Surnames in Ireland

A helpful resource in locating families in Ireland is Robert Matheson's Surnames in Ireland.  Published in 1909, the report makes use of the 1890 Births Index to count and locate surnames throughout the country.  Two tables published in this report are particularly interesting: One Hundred of the Principal Surnames in Ireland and Surnames in Ireland having Five Entries and upwards in the Birth Indexes of 1890.  Below, I combine these tables and modify them to show the most common Irish surnames in our family tree.  My modification changes the population estimates to reflect the population in about 1840, since our Irish ancestors emigrated between about 1825 and 1841.  [Note 1: Between 1841 and 1891, the population of Ireland dropped by about 50%.  50%!  The potato famine and emigration depleted the Irish population enormously.  Even today, the population of Ireland is less than it was in 1841.  The loss of population was not the same in all counties (Tipperary dropped 60% and Cork dropped 49%, for example), so my correction of simply doubling the population is not entirely accurate, but it should be quite a bit more accurate than using population numbers from 1890.]  [Note 2: You may notice that some of the population estimates don't follow the top 100 ranking.  I lumped some name variations together that slightly changed some relative rankings.  It's not important.]

Connaught is western Ireland (counties Mayo, Sligo, Roscommon, Leitrim and Galway); Munster is southwestern Ireland (counties Kerry, Limerick, Clare, Tipperary, Cork and Waterford); Leinster is eastern Ireland (counties Longford, Westmeath, Meath, Louth, Dublin, Kildare, Kings/Offaly, Queens/Leix, Wicklow, Carlow, Kilkenny, and Wexford); and Ulster is northern Ireland (counties Donegal, Londonderry, Antrim, Tyrone, Fermanagh, Monaghan, Cavan, Armagh and Down).

In the table below, I have included the 10 most common names and added the most common Irish names from our family tree.

Surname	My estimated population in ca .1840	Top 100	1890 births					Principal counties
			Ireland	Leinster	Munster	Ulster	Connaught
Murphy	126,000	1	1386	476	611	189	110	Throughout Ireland, but greatest numbers in Cork, Dublin, and Wexford.
Kelly	114,000	2	1251	438	215	267	331	Throughout Ireland, but greatest numbers in Dublin, Galway, Mayo, Roscommon, and Cork.
Sullivan	89,000	3	975	61	875	15	24	Throughout Munster, but greatest numbers in Cork and Kerry.
Walsh	85,000	4	932	476	611	189	110	Throughout Ireland, but greatest numbers in Cork, Mayo, Waterford, Galway, Dublin, and Wexford.
Smith	68,000	5	753	232	62	412	47	Antrim, Cavan, and Dublin.
O'Brien	69,000	6	764	216	414	73	61	Throughout Munster, and Dublin, Cavan, and Galway.
Byrne	67,000	7	734	583	52	53	46	Dublin, Wicklow, Wexford, Louth, Carlow, Kildare, Kilkenny, Cork, Waterford, Donegal, Galway, Mayo & Roscommon.
Ryan	65,000	8	715	180	473	13	49	Tipperary by far, but also Limerick, Dublin, Cork, Waterford, Kilkenny, Wexford, Clare & Galway.
Connor	63,500	9	698	160	336	81	121	Connor (432): Kerry, Dublin, Mayo, Cork, also Roscommon, Galway, Antrim, Londonderry. O'Connor (266): Kerry, Cork, Limerick, Dublin, Clare, Galway.
O'Neill	64,500	10	709	226	190	254	39	O'Neill (407): Throughout Ireland, but 50% in Dublin, Antrim, Cork, and Tyrone. Neill (244): Antrim, Cork, Kerry, Carlow, Dublin, Wexford. McNeill (58): Antrim & Londonderry.
Campbell	32,000	31	349	39	8	279	23	Antrim, Down, Armagh, Tyrone, Londonderry, Donegal.
Casey	23,000	59	254	61	134	17	42	Cork, Kerry, Dublin, Limerick.
Donnelly	22,000	65	240	64	19	135	22	Antrim, Tyrone, Armagh, Dublin.
Hogan	17,500	91	193	59	115	5	14	Tipperary, Dublin, Limerick, Clare, & Cork.
Gorman	15,000		164	60	61	33	10	Gorman: Antrim, Dublin, & Tipperary. O'Gorman: Clare.
Dooley	5,500		60	33	12	5	10	Dublin & King's
Enright	4,500		49	4	43	-	2	21 in Limerick, 11 in Kerry, 8 in Cork, 3 in Clare.
McClintock	2,300		25	2	-	23	-	Antrim & Londonderry.
Cummings	1,800		20	4	2	12	2	Antrim.  Many more Cummins, in Dublin, Cork, & Tipperary.
Pyne	1000		11	-	10	1	-	7 in Cork, 3 in Clare.
Cussen	800		9	1	7	-	1	3 in Cork, 2 in Limerick

Mannings & Enrights

Several years ago, I looked up some information for my cousins.  I just came across it and decided to post it here in case I can help them connect with more of their family history.  This was mostly from census records, and not a comprehensive search of other records.  This research is six years old, so more information is undoubtedly available now.

