Owen McCarthy

[nellyhogan]

My 2x great grandfather, Owen McCarthy (b. 1820) has on his headstone "born in Co Cork Ireland in the Parish of Dessert" Would that be The parish of Desert? Is that a Civil Parish? And how should I start researching? Thanks you

[wivenhoe]

Where is the headstone?    Where and when did Owen die?.

What is the full inscription on the headstone....for Owen and any other name.

[Kiltaglassan]

Would that be The parish of Desert? Is that a Civil Parish?

Most likely it is. Here's the civil parish of Desert, at Clonakilty in Co Cork.
https://www.townlands.ie/cork/desert/

KG

[Kiltaglassan]

The 1820’s is long before the start of civil registration of births in Ireland (1864) and quite early for some church records, so you'll need to see if any records survive.

Do you know what religion the family would have been in Ireland?

If RC then here are the church records for Clonakilty.
https://registers.nli.ie/parishes/0033

KG

[nellyhogan]

Thanks for the links! The family was RC. Owen died in 1883 in Detroit, Michigan. I only have a picture of his grave marker, I have never seen it in person. The only thing that is readable is his name, "Loving husband and father" and I was told "born in Co Cork Ireland in the Parish of Dessert" but can't make it out from the picture. His wife and brother's headstone are in the same shape. The burial records have him listed as James O. McCarthy which was really surprising as no one ever called him James.