Mapping it Out

Cuteness alert!I have been trying to move past my current brick wall on my O’Connell line. I am stuck in the 1850’s in County Cork Ireland. From the index of my great-great grandfather, I knew that he was born in Garraveasoge, County Cork, Ireland1 The next question for me is, where is that? I have never been to Ireland and truly do not know much about it. Except, that I plan to visit someday.

I attended the Fox Valley Genealogical Societies meeting last Thursday with a few friends, hoping to learn something new to jump-start the research on this line. Paul Milner spoke to the group, his lecture was,  Irish Emigrants to North America: Before, During and After the Famine.

I spoke for a good hour and a half, at least. What I took away from this lecture is that you need to look at the time frame the emigrants left, it is an important piece of the puzzle and will help us move forward with our research. At the end of his lecture, Paul opened it up to questions and many were asked. I prefered to speak to him one on one. I have been sick with a bad cough and could hardly get through speaking without coughing.

When I finally had a few moments, I discussed with him my line; giving the details that I had and what I should do next. His response was simple, put them on the map. Go back to  Griffiths Valuation and find out where they lived. I have tried this before and had no luck in the past. Last night, I decided I was going to change that.

I went to Ask About Ireland to find Denis Connell on Griffiths Valuation. Once I did that, I looked to see where it states Denis lived. Again, it showed Garraveasoge, County Cork, Ireland. It states that his home was in section 2 A b2

Once I went to the map, it took me a good bit to find section 2 on the map. Once I enlarged the map, and pulled up a google map as well, I was able to find the townland of Garraveasoge on the Griffith’s map. I even found section 2, for which I did a small happy dance. But, I was not able to find the area’s that should be labeled A and b3 There are no markings in section 2 that would help me figure this all out.

So, where do I go next? I know that there are no Teahan’s in this area and no other Connell or O’Connell family either.

I did check out The Tithe Applotment Books to see if they would offer any assistance and it really did not. There is a CH O’Connell listed4, but this is 1827 and it is too large of a jump to say it could be a relation.


  1. Baptism of  John Connell index, IrishGenealogy.ie 

  2. Denis Connell (first in the list) , Ask About Ireland 

  3. Griffiths Valuation Map, Denis O’Connell, 2 A b, http://griffiths.askaboutireland.ie. 

  4. National Arhcives, Tithe Applotment books 

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12 Comments

  1. This looks like very difficult and painstaking research, which depends very much on whether others have kept accurate records. I admire your persistence. I copied the URL for Ask About Ireland, which I will use when I dare to start tracing our family back to their Irish roots (assumed, so far, but not proved). Thanks!

  2. Terri…on you on Facebook? We have a wonderful, whitty, very intelligent group on Facebook with The Cork Genealogical Society. They have a wealth of info and I have made some good friends in the process. Copy this post on the site and within 10 minutes you will have some more possibilities. Good Luck!

  3. The b indicates he had a house there in section 2A of the plot. You may also want to read up on this area in A Topographical Dictionary of Ireland, by Samuel Lewis, 1837 available in google books.

    Next step would be to see if you can find the family in parish records for this area.

    1. Thanks for commenting, I appreciate it. I know what it means, but the map does not have sectioned our into A or even the b. Which is what I was trying to convey. I do have information from an index for the baptism of my great-great grandfather, I have not requested the original yet (I do plan to soon).

      I will check out the book recommendation, thanks!

  4. You may also be interested in an article in the Irish Genealogist which is a publication of the Irish Genealogical Research Society Vol 9 No 3 1996 page 404 to 414 entitled ‘O’Connell of Cork’ by Lord Dunboyne. I haven’t read the article so I don’t know how relevant it is.

  5. Ireland in the 1850s was a great deal larger than it was today, in terms of transport and how difficult it is to relocate. Cork is the largest most southerly county here, it’s terrain ranges from mountain areas, fertile farmland to coastal towns. You will be amazed how quickly you will be able to travel between each of your ancestors townlands when you come to Ireland.

    1. I would be amazed if I could just get there. One of these days! I hope to be able to spend a good amount of time visiting.
      Thanks for reading and taking the time to comment.

  6. Hi Terri,

    You should post this problem on the Genealogy & Family History Stack Exchange Q & A site. It’s global and has some excellent problem solvers who love to tackle well-thought-out problems. Usually, the hardest part is getting people to explain their brick wall coherently, but you seem well able to do that, so just post your conundrum as a question and see what people come up with. http://genealogy.stackexchange.com

    : )

    1. Leanne,

      Thanks for taking the time to share the information about the Genealogy & Family History Stack Exchange website. I have actually been able to break this wall a bit more. There was an indexing issue, so I have been able to find a marriage record and more children for the couple. I have also been able to find a few siblings for the Denis and his wife, Ellen.

      Thanks again!
      Terri

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