Hello! I am not sure that the Donegal board is where I should be, but I have reasons for starting here.
I am trying to find the records/birthplaces of my ancestors Michael McCool (born approximately 1835 according to his DC; immigrated to NYC around 1864 with his sons John age 5? and Michael age 2?) and Catherine Gatins/Gettins/Giddens. Her name is spelled differently on lots of different records. She was born approx. 1837 and immigrated with her husband and sons around 1864. They are on the 1865 census in NYC. They also had 3 more sons in the US.
Michael's DC has no useful info other than his age. Catherine's lists her father's name as Michael Gittens and her mother's name as Mary Gillespie. Of course, they both list Ireland as place of birth.
I have chosen to focus on Donegal for this reason: searches of a surname map from Irish Times show that the names McCool and Gillespie are far more common in Donegal than in other counties in Ireland. There is no Gatins, but there were two hits for Gettins in Donegal.
I have a birth record for a Michael McCool on 15 Jun 1834 (from rootsireland.ie) in Clonmany/Tullnabratilly. I think Michael and Catherine were Catholic; Michael's grandson was married in a RC church in Manhattan, though he did marry a Presbyterian woman, and his son (my grandfather, by the way
was an active Presbyterian.
I'd like to do further searching. Furthermore, I will be in Ireland - yes, Donegal, too - next month, but I won't have much time because I'm on a family trip. Any thoughts on my next steps?
Thanks!
Wendy