Timothy Twohig and Cathe Sullivan Schull West/Rossnacaheragh

Hi,

I am looking for information on my great, great, great, grandparents Timothy Twohig and Cathe Sullivan married 6 June 1831 Schull West.  I have documentation for 5 children at the present time; 
 

Andrew Twohig                  29 March 1832               Schull West

John Twohig                      16 March 1834                Schull West

Mary Twohig                      1 July  1841                    Knockeens, Muintervara

Timothy Twohig                  December  1843            Knockeens, Muintervara

Catherine Twohig               26 June  1846                Knockeens, Muintervara
 

It appears Timothy Twohig and Cathe Sullivan moved to the Muintervara area between John’s birth and 1841 when Mary was born. I can’t find a Griffith’s Valuation for Timothy Twohig or any other Twohig’s in Kilcrohane, Durrus, or Schull no matter what variation of the name I use during the period 1846-1868. I have been able to bring up plenty of Sullivan’s in the Griffith’s Valuation in these areas though, not sure what’s up with this.

My great, great grandfather is Andrew Twohig, he married Mary/Maria (Houlihan) Twohig on 31 January 1857 Muintervara.  Mary (Houlihan) Twohig was born in Kiloveenoge  4  Sept  1835 parents Daniel Houlihan and Mary Croneen married 24 February  1827 Muintervara.  Andrew Twohig and Mary (Houlihan) Twohig lived at Maulnaskehy, Rossnacaheragh and had 9 children;

Timothy Twohig              19 December 1857   Maulnaskehy, Rossnacaheragh

John A. Twohig               2 March 1859           Maulnaskehy, Rossnacaheragh

Patrick Twohig              27 April 1861              Maulnaskehy, Rossnacaheragh

Catherine Twohig         14 January 1863         Maulnaskehy, Rossnacaheragh

Julia Twohig                 25 December 1864     Maulnaskehy, Rossnacaheragh

Andrew Twohig            20 February 1867        Maulnaskehy, Rossnacaheragh

Denis Twohig               18 April 1869               Maulnaskehy, Rossnacaheragh

Michael Twohig            21 October 1871         Maulnaskehy, Rossnacaheragh

Mary/Maria Twohig        4 October 1874         Maulnaskehy, Rossnacaheragh

Andrew Twohig and Mary (Houlihan) Twohig arrived on 24 May 1886 in New York City with their sons Andrew Jr. and Dennis; their passenger list identifying them as Andrew and Mary Sullivan, they made their way to Lincoln, Rhode Island where their 7 oldest children were already living and using the name Sullivan. Andrew's parents were listed as Timothy Sullivan & Catherine on his Rhode Island death certificate; however, there was no maiden name on the death certificate and Mary's father was listed as Daniel Holland on her Rhode Island death certificate, but no mother was given. I have found that Whelan translates as Houlihan and Holland is a variant of Houlihan; therefore, Mary’s family name is definitely Houlihan. 

Whelan:

anglicization of the Irish surname, ? Faol?in

Holland:

Irish: reduced Anglicized form of Gaelic ? h?ile?in, a variant of ? hAol?in, from a form of Faol?n (with loss of the initial F-), a personal name representing a diminutive of faol ‘wolf’.

Houlihan:

Irish: Anglicized form of Gaelic ? hUallach?in ‘descendant of Uallach?n’, a personal name from a diminutive of ?allach ‘proud’, ‘arrogant’.  (Holland is also considered a variant of Houlihan)

My Great, Grandmother Maria Twohig Dacey the youngest daughter of Andew & Mary Twohig told her grandchildren that she used to walk to Ahakista with the eggs from the Twohig farm to sell which verifies that the family lived in the Ahakista area.  I have a letter dated 1926 from a Mrs. Kate (Twohig) Arundel to "My Loving Cousin Julia" who is my great, great Aunt Julia (Twohig) Shunney whose sister is Maria Twohig Dacey my great, grandmother and she too mentioned to her grandchildren that the family name is "Twohig which is Gaelic for Sullivan" whether this is true or not is currently being looked into if and when new info on this becomes available it will be added. 

However; the information I’ve been able to find on Twohig and Sullivan is;

O'Sullivan (Irish ? S?ileabh?in or ? S?illeabh?in) or simply Sullivan;  (one-eyed or hawk-eyed)Variations on the name include: Sullavan, Sullivant, Sillivant, Silliphant, and Sillifant.  

Twohig derives from O'Tuathaigh which derives from Tauthach which means "Ruler" Variations on the name include: O’Twohig, O’Touhig, Twohig, Touhig, Touhy, and Touhey,

Which seem to indicate they are 2 diferrent names; yet I’ve found some peculiarities which suggest there might be a connection even if just a “local” or “regional” one.

A)  Griffith’s Valuation, I had no luck finding Twohig’s in Schull, Durrus, or Kilcrohane during the period 1864-1868 when the Valuations were being conducted and no matter which variant of Twohig I used there was nothing in these specific areas; however, a generic search for Twohig under just Cork brought up a very few Twohigs in other areas. However; a great many Sullivan’s come up in Schull, Durrus, and Kilcrohane during this same period and this seems odd as my documentation shows there were Twohigs there as well.

B)  The baptism record for Andrew Twohig and Mary Houlihan’s son Denis Twohig shows his parents are Andrew Twohig and Mary SULLIVAN; yet her maiden name is HOULIHAN and her married name is TWOHIG, so if Twohig & Sullivan are (2) two entirely separate and individual names there is no reason at all for using SULLIVAN; unless a mistake was made.

C)  The baptism record for John Twohig and Mary Donovan’s son, John Twohig Jr 30 March 1867 shows his parents as John Twohig and Mary SULLIVAN; yet her maiden name is Donovan and her married name is Twohig, again if Twohig & Sullivan are (2) two entirely separate and individual names there is no reason at all for using SULLIVAN; unless another mistake was made.

D) On the baptism record for John Twohig and Mary Donovan’s son Peter Twohig the Witnesses are Timothy SULLIVAN and Cathe SULLIVAN, my first thoughts are that these witnesses are the grandparents; as Andrew’s parents were listed as Timothy Sullivan & Cathe on his Rhode Island death certificate. They could be related somehow to only John’s mom Cathe Sullivan; however, “tradition” is the siblings of the baby’s parents are usually the witnesses not the parent’s aunts and uncles, but I’m sure there were more than a few exceptions to this.

John Twohig, married Mary (Donovan) Twohig on  24 February  1857 Muintervara and lived at Maulnaskehy, Rossnacaheragh and had 7 children for which I currently have documentation ;

AndrewTwohig        27 January 1858            Maulnaskehy, Rossnacaheragh

Denis Twohig          30 January 1860            Maulnaskehy, Rossnacaheragh

Timothy Twohig      13 February 1862           Maulnaskehy, Rossnacaheragh

Patrick Twohig        10 March 1864               Maulnaskehy, Rossnacaheragh

John Twohig Jr       30 March 1867               Maulnaskehy, Rossnacaheragh

Peter Twohig            6 June 1869                  Maulnaskehy, Rossnacaheragh

Jeremiah Twohig    21 January 1872            Maulnaskehy, Rossnacaheragh

Some of John’s children immigrated to England and then on to Canada.

Any information on Timothy Twohig and Catherine Sullivan’s family that anyone has will be greatly appreciated!

Thank you!     Maria

All baptism and marriage records mentioned can be found at www.irishgenealogy.ie  copies of the Arundel letter along with Mary and Andrew’s death certifcates can be furnish upon request.