We do not have a record of the marriage of Denis Donovan and Julia Houley or indeed baptismal data for any of the children born to them before Mary in 1833. The Church records for the Catholic Parish of Kilmacabea are only available from June 1832 so any baptisms and marriages prior to that date are not available. However from family lore we understand that they had the children listed below and possibly more.
The Wholey name was first recorded in northern England where they held a family seat in Cheshire, Lancashire and Yorkshire. Later some moved to Ireland. The name was adopted by some O'Driscoll families located in County Cork. It is worth noting that the surname has a variety of spelling versions including Wholley, Wholey, Whooly, Whooley, Whorly, Houley, Houly, Hooly, Howley and Hooley to name but some.
Children born pre available baptismal records:-
John Donovan, c. 1824
Peter Donovan, 3 Nov 1824 from death record
Bridget Donovan, died in Ireland
Patrick Donovan, 17 Mar 1829 from other record
Joseph Donovan, c. 1830. Joseph died in San Francisco
Margaret Donovan, c. 1832
Children born in Corran, Leap and baptised on dates shown in Leap Church:-
Mary Donovan, 1 Jan 1833. Sponsors: Jerh Donovan, Cate Donovan
Denis Donovan, 23 July 1835. Sponsors: James Walsh, Bridget Donohue
Julia Donovan, 25 June 1837. Sponsors: Pat Donovan, Mary Walsh
James Donovan, 14 Sep 1841. Sponsor: Nancy Walsh
Michael Donovan, 14 Sep 1841. Sponsor: Mary Hooley
In the Tithe Applotment Books for Carron (Corran) dated 1829 we see Denis Donovan Scartha had 70 acres of land, valued @ 3s 5d per acre giving a total value of £12 0s 0d and a Tithe of 12s 0d.
Various nicknames were used after Donovan to distinguish different families in an area with similar surnames. These nicknames are called 'agnomens'. Agnomen names used by Donovan clans include Scartagh, Reagh, Baid, Island, Donn, Dhiel, Bawn, Rossa, Blackstaff and Mountain.
The family moved to the United States likely in the famine era
DONOVAN FAMILY by Katherine (Donovan) Porteus
Denis and Julia Donevan lived in the Parish of Skibbereen in County Cork, Ireland, they were the parents of 11 children. Peter, our great grandfather, was third eldest, and came to America at the time of the great famine in Ireland. He landed in Boston in 1848. As soon as he could save enough money, he sent it home for another family member to come, and they did the same. They say the Irishmen built the railroads in this country, and that is what Peter did. He worked as a section-hand and boss, as the railroad was built from Boston through to Littleton. He first lived in Bradford, then Rummey and Plymouth, then in Littleton. He bought a farm 2½ miles from Littleton, in Bethlehem, on May 8, 1871, and he died there Nov 21, 1885. He had become a U.S. citizen in Nov. 1858.
At the time of the civil war he thought surely he would have to go, even though they had 4 or 5 small children. One night he came home from work, and was sure he would have to go the next day. His wife sat up all night, getting his clothes ready -- there were no sewing machines or ready-made clothes in those days. Everything for the whole family was sewed or knit by hand. But he never did have to go, and they were forever thankful.
He never smoked or drank, and became a well-to-do farmer, to those rocky hills, He had built a new barn and repaired the house when his health failed. He had Bright's disease. John was 21, Joe was 19, and Katherine, 10. The family was deeply religious, and very close to the Plymouth folks--the children being like brothers and sisters, rather than cousins. Some of the other Donovans went to Calif. At the time of the gold rush.
Julia Wholey, wife of Peter, was from the same county in Ireland. Her mother died when she was very young, Her father married again and she never liked the step-mother, so she came to America with an Aunt. She had a full sister, Ellen, who died in Ireland. She, Julia, came to America in a sailing vessel, bound for Boston, They were 17 weeks crossing, were almost shipwrecked, and landed at ST. John's Nova Scotia. They finally went from there to Boston, she was born in 1835, married in 1851, so must have been quite young when she came over.
Denis, the third child of Peter and Julia (Whooley) Donovan, our grandfather, was born in 1856. He visited an aunt in Claremont Iowa, where he met Catherine Garvey. He lived in Streeter, Illinois in 1881 and cane to Sioux Falls in 1883, where he owned a meat market. He married Catherine Garvey in 1887. In 1888 he lost his market, due to the panic of ‘88. He then went into the hide business, working for 9 years to Wider and Blum. He then went to work for Bolles and Rogers of Chicago. He was a pioneer traveling man in the state of South Dakota, traveling for 25 years, until his eyesight began to fail. He then became office manager to Bolles and Rogers, until his death in 1928.
Denis and Catherine had 10 children, 2 of who died in infancy.
This information, about the great-grandparents, is from a latter written by Katherine (Donovan) Porteus--sister of Denis, she was the last of the family to die.
It is interesting--facts-from her setters--there were two sets of twins in the great-grandparents family. We now have several in the descendants families--Canoy--Watson—Lemmons--2 generation Canoy--so there probably will be more.
Deaths:
Dennis Donovan died on 23 February 1864 in Philadelphia and is buried in Cathedral Cemetery, Philadelphia.
Julia Donovan died in November 1879 in Philadelphia. From her death record she was widowed, aged 68 years.
