Categories52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks

Michael John Corrigan

Erie CanalThe thirty-seventh ancestor in my 52-week challenge, is my paternal 4th-great-grandfather, Michael John CORRIGAN. He is the furthest back that Corrigan researchers have been able to track, as far as I know. Michael and his wife have a lot of descendants. Out of all of my lines, I have met and connected with more descendants of their’s than most others. Maybe their descendants just like to do genealogy more?

He was born about 1792 in County Tyrone in Northern Ireland. My notes say that he was married on 20 December 1816 in Killeeshil Parish in County Tyrone to Elisabeth Roseann NUGENT. Together, they had a few children in Ireland before something made them leave and come to North America in about 1823. Somewhere during or after this trip, my ancestor, William Corrigan was born. Records say he was either born in the United States and born “at sea.”

They may have come to North America to find work, as they spent a bit of time in New York, possibly helping to build the Erie Canal as the entry on Wikipedia mentions:

Many of the laborers working on the canal were Scots Irish, who had recently come to the United States as a group of about 5,000 from Northern Ireland, most of whom were Protestants and wealthy enough to pay for this caravan.

After that, they moved north and settled in the Brock Township in Ontario, Canada. By the time of the 1852 Canadian Census, they had moved to the Mara Township, which was close by.

While I don’t have exact sources for this information, a Corrigan researcher sent me this a few years ago:

There was a rebellion in 1837 in Ontario and Michael Corrigan was among many families guilty of treason. The majority of them were pardoned and allowed to return on parole for three years after paying a security bond. Briefly, the rebellion was led by William Lyon Mackenzie against the authoritarian system, which culminated early in December 1837 with a abortive attempt to take over the government in Toronto. He had farmers joining him from all over the providence. Most of the rebels were captured or ran away as their take-over was foiled by government troops.

On a list of prisoners held at Parliament House in Toronto, December 13, 1837 was Michael Corrigan along with 312 others jailed there. Michael was arrested January 6, 1838 some weeks after the rebellion was quashed. He was released May 12, 1838 and pardoned on finding security to keep peace and be of good behavior for three years.

Michael passed away on 7 September 1859 in Mara Township. It is assumed he is buried near his wife at Saint Columbkille Roman Catholic Cemetery, in Uptergrove, Ontario, Canada, but his headstone has not yet been found as far as I can tell.

This post is 37 of 52 in the “52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks” Challenge” begun by Amy Johnson Crow.

Categories52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks

Great-Grandpa King Niall?

The sixth ancestor in my 52 Week Ancestor challenge is Robert MORAN. Robert is my wife’s 3rd-great-grandfather on her paternal side.

moranRobert-possible
Possibly the same Robert Moran as it is labeled “Grandpa Moran” in the same album as “Uncle Chas and Uncle Gurley”, who are Robert Moran’s sons. – Monfort, Wisconsin library

Robert is listed as being born about 1820-21 somewhere in Ireland to Robert & Mary Ann (KNOTT) MORAN, though a few naturalization indexes list this as England, United Kingdom. By 1845, he has traveled from Ireland and settled in Granby, Shefford, Quebec, Canada. Here he marries Dorothea COOK on 5 August 1845. Robert and Dorothea’s first three children are born in Quebec. After that, they travel around a bit, having a child in Illinois, then, Iowa, and finally settling in southwestern Wisconsin where my wife’s ancestor, Charles MORAN, is born in 1864.

Dorothea passes away in 1872 and Robert remarries to a Margaret (KEARNS) ENYART. Margaret happens to be another one of my wife’s 3rd-great-grandmothers. Though, they have no children together, so the branches of the tree stay pretty straight.

Robert is also part of my wife’s father’s Y-DNA line and he has taken a DNA test with 23andMe. The Y-DNA haplogroup for him, and so also Robert, is R1b1b2a1a2f*. The interesting thing about that haplogroup is that it is part of study of one of the ancient kings of Ireland:

R1b1b2a1a2f2 reaches its peak in Ireland, where the vast majority of men carry Y-chromosomes belonging to the haplogroup. Researchers have recently discovered that a large subset of men assigned to the haplogroup may be direct male descendants of an Irish king who ruled during the 4th and early 5th centuries. According to Irish history, a king named Niall of the Nine Hostages established the Ui Neill dynasty that ruled the island country for the next millennium.

Northwestern Ireland is said to have been the core of Niall’s kingdom; and that is exactly where men bearing the genetic signature associated with him are most common. Genetic analysis suggests that all these men share a common ancestor who lived about 1,700 years ago. Among men living in northwestern Ireland today that date is closer to 1,000 years ago. Those dates neatly bracket the era when Niall is supposed to have reigned.

Most of the men who carry this haplogroup congregate mostly in part of County Tyrone in Northern Ireland and a few more in County Mayo to the west. This may help with future research of this MORAN line.

This post is 6 of 52 in the “52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks” Challenge” begun by Amy Johnson Crow.