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PATRICK DARGAN AND ANN FLYNN
 
PATRICK DARGAN (DORGAN) was born on a farm in Ballybraher, Ballycotton, Parish of Cloyne, County
Cork on or about 1830. His father, whose name we do not
know, leased this farm from Thomas Garde Durdin, a Protestant
landowner who died in 1867. This was the era between the Penal
Laws (1690s) and Roman Catholic Emancipation (1829). Catholics were not
allowed to "own" land nor "vote". Thomas Garde Durdin owned many
acres of land that he leased to the tenant farmers.
All five
children of Patrick DARGAN and his wife, Ann Flynn, were born on the
farm in Ballybraher. Ann Flynn may have come from
Ballyandreen. There are Flynn's in that area today. In the
records, Ann Flynn is known as Ann, Johanna, and Nancy Flynn, Flinn,
and Fling. She is buried with her husband at Ballymacoda "Hill
Top" Cemetery near Ladysbridge, East Cork.
My
Internet friend, Jerry Kelly, tells me that Ann Flynn's maiden name in
Irish was Ní Fhloinn = 'Granddaughter of Flonn'. Flonn is a
variant form of Flann which means 'ruddy' as in a ruddy
complexion. Again, 'of' is actually included in the word Floinn
by the insertion of the "i".
Here is an account of the times of Patrick DARGAN. Patrick leased the land
in Carrigkilter from Thomas Garde Durdin. Thomas
Garde Durdin would arrive in East Cork from England each year to
collect the rents. While in Cork he stayed at one of his estates:
Shanagarry "Castle" or Sunville House. Patrick paid Thomas
Garde Durdin 24 English pounds, 15 Shillings, and 0 Pence
annually for 14 Acres, 0 Roods, and 5 Perches (Property 8A) and 10
Acres, 3 Roods, and 25 Perches (Property 8B) in
Carrigkilter according to Griffith's Valuation of Tenements,
Parish of Ballintemple (Churchtown) in 1853. That was a sizeable
amount in those days.
Dave Clements, an internet friend, tells an interesting story about the Durdins. Many people believe that the Durdins were descended from the William Penn family, the founder of Pennsylvania. They were not. They obtained ownership of part of the Penn estate (Shangarry Castle) only by marriage and a 30 year lawsuit. The following is a brief outline
Alexander Durdin (1712-1807), father of Michael and grandfather of Thomas, married 4 times. His 3rd wife was Ann Vaux Penn, the estranged wife of William Penn and potential heir to 1/4 of all the Penn family holdings in Ireland and America. Alexander Durdin was a Dublin lawyer 1767 when Ann Vaux came looking for help to support her claim to the inheritance. Two months later, they were married and 2 months after that she died leaving Durdin as her heir. He then proceeded with a lawsuit that continued through the American Revolution to get a share of the moneys. Part of what he obtained was Shangarry Castle and 1/2 the estate.
Durdin also managed to get possession of Huntington Castle in Carlow. A Durdin family still lives there.
Alex Durdin, married a 4th time and had 10 or 12 children (different versions exist). Thomas Garde was eldest son of Warham the eldest son of Alex.
Michael was the youngest son and the only child for whom Burke’s does not list a wife or residence. We don’t know what happened with Michael but by 1851 he and his wife Mary Jane Adams and his children are in Canada. His two sons are listed as a carpenter and a tailor. His daughter is married to an farmer who had emigrated from Wicklow.
The previous tenant was Maurice Cusack. He went bankrupt and Patrick DARGAN later leased the same land about 1855.
In the 1855 Landlord Index of “County Cork Encumbered Estates” (Volume
4, FHL Film No. 25883), Thomas Garde Durdin, Esq. sold his land
holdings at auction on 19 June 1855. At the time he held the
“Lands of Killderrig, Carrigkilter, Coalvodig otherwise Sunviille,
Ballybraher West, Snugborough, Ballyronahan, Ballybraher East,
Ballinamona, and part of Shanagarry - 19 June 1855 - (lot maps).” His total land holdings amounted to a sizeable 935 acres, 1 rood and 10 perches for which he was valued (taxed) 749 English Pounds.
This is the date that Patrick Dargan “bought” his farm ... a farm that
he had formerly “leased” from Thomas Garde Durdin. This is the
first recorded Dorgan “deed of sale” since the English Reformation of
the late 1500s. I have sent for a copy of this deed fom the
Dublin Archives.
Patrick DARGAN'S yearly rent was 17 English Pounds for the land and 1
Pound, 5 Shillings for the buildings. If he improved the land,
the rent would increase each year.
Thomas Garde Durdin died in 1867.
In the 1880s, the Land Reform Acts went into effect sponsored by
Michael Davitt of the Irish Parliament and later by Charles Stewart
Parnell a member of the House of Commons of the English
Parliament. The Land Acts sought reform in three areas called the
three F's: Freedom of Rent, Freedom of Tenure and Freedom from
Eviction without trial. Amazingly, the Protestant landowners
peacefully went back to England in the 1880s and 1890s never to return
