A SYNOPSIS OF MY DONOHUE FAMILY RESEARCH
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There were two O'Donoghue septs,
namely, clans. One was O'Donoghue Mor, whose
home was Ros Castle
on Lough Leine. Is is right outside of Killarney. The other Donoghue
clan was "The O'Donoghue" of Glen Flesk The clan lands were in the
"Glenn" some seven miles westy of
Killarney. O'Donoghue Mor had the better and the
larger land holdings. O'Donoghue of the Glen was established by a younger
brother of one of the early chieftains, consisted of half the land
of O'Donoghue Mor.
The land is rough and rugged, the result of which the O'Donoghue clan at Glen
Flesk subsisted longer than the O'Donoghue clan at Ros. They were better able
to hide from the English in the wilds of the
Glen.
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KILAHA CASTLE
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The line of the O'Donoghues at Glen Flesk can be traced to today. In Ireland
I stayed at the bread and breakfast establishment of Mary and Donal O'Donoghue in Killarney. Donal
took me about all the O'Donoghue holdings at Glen Flesk and showed me the ruins
of the O'Donoghue Castle named KILAHA. This was quite exciting. I
was there with my wife, one of my daughters and a couple of friends.
Everyone got quite a kick out of how Donal O'Donoghue
and I both resembled each other. In addition to resemblance, our mannerisms
were incredibly similar. I brought back pictures and my mother mistook Donal for me. Many of the O'Donoghues in Killarney have short legs, their waists are closer to the ground then
most. That also describes me. We decided we had to be cousins. They had
traced their family line, both Mary and Donal were from separate O'Donoghue families.
Unfortunately their tracing went back no further than to the period of the
Penal Laws where records about Irish became sketchy. This was intentional,
calculated to circumvent the English. I have met the same problem in tracing my
Donohue roots.
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MIKE DONOHUE & DONAL O’DONOGHUE
AT O’DONOGHUE CEMETERY
IN GLEN FLESK
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My Family Donoghue, started in the United
States with Florence O'Donoghue who left Ireland
following the death of his wife, Ellen O'Connor. Both O'Connor and
O'Donoghue are important names in the Killarney area of County
Kerry. I was told in Ireland
the fact that an O'Connor and O'Donoghue were married would tie them to some
contact with Kerry. Although mostly in County
Kerry, I believe part of Glen Flesk
land stretches into West Cork
County. I have been unable to
determine where Florence or his three
sons came from. His three sons also come to America
with him, . They were Florence
(Jr.?), Timothy and our great grandfather, Peter. Another brother, John,
stayed in Ireland,
was purportedly a south seas island trader. He did
well, came back to Ireland, married a cousin, needed a dispensation for this,
settled in Cork, whether Cork City or Cork County I am not advised, and lived
out his days there.
Florence and Ellen also had a
daughter, Hannah. She is supposed to have gone to Australia.
In the 1860 census for the City of Hudson, Wisconsin, a Hannah Donohue, age 18,
is shown living with our great grandfather, Peter Donohue. Living with
him as well is a one year old daughter, Mary and an Anna Coughlin of age
60. At that time, Peter is shown as somewhat older than Hannah, more
years then in fact existed between Johannah Coughlin
Donoghue, our great grandmother and Peter Donoghue. This could be 18 year
old sister Hannah, it could be a mistake in age on the
part of the census taker. Johanna Coughlin Donoghue was born in 1840.
Most likely this is the reason. Anna Coughlin, obviously a mother-in-law,
was living there and the names Johannah and Hannah
can be the same.
The first record that I have of Peter in the United
States is the 1860 census. At this
time he appears living in Hudson, Wisconsin,
noted to be a laborer, noted to have a net worth of $35.00. He next
appears in the 1870 census living in New Richmond, Wisconsin. In the 1880
census he is living in Stanton Township
which is a farming area outside of New Richmond, living approximately 10 miles
from New Richmond. At that time, Florence Donoghue, shown to be of the
age of 89 years, is living with him. This is obviously our great great grandfather. He does not appear in the 1885
census so one might conclude that he died by that time. At the same time,
Ethel Lerohl, my aunt, recalls her father saying that one of her grandfathers
lived to over 100 years. I have her immediate grandfathers' ages at death
determined, none of which were anywhere near 100 years. This leaves the
possibility that it was Florence
who lived to the age of 100 years. I cannot find any record of this death or
burial.
