1. On 7 October 1885, John Doolaghty, who on the official records was recorded as Delahunty, died at Corebeg. He was shown to have been married. His age was given as 85 i.e. born 1800. “Old Age” and “General Debility” was given as the cause of Death. His wife Bridget Delahunty was shown to have been present at the time of Death. From the enclosed copy of the said Death entry you will note that she signed her name with an ‘x’. The Civil Death Register gives John’s occupation as a tailor.

Death Certificate of Bridget Doolaghty

2. On 12 January 1893, Bridget (Glynn) Doolaghty died at the Workhouse in Ennis. She was shown to have been from Corebeg. She was described as a widow. Her age was given as 80 i.e. born 1813. “Senile Decay” was given as the cause of Death. She was described as the widow of a labourer.

Ennis Workhouse before demolition in 1970.
Bridget (Glynn) Doolaghty died here in 1893.

The only conflicting information here is that when John Doolaghty died in 1885 his occupation was given as a tailor, while on the Death Certificate of Bridget Glynn Doolaghty in 1893 she was shown to have been the widow of a labourer. However, from doing research down through the years we have found on several occasions that information given on official certificates re occupations can sometimes be inaccurate. It could of course be possible that John Doolaghty was in fact both a labourer and tailor.

The oldest official Census for Ireland dates back to April 1901. We duly examined this for Corebeg but we failed to uncover any mention of a Doolaghty/Delahunty residing in the townland at this period.

Also in the course of our research we examined the later Marriages and Death Registers for that area, but this search again failed to uncover any particulars on either Marriages or Deaths of any Doolaghtys in Corebeg. So it would appear that the family left the area.

Marriage Certificate of John Doloughty (Doolaghty) and Elizabeth (O’Connor)
Click on image for larger version

Coming back for a moment to the family of John Doolaghty and Eliza O’Connor the Baptismal Registers for the Parish of Doora-Barefield record the following children to the couple:-

Birth and Baptismal Certificate of Michael Doolaghty

The Church Registers for the Parish of Doora-Barefield in which the above children were baptised suggest that the Doolaghty family resided in the townland of Drumdoolaghty, which is an area of approximately 71 acres situated in the Parish of Doora. From the enclosed copy of the old Ordnance Survey Map you will notice that it is a townland adjacent to Tooreen.

Townland Map of the Area in Co. Clare where the Doolaghty Family lived
Click on image for larger version

The James Doolaghty who acted as a sponsor (god-parent) to Peter Doolaghty in 1872 was in all probability a brother/cousin of John Doolaghty. The Michael Doolaghty and Pat Doolaghty who later acted as sponsors (god-parents) to the younger Doolaghty children were in all probability your grandfather Michael and his brother Patrick as it was tradition in Ireland at that time that older members of the family would act as sponsors (god-parents) to their younger brothers and sisters.

Barefield Church, Co. Clare

It was a custom in Ireland at that time that sponsors (god-parents) were in the majority of cases close relatives of the family. So therefore we felt that it would be worthwhile examining the families that were listed above as sponsors in an effort to determine whether or not any connection existed between them and the families of Doolaghty’s and O’Connor’s, the following is what we uncovered:-
You will recall that at the baptism of Margaret Doolaghty in 1869 a Mary Sweeney acted as her god-mother. The Church Registers for the Parish of Doora-Barefield record a John Sweeney whose wife was Mary O’Connor. This couple were recorded having the following children:-

Unfortunately, at the baptisms of the above children the priest neglected to record the family’s townland address. It is very possible that the Mary O’Connor who is listed above as John Sweeney’s wife may in fact have been an aunt of “your” Eliza O’Connor. But of course owing to the age and condition of the existing records we cannot be 100% certain of same.

You will further recall that at Margaret Doolaghty’s baptism in 1869 one Thomas Roughan acted as her god-father. Our records show that a James Roughan was married to one Bridget O’Connor. This couple were recorded having the following children in the Parish of Doora-Barefield:-

Again it may well be possible that the Bridget O’Connor who was married to James Roughan may have been a sister of “your” Eliza O’Connor. On this occasion also the priest neglected to record the townland address of the Roughan family in the Parish of Doora-Barefield.

At Peter Doolaghty’s baptism in 1872 a Mary Clancy acted as a sponsor (god-mother). The records show that a Tom Clancy was married to one Bridget Doolaghty. This couple were recorded as having the following children in the Parish of Doora:-

At the baptisms of the above children the priest recorded the family’s address as Doora.

While the Bridget Doolaghty listed above could not have been a sister of John Doolaghty who was married to Eliza O’Connor, she may well have been his aunt. But again owing to the age and condition of the records we cannot verify this assumption.

Your records in New Zealand would seem to suggest that Eliza O’Connor was the daughter of one Peter O’Connor and Margaret Ryan. In carrying out our research we made a detailed survey of all available Marriages and Baptismal Registers for the County but after an extensive search through same I regret to report that we failed to uncover any mention of this union. This is probably due to the fact that the Church Registers for the Parish of Ennis do not commence until 1842 and even at this time they are riddled with gaps and omissions.

In your correspondence you made mention of a Casey family who are reputed to have been cousins of Eliza O’Connor. From a survey of both the Marriage and Baptismal Registers for Co. Clare we uncovered the following particulars on the family of Patrick Casey and Ellen O’Connor:-

Patrick Casey and his wife Ellen O’Connor were recorded as having 2 children in the Parish of Ennis:-

At the baptisms of the above children the priest again neglected to record information on where exactly in Ennis this family lived. Again it is quite possible that the Ellen O’Connor who was married to Patrick Casey may have been a sister of Peter O’Connor but of course the records are simply not old enough to allow us to establish whether or not this was the case.

I am enclosing with this report copies of old Ordnance Survey Maps highlighting the Parishes and townlands mentioned in addition to copies of articles on the Doora area taken from 1837 and 1987 publications. (Author’s Note: Doora also known as Dowry or Dowrie (Ordnance Survey, 1837).)

This completes our Research. I hope that you are happy with the results and should you have any further questions or indeed wish us to carry out some further research please do not hesitate to contact us.
Yours sincerely
Antoinette O’Brien