John and Bridget Manning, born about 1811 and 1813, respectively, emigrated from Ireland to the US in the 1840s, with their son, John, born in about 1839, and probably some other children.  I found them in Clyman, Dodge County, Wisconsin in 1860.  (Since earlier censuses are not available through my service, I don't know if they were there earlier.)  There were several Manning families in Clyman, but I don't know how they're related.  John was a blacksmith and a farmer.  I think that John married a Catherine (born about 1850 in Ireland), and that they had a daughter, Katherine, in about 1884.  In 1900, John was a widow living with his daughter, Katherine, still in Clyman, Wisconsin.  Katherine married Joseph L. Enright in about 1907, and their son, Paul Manning Enright, was born in Texas in 1908.  In 1910, this family was living in Waco, Texas, including Katherine's father, John.  They had a daughter in about 1913, but I couldn't make out her name.  Something like Alline or Alsine.  Joseph was a Bridge Builder for the railroad.  By 1920, the family had moved to Texarkana, Texas and were still there in 1930.  John Manning probably passed away between 1920 and 1930.  So on the Manning side, your grandmother, Katherine Manning Enright, was born in Wisconsin, but her parents were born in Ireland.  Your great grandfather, John Manning, emigrated from Ireland in the mid 1840s with his family while a child.  Your great grandmother, Catherine Manning, was also born in Ireland, but I don't know her maiden name or when she emigrated.

I believe that your Enright emigres are John and Sarah Enright, born in Ireland about 1802 and 1820, respectively.  I don't know where they married - Ireland or the US.  Their son, James, was born about 1842.  Most of the census records say James was born in New York, though one says Ireland.  Other children were born in New York and Massachusetts in the mid to late 1840s, so the family lived in that area for a while.  I found the family in 1860 in Milford, Jefferson County, Wisconsin.  James married a Johanna (born 1851 in Ohio).  Johanna's parents were both born in Ireland.  James and Johanna had at least 8 children in Wisconsin, including your grandfather, Joseph L. Enright, born about 1880.  I may have found another brother who was born in Arkansas in 1890, so the family may have moved to Arkansas in the 1880s.  Two of Joseph's brothers, James and William, were also bridge builders for the railroad in Texas, so there was some kind of Civil Engineering strength in the family.  I found Joseph in Pine Bluff, Jefferson County, Arkansas (again building bridges for the railroad) in 1900, before he married.  It was interesting that of the 100 persons on his census page, he was the only white.  So on the Enright side, your grandfather, Joseph L. Enright, was born in Wisconsin, and his parents were probably born in New York and Ohio.  But all 4 of their parents, your Enright great great grandparents, were born in Ireland.  I'm not sure when they emigrated, nor even what all of their names were.

I learned a few years ago about your father visiting with a cousin, Ray, on the East Coast when returning from some business trips.  Joseph L. Enright's brother, William, a RR Bridge Builder in Texas, had a son Raymond born in about 1909, one year younger than your dad.  I think the 1930 census said he was an insurance agent.

Outdated: Can't Follow the Names in my Posts?

Most of you are probably lost when I start mentioning names, like Patrick Donley.  To see how someone fits into your tree, use the Rootsweb family tree in the list of links on the right of this blog page.  One way to see how someone is related to you (if they are) is to go to the family tree and find your nearest deceased relative.  (For privacy reasons, no living persons are included in the family tree that I've publicly posted at Rootsweb.)  This could be a parent or a grandparent.  Then at the top of that person's page (but below the banner ad), click on "pedigree".  You should see Patrick Donley in the last column.  To see his family, or his descendants, click on his name.  If you have trouble, leave me a comment and I'll try to help.

Margaret Donnelly no. 2

Our second Margaret Donnelly, aka Maggie, was the niece of Margaret no. 1.  Maggie was the daughter of James Donley (the oldest of Patrick and Nancy's sons, the only one born in Ireland) and Mary Buchannan.  I don't know alot about this family.  James and Mary were married in the early 1850s.  Maggie was born in 1856 in Fort Covington, about 40 miles east of Waddington (where our Donnelly family first settled) along the St. Lawrence river.  It could be that James and Mary lived in Fort Covington, or that Mary was from there and she had the baby in her parents' home.  In 1860 they were living in the village of Waddington.  In 1868, when Maggie was 12 years old, they sold their home and moved to Burlington, Vermont, where they remained.  What little I know about Maggie is that in 1880 she was selling or making hats, that in 1899 she died of heart disease, and that as far as I can tell, she never married.  She is probably buried in Burlington in a family plot.