to their estates. The tenant farmers continued to pay their rents
to the State in the 1880s and 1890s. After the 1920s the State
made these tenant farmers the actual "owners" of the lands they once
leased!
Patrick DARGAN
bought the DORGAN Pub in Cloyne, East County Cork in 1865 and it
remained in the DORGAN name until it was sold in1998. It is now
known as “Aunty Biddie’s” although the DORGAN name remains on the
marquee.
ANN FLYNN
Johanna Flynn
appears in the records as Ann, Johanna and Nancy Flynn (Flinn and
Fling)! She was most likely from Ballyandreen. There are
Flynns still represented there. She is most likely buried in the
ancestral Dorgan cemetery at Ballymacoda Hill Cemetery, Shanagarry,
East Cork where the name Johanna appears on one of the two gravestones.
There is a church baptismal record that Patrick and Nancy (synonym for
Ann and Johannah) Dorgan were the godparents of Michael John Shinnick
who was born December 18, 1873 in Ballycatoo, Midleton, Cloyne, County
Cork. He was baptized in St. Colman's Church, Cloyne on December
20, 1873. His parents were John Shinnick of Ballycatoo, East County
Cork and Elizabeth Dorgan of Ballybraher, Parish of Cloyne, East County
Cork. John Shinnick and Elizabeth Dorgan were married about
1872. Elizabeth Dorgan was the daughter of Patrick Dargan and Ann
(Nancy, Johannah) Flynn.
Michael Flynn
may have been the father of Ann Flynn. There is only one Richard and
one Michael “Fling” on the 1855 Grifith’s Valuation of East Cork. There
is no Flynn or Finn. Richard never appears as a given name in the
Dorgan Family. But Michael is the second born of Patrick Dargan and Ann
Flynn. This follows the Irish naming pattern. The second-born male
child was named after his mother’s father.
When
Patrick DARGAN died before 1886, he gave the farm to his eldest
son, David DORGAN. David DORGAN and his wife Elizabeth Ahearne
had no children. But, David Dorgan and Elizabeth Ahearne took in
David's nephew, John Healy (his sister Mary's son) and Elizabeth
Ahearne's niece, Margaret Grahame (her sister's daughter).
John Healy and Margaret Grahame were married before living with
David Dorgan and Elizabeth Ahearne. It was an "arranged"
marriage. They had five children: Elizabeth, Jerry and David
(twins), John Christopher, and James. All five children never
married. Elizabeth, David and John Christopher are still on the farm in
Ballybraher. James died in 1994 and Jerry died in July 2003.
CHILDREN OF PATRICK DARGAN (DORGAN) AND ANN FLYNN:
1. DAVID DORGAN was
born about 1853 in Ballybraher, Ballycotton, County Cork, Ireland. He
married Elizabeth Ahearne who was born about 1853. They are
buried in the Mogeely Cemetery, East Cork.
The Irish Census of
1901 lists David as the "Head of the Household" in Carrigkilter,
Ballycotton, County Cork, Ireland. All persons living in his household
were listed as "Roman Catholics". According to the census, his house
had three rooms in which four people lived: David, a "farmer", age 48;
his wife, Elizabeth, age 48; his "Farm Servant", Jeremiah Cronin, age
23; and his "General Servant Domestic", Mary Hassett, age 22. Some of
the descendants of Jeremiah Cronin and Mary Hasssett still live in the
area, but they are no relation to the DORGAN family.
This
information was given to me by Brendan Sisk of Castlemary, Cloyne, Co.
Cork, Ireland in an e-mail dated October 6, 2000. Brendan actually
researched this information using the microfilm copy of the 1901
census. I also corroborated this information with Pete Morrison of
Churchtown South, County Cork and Mrs. Jo Cashman of Knockglass,
Ladysbridge, Castlemartyr, County Cork. They have been an immense help
to me tracking down the sources.
David
Dorgan and Elizabeth Ahearne did not have children. However,
David Dorgan took in his sister Mary's son, John Healy. His wife,
Elizabeth Ahearne, took in her sister's daughter, Margaret
Grahame. John Healy and Margaret Grahame were married at the time
they arrived at David Dorgan and Elizabeth Ahearne's farm. It was an
arranged marriage. They had five children, all of whom were
unmarried. In April 2005, three of them are still living on this
property: John Christopher, David and Elizabeth Healy.
David is buried in Mogeely Cemetery. The
inscription on the headstone reads: "Erected by Elizabeth to the
Memory of David her husband who died August 1917" David was 64 when he
died.
2. MICHAELDORGAN was born
about 1855 in Ballybraher, Ballycotton, County Cork. He married Johanna
Garde on 17 May 1880 in Saint Colman's RC Church, Cloyne, East
Cork, Ireland. She was from Ballynamona, Shannagarry, County
Cork. They are buried in the ancestral DORGAN Cemetery called "The Hill
Cemetery", Ballymacoda, Shanagarry. Johanna is listed as
Mrs. Dorgan, Vintner, on the 1914 Guy’s Postal Directory of Cloyne.
Michael
owned the famous DORGAN (O'Dargain) Pub in Cloyne, County Cork, which
he inherited from his father, Patrick. Patrick had bought the pub in
1865. It was sold in 1998 and is now called "Aunty Biddy's".
 