Peter and Johannah farmed. Johannah
died in 1905. Peter died in 1907. Ethel remembers Peter as having a shock
of white hair. He visited them sometime between 1905 and 1907 in Melrose.
She remembers the visit. I learned from John Cunningham, the son of our
great aunt, Margaret Cunningham, that he recalls his mother talking about her
father one time saying the English could well have shoved the Irish right into
the sea had they chosen to. They didn't because the English were so good
they spared the Irish!. He doesn't recall
whether this was humor on Peter's part or whether it was a true assessment of a
strong liking for the English over the Irish. I would opt on the side of
sarcasm to describe this statement. However, some of the O'Donoghue in Ireland
had Tory leanings in the time of Elizabeth
and later. I also found some suggestion
that the Donoghue clan was protestant under Elizabeth.
This of course is not unusual in the turbulent Irish political history. The
knack the Irish to fight with each other, it is entirely possible that he Peter
Donoghue wasn't joking. They didn't lose this proclivity to squabble with each
other when they came across the sea. The other point John Cunningham
recalls is that his father always chided his mother that the Donoghues were "Corkmen."
I found John Cunningham in Milwaukee.
He is retired, in his 70's, I did not get a great deal of source material from
him, but I nonetheless enjoyed talking to him. His mother was a teacher
in the Cylon area where he grew up. Their farm
burned in 1929 and all family records burned with it. I was hoping
through him to perhaps see a family Bible to give information about lineage of
the family in that they lived close to the Peter Donoghue family.
Unfortunately if they had it, it was lost in the fire.
I am unable to find the grave sites of Peter and Johanna. I have been
able to establish that they are buried in the New
Richmond Cemetery.
I cannot find a burial site for Florence O'Donoghue. I did find
gravestones for Timothy Donoghue and his wife Katharine Mackin
Donoghue. They died in 1904 and 1905. Outside of finding our great great grandfather in the 1880 census, the only other
material I was able to find of him was found in a probate file in the St. Croix
County Probate Court. I found a file concerning a
proceedings to sell land obtained by my grandfather as a minor. I
discovered a deed in that file from Florence O'Donoghue to William F.
Donoghue. The land was obtained by my grandfather in 1880 and proceedings
for the sale of it were conducted in the same year. The land was sold for
$500.00. The land was in New Richmond, Wisconsin, and is now part of a
park. The land had been owned since about 1875 by Florence.
I obtained an abstract on it and found that he had purchased it subject to a
mortgage. The mortgage was paid, he then conveyed
it to my grandfather. I was able to obtain the original of the
deed. It was not necessary to the probate file. On petition the court
ordered accordingly. I now have that deed framed and proudly displayed in
my study. Florence signed the
deed with his "X." He could not right his name. Was this
because he was unable to read or write? Was his reading and writing limited to
Gaelic? Peter did sign in these proceedings. Obviously he could write his name, \ apparently Florence
could not. This was not unusual. For three centuries preceding their
immigration, it was unlawful for the Catholic Irish to have any
education. What education they received was in the Hedgerow Schools,
taught by dedicated teachers who would be executed if caught. The
Hedgerows were just that, the Schools were out in the fields, under the
Hedgerows where they could hide from the English and conduct education.
Florence Donoghue, the son, was supposed to have been killed in the Civil
War. I can find no trace of him whatsoever. I have been having the
National Archives searched and have found one Florence Donoghue who joined the
Union Army. He joined from Fond du
Lac and was discharged there. The information
shows that he resided at Waupon, in Wisconsin.
He lived in Waupon until the late 1870's when he
entered a veteran's home in Milwaukee
and died about 1912. It is shown that he was married and had one
son. It also shows that he was from Dunmanway
in Ireland.
