Philip P. McGovern

Gerry:

Welcome to Ireland Reaching Out!

There are no Philip McGoverns born in 1882 anywhere in Ireland ( at least looking at the civil birth records). There is an 1881 record for a Philip born in Cavan near the Fermanagh border. His father was Thomas which matches the name of one of his son's. Many enigrants changed their age when they came to a new country so possibly your Philip did also. Se efourth record on this link

https://civilrecords.irishgenealogy.ie/churchrecords/images/birth_retur…

Hopefully if you are using Ancestry records, I would look for Philip's death record. Ancestry has death records for the State of Pennsylvania up to around 1964. If you find his death record, maybe it will show his parent's names which will alow you to confirm/not confirm the record above.

Roger McDonnell

I was looking into this also, and I strongly suspect that your Philip was born in Philadelphia....there's a good match for him and Florence plus some of the children , and mother-in-law Anna Dowdle on the US 1930 census all with place of birth given as Pennsylvania.The census form indicates that both his parents were born in the "Irish Free State".

As far as I can see, based on the ages at marriage an a Philadelphia marriage Index, Philip & Florence married 1912, so in addition to the death record suggested by Roger it might be worth trying to locate their marriage cert which may include the names of their parents.

Edited - probable match for the family on the 1920 and 1940 census returns.

I had a look for Philip on the 1910 US census, but no sucess with that search so far, but was able to locate a promising match for him on the 1900 census - age/year of birth and location fit, Philip McGovern age 18 (born Feb 1882), with his parents Patrick & Catherine, and a number of brothers and sister to Philip. Philip and most of the other children are all listed as born Pennsylvania, but the eldest girl Kate and both parents show their place of birth as Ireland.

see : 1900 Census, McGovern Family, Ward 25, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (FamilySearch)

If that proves to be the correct family then it adds a very useful link back to Ireland.

I also located a possible birth for Kate that I think is worth keeping note of, see details below, although this needs further proof from US sources e.g. Catherine's maiden surname.

Birth of Kate McGovern, 28th May 1878, Swanlinbar sub-district, Bawnboy registraton district, Co. Cavan
  parents Patrick McGovern & Kate.... (I have not been able to make out Kate's surname or the townland yet..)
  the informant of the birth is Kate McGovern the mother, using her mark

The surname McGovern was most common in Cavan, so that fit's with the details you have, but there could be other McGovern couples in the area named Patrick & Catherine/Kate.. 

Thank you all so much for getting back to me so quickly! This is so much fun!  There was some controversy over whether or not my grandfather was born in America or came over as a young man. Through your efforts that controversy is laid to rest. Now I know he was born in the US. Thank you. My mother Catherine was born in Philadelphia. My Grandmother Florence's mother was a McVey from Philadelphia. And I do remember mention of an Aunt Kate. Shane, You mentioned the " Irish free state." What is that? And does it include Cavan? At this point, can we determine what parish?When my grandfather died in 1963 he was living in Richmond Hill, NY. In Queens county. So, Roger, I will look for death records for that area. Thank you. I forgot to mention that they were Catholic. But I guess you already figured that out.

Thank you all so much!

Gerry

Jumping in for Shane. See this link for background https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Irish_Free_State   and Co. Cavan was part of the Irish Free State.

Roger

The Irish Free State or Saorstát Éireann was established in December 1922 after the (first)  Anglo-Irish Treaty was signed after the War of Independence, at the same time as Northern Ireland was setup during partition.

The Irish Free State consisted of the 26 counties which now form the Republic of Ireland, all the counties of the provinces of Leinster, Munster & Connaught and three of the counties in Ulster - Cavan, Monaghan & Donegal. The remaining six counties of Down, Armagh, Antrim, Tyrone, Fermanagh & Derry/Londonderry became Northern Ireland and part of the United Kingdom.

I found the baptism for Kate/Cate in Corlough Catholic parish in West County Cavan on the 17th April 1878 with parents Patrick McGovern and Kate 'Kelaghan', unfortunately part of the page is damaged so I cant read the residence. The sponsors (godparents) are Michael .. and Mary Kelaghan. See the register image at this link (see the last entry on the right hand page - NLI Catholic Register Images)

Catholic Registers for Corlough are only available from the 1870s, but the related parish of Drumreilly Lower has some earlier baptisms back to 1867. Earlier births, marriages & deaths for the area would be included in civil records back to 1864.These parishes also cover parts of Co. Leitrim.

Hi! 

You people are amazing! I used this latest information to look on ancesrty.com for the marriage and death certificates for my grandfather. No luck.  I don't have an actual address where he lived or his exact date of death only the year, and the place where he is buried. After looking at Census documents, I feel confident that Patrick and Kate McGovern are my Great grandparents. I looked at the attachment of the baptism record of little Kate. I cannot make out the residence either. Do you think it would be on the ship's registry that took them to America? I have narrowed the time frame down to 4 years, between little Kate's birth in1878 in Ireland, and Philip my grandfather in 1882 in Philadelphia. I am going to go to the Ellis Island website to see what I can find. How many Patrick and Kate McGoverns would be traveling with an infant or toddler also named Kate? Hmm...

Thank you all so much!

Gerry

Kate's place of birth looks like it starts with 'Lau..' but there's no townlands in Bawnboy registration district that match. The birth was registered in the town of Swanlinbar, which was where the civil registration sub-district was based, so the birth would have taken place quite close to the town. I've attached a map of the registration offices, aka dispensary districts, for Bawnboy district below - Swanlinbar is the green marker located close to the border with Co. Fermanagh.

RootsIreland (pay-website) has a transcript of Kate's baptism in Corlough Catholic Parish and they have transcribed the residence as 'Leonanariagh' - and the best match for this is the townland of Lannanerriagh which is in Templeport civil parish and about 14km south west of Swanlinbar - see the placename database entry.

Hello Shane,

I really appreciate your efforts! I am so excited that you have narrowed down the search to an actual townland! Is Templeport the parish I would join on your site in order to connect with my living relatives in Ireland? And how do I pronounce Lannanerriagh? Is the gh silent? 

Thank you so much!

Gerry