They had four children:
1. Lena married William (Billy) O'Brien and had no children.
2. Mary married Billy's brother, John O'Brien and had no children.
Yes,
the sisters Lena and Mary Dorgan married the brothers William and John
O'Brien! The O'Brien brothers were called the "Early Briens"
because they showed up early for any event!
3.
Patrick married Ann Mellerick (Millerick) from Kilcreden, Ballymacoda,
East Cork and died 3 September 1931. They had five children:
1. Ann
 
2. Michael immigrated to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
 
3. Ellen
4. Philip
5. Liam married Mary Harney and they have five children. Like
his father, Patrick, and his grandfather, Michael, Liam was the owner
of DORGAN'S (O'DARGAIN'S) Pub in Cloyne. The pub is no longer in
the Dorgan name. It is now called "Aunty Biddy's".
 
1. Theresa married Daral Cahill and has three children.
 
2. Michael married Ellen Dooley and has two children.
  
I want to give a special thanks to
Michael (Micky) Dorgan for sharing information and photographs of his
extended
family in Ireland. Please visit his Website at: http://www.mdorgan.utvinternet.com/index.htm.
3. Ann married Brendan Barry and has two children.
   
4. Liam
 
5. Colm married Julie Kirby and has two children.
  
4. William (Bill) married Susana (Cissy) Heffernan. He died 4 March 1924, and had 5 children:
Michael, deceased
Veronica, deceased
John George, deceased
William, living at Birmingham, UK
Lillian, deceased
3. MARY DORGAN was born about 1856 in Ballybraher, Ballycotton, County Cork.
Mary DORGAN married Jeremiah (Jerry) Healy of Lisanley, Cloyne, County Cork and had five children:
John, born about 1880, married Margaret Grahame, born about 1880 and died March 1958.
Patrick (Pad) married an unknown woman and had four children: Mary Frances, Helen, Unknown and Patrick.
Michael (Mick)
Ann never married.
Mary
married Maurice Meaney of Aghada, County Cork. They had one son
killed in WWII and a number of unknown daughters.
4. ELIZABETH DORGAN, born about 1858 in Ballybraher, Ballycotton, County Cork.
Elizabeth DORGAN married John Shinnick of Ballycatoo, Cloyne, County Cork. They had nine children:
Michael John Shinnick
 
