Patrick Soraghan, possible death date evidence

The original records for the Calendar of Wills and Administration were created by the Probate Registry, which took control of proving Ireland's wills and administrations in 1858. Before this, four different types of ecclesiastical (church) courts dealt with these cases. A Principal Probate Registry was established in London in January 1858, and several district probate registries were created around the country. From then on, the registries oversaw all grants of probate and letters of administration. This collection is the Calendar of these grants covering the years 1858-1920.  View the online index.

This online index was created by FamilySearch as part of an agreement with the National Archives of Ireland. It is believed the original probate records were destroyed in the 1922 fire.

Searching for Patrick Soraghan of County Cavan, the following entry was returned.

SORAGHAN otherwise SOROHAN Patrick   [36]   12 April Letters of Administration (with the Will) of the personal estate of Patrick Soraghan otherwise Sorohan late of Dennbawn County Cavan. Farmer who died 16 March 1902 were granted at Cavan to Peter Soraghan Farmer.  Effects £28.

At first it was believed this Patrick Soraghan (Sorohan) was the widower of Rose Corcoran Soraghan and father of Philip J. Sullivan, but it is hard to believe a person born in c1794 lived until 1902, to nearly 108 years of age. Philip's father, Patrick, was alive in 1876 when Rose Corcoran Soraghan died, but had already died by 1915 when mentioned in his son Michael's probate record.  I'm fairly confident, this Patrick is a member of the larger Soraghan family, but exactly how he fits, I am not sure.

Note: On the 1821 Irish Census for Dennbawn, Denn Parish, County Cavan, Patrick's father, Michael, has his last name spelled as Sorohan.

Additionally, in the above clip is an entry for Thomas Soroghan, died 19 June 1902.  Possibly a brother/cousin of Patrick but again, no other corroborating evidence is known.


Source: Ireland, Calendar of Wills and Administrations, 1858-1920. National Archives of Ireland, Dublin, Ireland.  Calendar year: 1902, page 440.  Accessed online, May 20, 2013.

Elizabeth McCanna Sullivan Probate, Heirship Report c1883

Patrick and Rose's son Patrick, married Elizabeth McCanna in Easton, Pennsylvania, in 1855.  They had nine children, two of whom died as infants.  The younger Patrick Sullivan died in Chicago, Illinois, on January 2, 1881.  Just six months later, on July 22, his wife, Elizabeth, died leaving seven children, the youngest being only eight years old.

Elizabeth's brother-in-law, Michael Sullivan, provided information for the Proof of Heirship.  Michael Sullivan also provided the information six months earlier for his brother Patrick's Proof of Heirship.


No. 1-1702
Doc. 4, Page 158

State of Illinois
Cook County
In the Probate Court of Cook County Illinois

In the Matter of the Estate
Of
Elizabeth Sullivan, deceased
Proof of Heirship

Michael Sullivan being first duly sworn according to law in open Court on oath doth depose and say that he was well and intimately acquainted with the said Elizabeth Sullivan deceased in her life time and was so acquainted with her for about thirty years prior to her death, the said Elizabeth being the wife of his brother Patrick Sullivan; that he said Elizabeth Sullivan and his brother the said Patrick Sullivan were married in Easton Pennsylvania in the year 1855; that as the issue of such marriage the said Patrick Sullivan and Elizabeth Sullivan had nine children born unto them viz., Rose L. Sullivan, now Rose L. Colby wife of Francis T. Colby, Michael A. Sullivan, Thomas J. Sullivan, Charles J. Sullivan, Peter F. Sullivan, Andrew Sullivan, William Sullivan, Francis P. Sullivan who died when he was about six weeks of age about twenty five years ago, and prior to the death of the said Elizabeth Sullivan and Harry Sullivan who died when he was about ten months of age about five years ago and prior to the death of the said Elizabeth Sullivan; that said Elizabeth Sullivan departed this life on or about the twenty second day of July AD 1881 leaving her surviving the said Rose L. Sullivan now Rose L. Colby wife of Francis T. Colby, she being twenty seven years of age on December 28th 1883, Michael A. Sullivan who was twenty three years of age on March 18th 1883, Thomas J. Sullivan who was twenty one years of age August 8th 1883, Charles J. Sullivan who was eighteen years of age on June 19, 1883, Peter F. Sullivan who will be sixteen years of age on November 19th 1883, Andrew Sullivan who will be fourteen years of age November 25(?)th 1883 and William Sullivan who will be eleven years of age on October 18th 1883, her children her heirs and only heirs at law; that the said Patrick Sullivan husband of the said Elizabeth Sullivan departed this life on or about the second day of January 1881 and prior to the death of said Elizabeth Sullivan. This affiant further says that he knows that the said Elizabeth Sullivan was never married to any man other than the said Patrick Sullivan and that she never had any child or children other than the ones above named. That the maiden name of the said Elizabeth Sullivan was Elizabeth McCanna.
[Signed] Michael Sullivan

