My great grandfather, OWEN (or Eugene) McCARROLL, came from the townland of Corkhill, (or Corkill as many of the recorded records indicate) in the civil parish of Clogher, County Tyrone. He was baptised and buried in Eskra (Eskragh) R.C. graveyard. He married CATHERINE McCUSKER in Fintona’s R.C. chapel in Donacavey.
OWEN McCARROLL was the son of Owen or Eugene and Catherine, who were farmers in Corkhill; he was born about 1840 in Donacavey. When he married my great grandmother he was registered as Eugene, but he signed the register as Owen, and went by that name throughout his life.
CATHERINE McCUSKER came from the townland of Augharonan, also in Donacavey. They were wed on 25 June 1867 in my great grandmother’s church in Donacavey. Little is known of my great grandmother's family but we can make out a few facts about Catherine and how she existed.
Owen and Catherine had seven children: Ellen, b. 1871 - 1917, married Andrew BOGAN; Patrick (also known as The Yank), b. 1873 - ? (He appears to have been buried in the family plot at Eskragh); and, Thomas, b. 1875 - ? married to Catherine (Kitty) DALY (DALEY?) and emigrated to USA, perhaps from Newtownsaville.
Owen, b. 1877 - ?, and he married Brigid CONROY in Beragh, and lived in Curr. My grandfather was next: Michael Joseph (Mickey), b. 1879 – d. 1924. Then there were: Jane, b. 1871; and Hugh, b. 1883, both of whom lived in Corkill with their mother Catherine until her death in 1916.
When Patrick was baptised on 7 March 1873, the family name given was Owen CARROLL, and Catherine’s maiden name was McKUSKAR. We have no other record that this was a common practice, but it seems that in the States those that immigrated were known as Carrolls.
The family farm house in Corkill was there when I visited, but was removed about November 1982. I understand that the property is possibly owned by DEVINE family, who are also cousins.
Catherine McCusker's father was Patrick and she was born circa 1846 – 1851; she married Owen at "full age." (McCOSKER and McKUSKER may be variants of the name.) But, as is the case with most old Irish records, there is a discrepancy for the 1911 census lists herself as a 60 yr old widow while the 1901 census listed Catherine as a 45 year old widow. That may be the result of the old age pensions that went into place in 1908. She had a possible sibling: John McCUSKER of Legmaghery, but little is known of him except he was a single farmer.
My grandmother Agnes Bridget, or “Aggie,” was born around 1888 in San Francisco, California, USA to John AMOS GAFFIGAN (see another posting dealing with the Gaffigans on this site) and Maggie CRENNAN. My grandmother was described in the San Francisco Call Index upon her death as being Mary Agnes (Aggie) Bridget Crennan Carroll.
She left for Ireland when she reached majority, but we do not know if she accompanied Mickey McCarroll on that journey. But instead of being married in the Fintona area, where he chose to settle after residing in Omagh at least until 1914, they were wed on 25 June 1912, at St. Patrick’s Church in Dundalk, County Louth. We don't even know if they traveled together, or where in Ireland they landed, or where they stayed before they left for County Tyrone.
Michael Joseph Carroll had migrated to California in 1887, aboard the Etruria, to join his brothers in San Francisco: Thomas and Patrick, who had become USA citizens. In 1904 he also gained US citizenship. After sometime in the Bay Area he then returned to Fintona to get married and begin a family in 1912. There is some speculation that he was ill in California and returned to Ireland because of that reason, and had recovered.
Mickey became a publican/auctioneer/seller of shoes and coffins on Main Street in Fintona (the pub owned by the late Mr. Francis McAtee). Michael and Agnes had a number of children, including my father: Michael Joseph, b. 25 March 1914 in Omagh; Patrick Eugene, b. 1915 who passed away after three days; Mary Catherine (who became Maura when she migrated to the USA), 1917 and passed away in 2004; Thomas Leo, b. 1918; Bernadette Anthony, b. 1919; and, Kevin Barry, b. 1921.
There was some gossip that he purchased the public house in Fintona from his mother's estate or from some relative of the McCuskers. And then there were stories that the family was to return to San Francisco when he became ill and passed away.
My grandfather, Mickey McCarroll, was to pass away at age 44 in Omagh. After they had sold the pub in Fintona’s main street, my grandmother packed up the children and she returned to San Francisco. Their voyage was on the S.S. Cameronia, a Lloyd’s mail ship which left from the Clyde in Scotland and picked up passengers at Moville, near Derry.
