Scannell, County Cork? to Boston c 1870s
Like some of you, I married into this family.My husband's grandfather was John Joseph "Jack" SCANNELL, b 08 Sep 1860.Family tradition says this was in Fermoy, County Cork.I am unable to find *anything* to confirm this and now wonder if I have the wrong city or county.??
Researching Scannell in Ireland is like researching Smith, Jones, or Thomas in the US and because of patronymic naming patterns (or something), they all seem to be named John, Patrick, Daniel, James, and Cathrine, Margaret, or Frances for the ladies.This is enough to give one a headache!
There is a huge concentration of Scannell families in County Kerry, with a smaller concentration in Cork, and one Irish Genealogical Lecturer told his eager audience that the families simply DID/DO NOT move around in Ireland as they do in the states.??
My John Patrick came into the U.S. sometime before 1881 because he enlisted in the military here that year.I have a *nearly* complete file, including documentation on his life and family of 10 children (Ellen Kathleen, Julia Fay, Miles Joseph, Mary Ethel, Wesley M, Chandler Hubert, Grace Elizabeth, Ida Gertrude, Marguerite Frances and John Patrick) from this point forward.
Family tradition (again) says John Joseph's younger sister, Margaret Frances (what else could it be) came a few years later.She made her home in Boston where she married Thomas Joseph CURRAN, lived her entire life and is now buried there.
Her descendants tell me she and John Joseph had only one other sibling, a child who died young.Their father was said to be Thaddeus "Tate" Scannell, a carpenter, and their mother was Catherine Frances MACKGEHAGEN, a loyal Scot.(Well, Mackgehagen does not appear in any form or variant using any spelling in any listing of Scotish or Irish surnames in any library or historical facility, or on the web.)Margaret Frances supposedly gave this name to her daughter when she was very ill and not expected to live much longer.I have tried every phonetic sound I can think of, in hopes the daughter simply wrote what she heard, and cannot find this woman in Ireland or Scotland.
Any correspondence, ideas, and/or help with Irish research will be greatly appreciated.Should there be a cousin out there who is interested in my information, I am happy to share.
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Scannell & Leary from Cork to Boston c1890s
Ellen Nunes 5/25/07