarthy in the Cloonbannin East townland, Co. Cork.

I presume this is the townland you are talking about: Cullen civil parish, Milstreet Registration District (for vital records).

Front cover of book for this section of GV says it was published in 1852. This would be before your estimated emigration dates.

You can view the index entries at this link. Click the icons for transcription of record, image of page, and original map of land holding.

Coolnabacky1873 · 24-07-2014 3:37am

No McCarthy's living in the townland in 1901 census. Could be a clue that they emigrated.

judi1949 · 27-08-2014 7:47pm

May I please jump in here. I am from the Regan/Reagan side of the family on Robin104's tree. I am descended from Thomas' brother Patrick Regan. Their parents were Thomas Regan and Margaret Sheehan. These parent names were stated on the death certificate for Thomas(Julia) and his sister Catherine. Also Thomas and Margaret were found on census records - US 1880, NYS 1865 and 1875 listed in the home of Jeremiah as Father and Mother. The 1865 census lists Margaret as mother of 10 but we only know of 6. The earliest census record that I find for any of this family is 1865.

Children of Thomas Regan b. abt 1800 and Margaret Sheehan b. abt 1810:

Thomas Regan b. abt 1929 m. Julia McCarthy Census records state immig. 1857

Jeremiah Regan b abt. 1830 d. 1869 m. Ellen 1880 Census states son Jerry 18 yr. born in Ireland

PAtrick b. abt 1835 m. 2/11/1863 Marcellus, NY Bridget Gilvie

Mary b. abt 1847 m. John Radford 1900 census immg. date 1859

Catherine b. abt 1849 m. James REAGAN 1900 census immg. date 1865

Daniel b. abt 1856 1900 census immg. date abt 1864

Family lore tells us that the Regan family came from County Cork and Bridget Gilvie from County Mayo.

I have found a gravestone in a local cemetery for John Regan, inscribed died 1902 age 75 born in Garryduff near Mallow. I have not been able to connect this John to our family.

I have searched the Griffiths and found Regans in Clonmeen which is not far from Robin's McCarthys but how can I tell if they are ours.

My cousin will be visiting County Cork Ireland in mid September 2014 and we would appreciate any help or direction to aid in our search.

Other names connected to Regan - Sheehan, Cronin, Purcell, Curtin

Thank you in advance.

McCarthy from County Cork to Spafford, Skaneateles, New York, USA

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