Patrick Shinnick
Elizabeth Shinnick
Hannah Shinnick
Richard Shinnick
John J. Shinnick
Timothy Shinnick
Annie Shinnick
Edmund Shinnick
I am indebted to Tom Shinnick for most of the information about the family of Elizabeth Dorgan and John Shinninck.
See the link, Genealogy, for an extended look at this family.
5. PATRICK J. DORGAN was
born April 26, 1861 in Ballybraher, Ballycotton, County Cork, Ireland
and died December 9, 1937 in Cranston, Rhode Island. He
married Mary Catherine Hartnett of Garryvoe, Ballycotton, County
Cork. They are buried in Rhode Island.
THE SOURCE OF INFORMATION FOR PATRICK J. DORGAN IN IRELAND
Below
is a letter I received, dated 25 May 2004, from Mrs. Jo Cashman of
Knockglass, Ladysbridge, Castlemartyr, Co. Cork, Ireland.
I have transcribed it as she wrote it, except that I have capitalized all names.
I
had originally contacted Pete Morrison through a genealogy
Internet-friend, Ed Duggan, who has visited many times the townlands of
our ancestral DORGAN family, especially Ballybraher, Ballycotton,
Shanagarry, Churchtown South, and other surrounding areas.
Pete Morrison asked Mrs. Jo Cashman to write down his recollections of the DORGAN family.
Pete Morrison wrote this and appended it to Mrs. Jo Cashman's letter:
Churchtown South,
Cloyne,
Co. Cork
25-5-04
Dear Bill,
Just
a few lines in reply to your letter. I met with a friend, Mrs. Jo
Cashman and she wrote out the information. As you can see my writing is
not the best. I hope what were sent you will be of use.
Yours sincerely,
Pete Morrison
This is Mrs. Jo(hanna) Cashman's letter:
Knockglass, Ladysbridge
Castlemartyr
Co. Cork
Ireland Eire
My Dear Bill
Some time recently PETE MORRISON received a letter from you re family tree. Enclosed is some of the information I have for you.
DAVID DORGAN lived in Ballybraher & married Elizabeth Ahearne & no family.
DAVID (DORGAN) brought his nephew JOHN HEALY (his sister Mary's son).
Elizabeth brought her niece MARGARET GRAHAME.
Then JOHN HEALY & MARGARET GRAHAME married.
They had family as follows: ELIZABETH, JERRY and DAVID twins, JOHN CHRISTOPHER and JAMES. All unmarried.
ELIZABETH, DAVID & JOHN CHRISTOPHER are still in Ballybraher & JAMES died 10 years ago & JERRY died last July.
The
over said brother DAVID (DORGAN) had a brother MICHAEL DORGAN who
bought a pub in Cloyne, was married to a Guard woman from Ballynamora,
Shanagarry & had four in family: LENA (DORGAN) married BILLY
O'BRIEN, MARY (DORGAN) married BILLY'S brother JOHN O'BRIEN and neither
had family. PATRICK (DORGAN) married a Mellerick woman & had family
of five & BILL (DORGAN) in Cork (City) unmarried. (This information
has since been updated!)
The above DAVID & MICHAEL DORGAN
(brothers) had a sister ELIZABETH (DORGAN) married JOHN SHINNICK,
Ballycatoo, Cloyne & had 3 in family: EDMUND, ELIZABETH &
HANNAH. Another sister, MARY (DORGAN) married to JERRY HEALY, Lisanley,
Cloyne (parents of the JOHN HEALY who married MARGARET GRAHAME whom I
already mentioned). The above JOHN HEALY had a brother PAD & MICK
HEALY (Patrick and Michael Healy) & sister ANN (HEALY) unmarried
and a sister married to MEANEY, Aghada.
DAVID DORGAN &
MICHAEL DORGAN, ELIZABETH SHINNICK & MARY HEALY were brothers and
sisters of your great grandfather, PATRICK J. DORGAN.
MARY
CATHERINE HARTNETT came from Garryvoe & had brother JAMES
(HARTNETT) in Garryvoe who was married to MARY COLEMAN, Maytown,
Ballycotton & had (a) son MAURICE (HARTNETT) & two daughters
HANNAH (HARTNETT) and MINNIE (HARTNETT). They (There) may be other(s).
I don't know of that family.
PATRICK J. DORGAN left Ballybraher
& moved to Carrigkilter (a mill down the road). In later years
DANIEL O'CONNELL from Co. Kerry bought the above farm & it has now
changed to new owners.
I do hope this little bit of information is of some help & do hope to hear from you sometime.
God bless from,
(Mrs.) Jo Cashman"
During
my trip to Ireland in April 2005, I met with Mrs. Jo Cashman and Pete
Morrison. They were delightful and full of Dorgan information
which I devoured and savored.
THESE FOUR PHOTOS WERE TAKEN BY MY FATHER'S FIRST COUSIN PATRICIA MAGUIRE IN MAY 1972:
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