I have had Dunmanway checked to see whether the
parish shows any Donoghues with names of our
ancestors at the times they were born. I know Timothy was born in 1825
and Peter was born in 1831. Nothing came of this search.
Timothy and his wife lived in New Richmond and appear in the 1880 and 1900
census in New Richmond. Burial certificates and headstones do exist and that
identification was easy. Timothy, among other things, worked as a
surveyor. He was supposed to have been quite a mathematician who would
not charge money for any of his mental work, believing that morally you are
entitled only to compensation from the work of your hands, namely, manual
labor. Timothy and Kate were supposed to be childless. The 1900
census indicates that they had no children. An entry for Kate's name indicates
“no children living or dead". A mystery arose when I looked up
Timothy's obituary in the New Richmond newspaper and read, he died in Michigan,
his body's return was accompanied by an Edward Donoghue and a Mrs. George
Sperry and her daughter Zulu all from Decatur, Michigan. I did some
digging and discovered an obituary in the Decatur,
Michigan, newspaper that indicated that
Timothy Donoghue had died at the home of his son Edward with whom he had just
come to live following spending the winter with his daughter, Mrs. George
Sperry. I obtained a death certificate and found this Timothy was our
great uncle, a surveyor, the son of Florence Donoghue who died leaving two
children. The informant for the death certificate was Edward
Donoghue. I have attempted to trace the Sperrys
and find they ended up in Lansing, Michigan
in 1910 and disappeared after that. I have had no better luck with Edward
Donoghue. I did discover that Zulu was born in New Richmond, Wisconsin in
1881. Mrs. Sperry's other two children are shown as having been born in
Wisconsin according to the census as well as indication of the same for Mrs.
Sperry whose first name is Mary. I have checked in the New Richmond area
to see if I can located more on Mary and George Sperry
and their three children, Edward G., Zulu and Lucille. I found no trace.
It is possible these children were adopted. If Timothy had the high moral
standard that prevented his taking money for work, it is paradoxical to believe
that he had children on the side. In the 1900 census it is indicated by
both Timothy and Kate that they had been married for 47 years. Census
records indicated that Mary Donoghue Sperry was born in 1858
Of the Peter Donoghue family, I have not completed the work I hope to
do. Of the children of Peter and Johanna Donoghue I know the
following: Mary Donoghue married a Fitzsimmons. I have had no
contact with any Fitzsimmons from New Rockford, Illinois where they live.
Katherine Donoghue married a Grinella. I have
had no contact with any Grinellas. George
Donoghue disappeared for years and was discovered by my grandmother, Mary
Graham Donohue, living in Seattle.
My grandfather did not have much contact with him after his discovery and
certainly had no interest in finding him before. Brother Arthur lived in Seattle
as well. There was very little contact with him. Sarah and Annie
Donohue ended up in Hollywood.
According to stories, Sarah had gone out to Hollywood
and had tutored various Hollywood star's
children. After retirement from the Minneapolis
School District, Annie went out and
joined her. At one point, the family went out to see
Annie and were not allowed to see her. She seemed under the control of
the chauffeur and a housekeeper. There was great concern about this
amongst her relatives, she died shortly after,
apparently penniless. She had a money before
this, so the story goes. Annie had been prominent in the Minneapolis
School District being one of the
people that put together the Public Employees Retirement Act in Minnesota.
A matter of interest is the education obtained by many of the Donoghues of this family. Margaret, Sarah, Annie and
my grandfather were all educated as school teachers. Family stories have
it that my grandfather received his teaching education at River
Falls Normal School.
I have checked with River Falls
and they have absolutely no record of either my grandfather or any of the other
siblings in the Peter Donoghue family. I was able to obtain a copy of my
grandfather's transcript from law school. Apparently my grandfather
taught school and cared for his family until 1894 when he left home intending
to go into the seminary, changed his mind after arriving in Minneapolis
and entered law school. I did learn in New Richmond, interviewing folks
there, that there was a teacher's school operated out of the Public School
System in New Richmond in the late 19th and early 20th century.
BY MIKE DONOHUE
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