Ellen Mahony was a daughter of Daniel Mahony

Joseph Donovan, a shopkeeper of Brade, Union Hall and Ellen Mahony, a shopkeeper of Union Hall married in the Catholic Church in Myross on 20 February 1873.  The marriage witnesses were Mary Burke and Daniel Burke. (see copy of entry below)

Children baptised in the Parish of Castlehaven & Myross on dates in the Baptismal Register:

John Donovan, 5 May 1874.  Sponsors: John Collins, Mary Burke

Mary Donovan, 14 Sep 1875.  Sponsors: John Burke, Margaret Sullivan

Joseph Donovan, born 15 Oct 1876.  Sponsors: Dan Cullinan, Ellen Mahony

Daniel Donovan, born 5 Oct 1877 from Civil Register; Denis baptised 6 Oct from Baptismal Register.  Sponsors: Denis Mahony, Anne Mahony

Jeremiah Donovan, 26 Oct 1878.  Sponsors: Daniel Hayes, Hanora Hanglin

James* Donovan, born 10 April 1880 from Civil Birth Register.  Sponsors: Dan Donovan, Margaret Collins

Michael William Donovan, born 7 Oct 1883 fron Civil Birth Register.  His father was described as a publican

Elizabeth Donovan, born on 26 Dec 1885 from Civil Birth Register.  Her father was described as a shopkeeper.

* This entry is rather mixed up in the Baptismal Register.

For the births of the children the father was described as a shopkeeper.  In that era many shops sold alcohol too or had a "snug" at the back of the shop where customers could have a drink out of view of shoppers.

Deaths:
Joseph Donovan died at Union Hall on 1 November 1888.  From his death record he was married, aged 49 years, a publican.  Present at his death and the Informant to the Civil Registrar was John Donovan, son, of Union Hall.
Ellen Donovan died on 24 December 1888 at Union Hall.  From her death record she was a widow, aged 43 years, a publican's widow.  Present at her death and the Informant to the Civil Registrar was Daniel Mahony of Union Hall.

We quote from the writings of Thomas J Donovan:

PART 14 - "In the 1930 census, the household of  Catherine B. (Donovan) Gray, widowed and head of the household at 58 Kent Street is listed. In that household, John Donovan, a fireman is listed as a boarder. There is no John Donovan connected to any of the 4 brothers ancestry. After an extensive research we find John is a widower, having been married to Mary Ellen Gleeson. They had two children. Further, we find when he applied for naturalization in 1895, one of the sponsors was our Daniel Donovan, 101 Lamartine Street, Boston.

Given John's information, a family tree was created. John was the oldest of the eight children of Joseph Donovan and Ellen T. Mahony of Union Hall, County Cork, Ireland. After the death of the parents in 1888, all the children immigrated to the Brookline area at different times. Other connections to our identified Donovans include: 1. Joseph, the third oldest, in 1940 he is listed as a boarder at the household of George Harnedy at 141 Walnut Street, Brookline. George's mother is Julia L. Donovan, and 141 Walnut Street is the home for a number of the recognized Donovans. 2. Daniel Donovan, the forth oldest, in 1896 and 1897 resided at 55 Pearl Street. That is the address of the brothers Jeremiah and John.

Are these Donovans directly related? Who knows. On the death of the father of the clan, Joseph, back in Union Hall, no parents were listed on the death record. So he could have been a son of Joseph Donovan and Mary Burke or son of another close Donovan or a very distant cousin. Given that fact, or lack thereof, we will hope something will show up to help in the analysis. Therefore, we will give an abbreviated listing of this family.

Joseph Donovan (1839 - 1888) married to Ellen T. Mahony (1845 - 1888), lived in Union Hall.

Children:

John Donovan (1874 - 1941) married to Mary Ellen Gleeson (1876 - 1914), lived in Brookline, later Boston, their children: William John Donovan (1897 - 1934), his wife Sarah E. Grant (1900 - 1980); Joseph Richard Donovan (1900 - 1984), his wife Melba Irene King (1915 - 2007), 3 children.

Mary Donovan (1875 -  ?), came to Massachusetts in 1889 at the age of 14, lost in time.

Joseph Donovan (1876 - 1952) married to Mary Ellen Lannan (1874 - 1930), lived in Brookline.

Daniel Donovan (1877 - 1950) married to Mary Ann Coakley (1878 - 1955), after Brookline, lived in Lynn.

Jeremiah Donovan (1878 - 1941) married to Annie H. Gleeson (1868 - 1940), lived in Brookline, Boston. Spanish War Veteran. Annie is sister to Mary Ellen Gleeson - see above.

James Francis Donovan (1880 - 1966) married to Betsy Agnes Hennigan (1877 - 1944), lived in Boston, their children: Catherine F. Donovan (1907 - 1989); Eileen Theresa Donovan (1910 - 1999), and husband Hugh William Hayes (1917 - 1999), 2 children.

Michael William Donovan (1883 - 1962) married to Margaret Deady (1885 - 1962), lived in Boston, their children: Lawrence Everett Donovan (1908 - 1998), his wife Ellen Campbell Chisholm (1912 - 2009), two children; Albert Francis Donovan (1911 - 1976), his wife Irene Francis Briggs (1908 - 1935), one child; William Edward Donovan (1919 - 2014); Margaret Louise Donovan (1922 - 2005).

Elizabeth Donovan (1885 - 1929) married to Thomas Francis Sheehan (1887 - 1934), lived in Newton, their child: Mary Elizabeth Sheehan (1913 - 1989).

In addition, there was another John Donovan living in Brookline. He was a sergeant in the Brookline Police Department. He had investigated the death - hit and run of Joseph Alfred Donovan (see Part 9). Since he was born in New York, we will pass on research.

There are other Donovans living in Brookline, also many in Boston, Cambridge and Norwood. It would be impossible to research them all unless we find some tie to our known family members."