J. Lufkin Douglas Genealogy

Just a note about a valuable resource for our Douglas genealogy.  Our Douglas family is descended from a John Douglas who, at the age of 12, ran away from home.  In 1707 he was kidnapped on the docks of London and forced to work on the crew of a ship that sailed for the New World, where he was sold to pay for his passage.  (Apparently, this was not uncommon at the time.) In 1890, Joshua Lufkin Douglas published a genealogy of this family, as best he could, from available records and from correspondence with as many of the descendants as he could contact.  I first found this book several years ago on Heritage Quest, through the New England Genealogical and Historical Association.  At the time, I painstakingly entered the over 2000 individuals into a family tree, and added it to my own.  Now I find it in several places.  Google has scanned this book, which is available in Google Books in several different formats.  Amazon offers printed copies for about $20.  When I transcribed the individual vital records (birth, marriage, death), I decided to leave out the descriptive information about all these families, which is really the more interesting information.  There was just too much for me to copy.  The other day I came across someone who has transcribed all this information, and made it available on his genealogy website.  The Wilde Genealogy site is at http://www.computersrwilde.com/Genealogy/ and our Douglas family starts here.

Lemuel Patchen, 1770 - 1850s

My great great grandfather was Thomas Patchen, born about 1796 in Canada.  I was able to follow his family from Oswegatchie, St. Lawrence co., New York in 1830, to his death in Janesville, Waseca co., Minnesota in 1870.  This article is about Lemuel Patchen, who is likely Thomas' father.

A Lemuel Patchen and his wife, Lucy Davern, had two children, Lewis and Talcott, in Saratoga county, New York, in the early 1790s.  Saratoga county is located in east-central New York, not far from Schenectady or Albany.  Lemuel was born in Connecticut in about 1770.  In about 1808, a court record says that Samuel Crofut became guardian for Lewis and Talcott Patchen, whose father, Lemuel, had "absconded to Canada".  We don't know what happened, but it appears that Lemuel had abandoned his family and gone to Canada, sometime between about 1793 and 1808.

Skipping ahead to our Patchen family.  We know that we are descendants of Andrew Jackson Patchen and Emily Douglas.  Through census records and other genealogy research, I was able to trace our family back to Thomas Patchen in Oswegatchie, New York (along the St. Lawrence river, opposite Ontario, Canada) in 1830.  Andrew Jackson Patchen was one of his sons.  Thomas was born in Canada in about 1796.

It turns out that there is a Lemuel Patchen in Oswegatchie beginning about 1820.  (At least that's the first record, the 1820 census.  He could have been there up to several years earlier.)  The information in this census is not precise.  It appears that he is with eight children born between the early 1790s and about 1810.  Following Lemuel in subsequent censuses, I find that he was born in Connecticut in about 1768.  All of these proximities in date and place make a strong case for linking our Thomas Patchen to this Lemuel Patchen, and that this Lemuel could be the same that "absconded to Canada".  One additional piece of information is that Shirley K.,  a Patchen descendant, informed me several years ago that she had found a census record from August township, Grenville co., Ontario, Canada, from the 1813 census, showing Lemuel Patchen and Thomas Patchen, and that Thomas was living next to a Perrin family.  Though I have not seen any such records myself, Shirley and other Patchen researchers have said in the past that Thomas Patchen's middle name was Perrin (or Perrien), and they suspected that was Lemuel's wife's maiden name.  So the Patchens living next to a Perrin family would be further evidence of the link to our family.

So while I'm not absolutely certain, yet, I think it is very likely that this Lemuel is Thomas' father, and that this is the same Lemuel whose sons are Talcott and Lewis.  It's like a tooth that a dentist puts a "watch" on.  For now they're related, but we'll keep an eye out for any evidence that either supports or refutes the relationship.

(BTW:  If you have further information on Lemuel, or Thomas, please contact me or leave a comment.)

Migration of Children of Dennis Cushing and Alice Gleason

I've seen a few posts recently from folks seeking information about the families of Dennis Cushing, Jr. and Alice Gleason.  In my first conversation with a Cushing genealogy cousin, I was told that most of Dennis and Alice's kids moved to Chicago.  There were so many Cushings in that generation that I can't keep them straight.  Since my own grandfather was in Chicago after about 1906, I've been curious which of his cousins lived nearby.  As far as I know, he had no contact with them.  Anyway, a few weeks ago I decided to map out where Dennis and Alice's kids went from Fort Winnebago.  I've added this information to my genealogy web site.  Go to the Cushing section, then down to Dennis, Jr. in the American born children section to find the link to the new page.  Someday, I'll do the same for  William's and John's kids.