[No date is on the document]

 

Images courtesy: Elaine M. Beaudoin

Elizabeth McCanna Sullivan Probate, Inventory 1881

The daughter-in-law of Patrick Sullivan and Rose Corcoran, Elizabeth McCanna Sullivan (1834-1881), was married to Patrick Sullivan (1832-1881). Patrick owned a grocery store at 245 W. Taylor, Chicago, prior to his death in January,1881.  Today, the 245 W. Taylor address is actually located at 772 W. Taylor. 
I believe the contents of their personal property noted below in the "Inventory" reflects furniture from their home and the type of items that would be sold in a local grocery store, minus the perishable items. This leads me to believe the grocery store was closed down, either when Patrick died or when Elizabeth died, and did not continue to be an on-going concern after their death.

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No. 1-1702

Doc. 4, Page 158

In the Probate Court of Cook County Illinois

Inventory

Filed Sept 29 1881

State of Illinois

Cook County

In the Probate Court of Cook County Illinois

In the matter of the Estate of Elizabeth Sullivan, deceased

The following is a full and perfect Inventory of the real and personal property so far as the same has come to the possession or knowledge of the undersigned administrator.

Real Estate

None

Personal Property

Cash on hand in bank  $1503.00

Forty yards of carpet, 1 sofa, 4 Rep chairs, 1 Rocker, 1 center table, 4 Brackets, 1 Rocker, 4 lamps, 2 lamps, 3 cain [sic] chairs, 1 table, 1 bureau, 1 cupboard, 1 lot of crockery, 1 stand, 1 bedstead, 1 clock, 1 bedstead and bedding, 1 cooking stove, 1 table, 1 Parlor stove, 1 bedstead, 1 cupboard, 1 looking glass, 20 gallons molasses, 15 gallons vinegar, 5 gal Kerosene, 14 boxes of axle grease, 8 woodden [sic] pails, 13 washboards, 3 lamps, 3 doz catsup, 5 lbs candles, 100 bars of soap, 2 doz lamp chimneys, 2 doz 250 envelopes, 1 lot of clothes pins, 3 doz toilet soap, 5 lbs of allspice, 1 counter scales, 1 counter scales, 1 show case, 1 counter, 8 packages baking powder, 40 lbs of starch, 1counter, 4 bottles mustard, 11 bottles of olive oile [sic], 15 pounds of bird seed, 26 cans of corn, 22 cans of peaches, 9 pounds bird seed, 46 cans tomatoes, 22 cans tomatoes, 34 pounds bird seed, 110 ¼ lbs cans baking powder, 20 cans of apples, 26 cans lima beans, 11 pounds of baking soda, 48 pounds starch, 50 bottles bluing, 13 boxes washing soda, 1 lot of sundries, 11 ½ pounds coconut, 13 packages starch, 52 sacks of salt, 4 doz lamp chimneys, 90 pounds starch, 6 scrubbing brushes, 7 pounds castile soap, 3 doz stove polish, 60 bars soap, 3 bottles olive oile [sic], 25 boxes, 6 watches, 15 boxes blacking, 16 boxes blacking, 1 packages cocoa.

All of which is most respectfully submitted

[Signed] Michael Sullivan

Administrator

September 29, 1881

[Unable to read, but believe it is the notary signature]

The above transcription attempted to capture exactly the handwritten copy with the exception that commas were added to separate the list of items where commas may not have been included in the original document.

