Denis Uonhi (also Green and O'Sullivan) is my 3rd great grandfather. He was born around 1810 and lived in Ballydonegan, County Cork, Ireland. His wife, Margaret Lowney (1815-1865), was my 3rd great grandmother.
Ballydonegan is located in the townland of Allihies, County Cork, on the south western coast of Ireland.
By all accounts it is a beautiful area and is going on my bucket list of places to visit. Here are a couple of photographs of the countyside and coastline near Ballydonegan Bay.
View over Allihies. Ballydonegan Bay is on the left.
This next photo was included in a blog I discovered, GaiaInAction.blog.
Photo Credit: GaiaInAction.blog
The author writes beautifully about this Atlantic Coastine of Beara Ireland (check the link for some more photos too):
"Making a journey on the Beara peninsula in the South West of County Cork here in Ireland, is lovely any time of the year. Fresh air is always available, plenty of it. The coastal road gives magnificent views after every single bend. Here are some photos of one particular area, Ballydonegan bay, where Knocknagallaun hill and Eagle Hill make the landscape real interesting and beautiful with a wildness all of it’s own."
I was lucky enough to stumble on this genealogical information when I became aware of Riobard O'Dwyer's three volume tome, The Annals of Beara. O'Dwyer is an Irish genealogist whose knowledge of County Cork, Ireland genealogy (specifically the Beara Peninsula) is comprehensively stunning in scope and detail. It's truly outstanding.
Annals of Beara Volume I - Riobard O'Dwyer
On Page 397 of Volume I there is an entry for Denis Uonhi and Margaret Lowney, detailing their children. Not much is known about Denis himself other than that he was a tailor and his father was Eugene Uonhi (my 4th great grandfather).
The highlighted section talks about one of their daughters, Ellen. She was my 2nd great grandmother, Ellen Sullivan/Green. She was born in 1850 and died in 1938, as confirmed by the death certificate I obtained for her. She was also the mother (with her first husband, Michael Kelly) of the "Blind Cornelius Kelly" I have blogged about in the past. With her second husband, Patrick Hanley (1857-1923) , Ellen had Michael Hanley (1890-1964), my great grandfather.
O'Dwyer, a native of County Cork, Ireland, spent several decades documenting all the families in the area where some of my ancestors came from. Literally ALL of them. If there was a document about them, he found it. Without the detail about the "Hanley Boarding House" in Atlantic (Mine), Michigan I would not have been able to make this connection.
If you spend any amount of time looking through O'Dwyer's writings you will soon become overwhelmed. There are THOUSANDS of similar first and last names that make identifying any specific family with certainty quite challenging (e.g., Sullivans, Harringtons, Hanleys, O'Sheas ...). And don't get me started on the first names (e.g., Michaels, Johns, Margarets, Patricks...)!
There is not an easy way to search through these books. For a fee you can have access to digital versions of these books at American Ancestors. Unfortunately, however, only Volume I is indexed and searchable. You can only get access to images of Volume II and III.
I have all three volumes in print and, in some instances, it is like pouring over a phone book - not the most riveting, but the potential for surprise and accidental discovery is ever present!
You can check out the other books I have available for inquiries at The Psychogenealogist Library.
These books are a real special find for me. They've opened up many more avenues of genealogical inquiry to pursue.
Lastly, here is a special treat - a flyover video showcasing this beautiful part of the world. Enjoy!
This is the 25th of 52 weekly posts planned for 2018. It was inspired by the #52Ancestors writing challenge issued by professional genealogist, Amy Crow Johnson. The challenge: once a week, for all 52 weeks of the year, write about a relative in your family tree.
James J. Harrington (1892-1942) is my 1st cousin 3x removed. He was a life long resident of Butte, Montana. His parents came from the Beara Peninsula in County Cork, Ireland.