McCusker McOsker

[Kat_C]

I have heard of several families of McCusker-McOsker going to Lowell, Massachusetts USA in the 1840's.  They were said to leave from Dromore.  My DNA ponits to possibly  Fintona.  My Patrick  was in Lowell by at least 1848 and left Lowell for Rhode Island in about 1852.  Does this parallel other  McOsker-McCusker families? 

[rathmore]

have you had a look on find my past

http://www.findmypast.co.uk

[Kat_C]

These folks were born before those records began, unfortunately.  However thanks for the tip.  I can no longer post on Rootsweb now that Ancestry took it over and changed it.  Perhaps this was due to heavy traffic this weekend, so i will try again.  One person there mentioned what seemed to be a group arriving in the 1840's to Lowell, so i was hoping some other family had known of this.

[rathmore]

ask about ireland

http://www.townlands.ie/tyrone/dromore/

[rathmore]

some of the records with be M'Cusker not Mc and it is also McCosker and McCusker

you could alway write to an local paper in Dromore asking for help.

[Kat_C]

Thank you again.  Most of my research has been in Co Armagh/Co Down on other names, so I am unfamiliar with Co Tyrone locations and surnames in that area.  I did a quick survey of Irish McCuskers maybe 15-20 years ago of the surname in Ireland, but DNA has narrowed the focus.  Of 14 McCuskers in Rhode Island, 8 were from Tyrone and 1 from Dromore which I took to be Co. Down at the time.  The others just said Ireland.  So tracing these family trees, if they now exist, as well as looking at Griffiths and maps at askaboutireland is the next step.  All my Irish have different spellings,  sometimes very different surnames like Cosgrove =McCusker, and make up birthdates, so that is not an issue.  I appreciate your ideas very much. 

[Kat_C]

Found the answer.  Hugh Cominsky of Dromore went to Lowell early on (1820's) and his family kept shuttling people to Lowell to work in the mill.  They may have even paid the passage as work was assured.  However, the conditions were not good, so many folks moved on.