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 Images courtesy: Elaine Beaudoin

Peter J. Mulvaney - St. Gertrude Church

Peter J. Mulvaney (1868-1912), the son of  Ellen Sullivan (1830-1900 - daughter of Patrick Sullivan and Rose Corcoran) and Thomas Mulvaney (1830-1904), was influential in the creation of St. Gertrude's Parish in Chicago.  In a recent book entitled Woven Lives: One Hundred years in the Story of the St. Gertrude Faith Family, author Patrick Reardon writes:

"By 1910, Catholics living in the northern portion of St. Ita parish were chafing at the inconvenience of traveling a mile or more each Sunday for mass.  A year later, three men from the neighborhood --- Peter J. Mulvaney, P. Frank Combiths and Frank Kelley --- met with Archbishop James Quigley and made their case for a new parish.

"He agreed. And the new parish was established on January 3, 1912, with Father Peter F. Shewbridge as pastor. It was named for St. Gertrude the Great, a German mystic and theologian from the 13th century and the only female saint know as "the Great."  According to Peter M. Brost, one of the intitial group of parishioners, that name was chosen to honor Father Shewbridge's mother.

"Five days later, the parish faced its first sorrow.  Perter Mulvaney, one of the men who had met with Archbishop Quigley, died.  His funeral was at St. Ita."

The Mulvaneys lived at 1519 W. Glenlake, only a few blocks from the location of the current Church now located at 1420 W. Granville.  Peter's wife, Elizabeth, lived at the Glenlake address until 1961 when she moved to Scottsdale, Arizona, two months before she died.

Source: Patrick J. Reardon, Woven Lives: One Hundred Years in the Story of the St. Gertrude Faith Family, May, 2012, pages 15-16.

Patrick Soraghan Farm Located on Map

By comparing the information provided in Griffith's Valuation of Tenements for the Parish of Denn, Townland of Dennbane c1857, with the Ordinance Survey, Discovery Series maps, in particular # 34, it is possible to plot the piece of property occupied by Patrick Sullivan in the 1850s.

Ordnance Survey, Discovery Series, 2nd Edition, #34, Cavan

A. Location of Patrick Soraghan's farm
B. Carrickaboy Glebe Graveyard
C. St. Matthew's Church, Drumavaddy
D. General location of the Corcoran Farm

From the Griffith's map c1850s, the main road which is in yellow above, can be viewed, highlighted in green below.  The slash marks indicate the farm of Patrick Soraghan, i.e., #24a on the Griffith's Valuation of Tenements.

Griffth's Map, Valuation of Tenements, Parish of Denn, c1850s

To see the printed page of the Valuation of Tenements for the Parish of Denn, page 266, which lists Patrick Soraghan occupying parcel 24a, click here.

Carrickaboy Glebe New Cemetery

The new cemetery which serves the Roman Catholic parish of Drumavaddy is extremely well kept and has a wonderful view over the Cavan Countryside.  Three headstones were viewed which had the Sullivan name, all of which are noted as being from Denbawn.  These could possibly be relations, but at this time, no connection is known.

Since this gravestone was posted it has been learned that James Sullivan (d1969) is the son of Thomas (bc1831), grandson of Patrick (bc1794). Patrick is my great, great grandfather.

Great, great granddaughter of Patrick Sullivan/Sorahan (c1894-a1874), Eileen Sullivan, confirmed this stone is for the
great grandson of Patrick and Rose Corcoran Sullivan, Thomas Sullivan (c1920-1978) and his mother
Bridget Brady Sullivan (c1894-1990).

Photos: Elaine Beaudoin, 2011

Carrickaboy Glebe Old Graveyard

The closest cemetery to Dennbane/Denbawn and the land where the Sullivan/Soraghan's lived is a little over a mile away at Carrickaboy Glebe.  There are two cemeteries, one which looks like it is from the 1800s with a couple of new graves and the one across the street which is currently in use.  The cemetery is served by St. Matthew's Church Drumavaddy.

Here are a few photos of the old cemetery.   You can see the stones are all covered with lichen.

To the right in this photo, you can see a recent burial, but it was one of only a couple from the 20th century.

The gravestones were nearly impossible to read and no Soraghan/Sullivan names could be found.

Photos: Elaine Beaudoin, 2011