Tipperary MacDonalds/McDonnels
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Distribution of
MacDonalds In a recent census, there were 2,600 McDonald families in Ireland. There were also significant numbers of variants of McDonald: McDonnell, McConnell and others, not all now demonstrably connected. Yet however the clan is defined, its numbers tend to be concentrated on the eastern shores of Ireland. With the few MacDonalds (and its variations) along the Shannon River & Lough Derg (Tipperary), it would suggest that the Tipperary MacDonalds share a common ancestor. McDonalds may be in Ireland as a result of gallowglass movement (ancient Scottish mercenaries), and some came as later immigrants. McDonald: 2,600 families Perhaps reflecting the mixed Scots-Viking ancestry of the clan, McDonalds are found all down the east coast, an area settled by Scandinavians and having several Scandinavian place names. McDonald, like Hill and Campbell, are less common than Ryan, Smith, O'Brien and other more prominent Gaelic surnames. And, as the map shows, McDonald is less common in the Irish heartland, much as it was 150 years ago. |
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he Archdiocese of Cashel & Emly has found two Margaret MacDonalds, born in Tipperary about 1820, and who would have been about 35 in 1856. Interestingly they are both from the same parish (Gortanhoe within Drom & Inch), which suggests that they were related to each other. This is the response from the Tipperary Genealogical Association:
"Single Baptism search on Margaret McDonald. We note that she was 40 years old in 1860 - this can often be incorrect so we ran a search for Margaret pre 1830 and came up with two possibilities, both for 1820 in Gortnahoe Parish. Not sure that this is your Margaret but we will attach for your information. Nothing else is found."
This parish is 35-40 kilometers from Newport, so we don't know how Edward Hill became acquainted with either Margaret. One hypothesis is that the Hill family had a very close relationship with the McDonnels (MacDonalds) of Newport, which is supported by the baptismal records (see Hill baptismal records). It is possible that the McDonnels (MacDonalds) of Newport were related to the MacDonalds of Gortanhoe, and we now know the Irish traveled great distances to visit friends and family. Another hypothesis, and probably more "romantic", is that Edward Hill may have met Margaret while serving in the Irish army. We know that he served in the military, however, we are not certain for which country (Ireland or America), although it appears more likely he served in the Irish Brigades. A final hypothesis is that we just don't have the right Margaret MacDonald's records. The genealogical society noted that Newport Parish is difficult to obtain records because some records are in their possession (archdiocese of Cashel & Emly) while other records are in the possession of the Limerick archdiocese. Years ago, baptismal and marriage records were not kept by the local parish - rather the parish priest owned the records, and they went with him when he transferred onto another parish. At some point we will try to contact Limerick, but unfortunately it is closed now.
As we don't know which Margaret is the correct one, both are provided for our records
Margaret McDonald Baptismal Records
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Drom & Inch Newport Parish (on upper left side of map) is directly west of Drom (Drom & Inch) Parish. Like many parishes in Tipperary, it has few towns, of which the major village is Toomyvera. The village of Toomyvera is 2-3 miles east of Nenagh, and like Newport were small towns in the 1850s. These distances would have been within normal traveling distance for the 19th century Irish. The civil jurisdictions are as follows:
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