Census and Directory Records

This collection brings together Irish census returns, United States federal censuses, Rhode Island state censuses, postal directories, city directories, household records, occupations, addresses, and agricultural evidence connected with the Dorgan, Dargan, Healy, Garde, Hartnett, Ahern, O’Brien, and related families.

These records help trace family households from Carrigkilter and Cloyne in East Cork to Providence, Cranston, and other Rhode Island communities.

How to Use This Collection

Census returns provide household snapshots for particular dates. They may record relationships, ages, occupations, birthplaces, religion, language, addresses, servants, boarders, and property information.

Directories help trace people between census years. They may document changing addresses, occupations, businesses, widows, and household continuity when a family has not been found in a census.

Ages, birthplaces, and relationships sometimes conflict with baptismal, civil, cemetery, or family evidence. These differences should be preserved and explained rather than silently corrected.

David D. Dorgan and Elizabeth / Eliza Ahern — Carrigkilter

These records document David D. Dorgan and Elizabeth / Eliza Ahern / Ahearne at Carrigkilter and in the wider Cloyne-area business network.

1901 Census of Ireland — David Dorgan Household

The 1901 Census records David Dorgan as head of household at House No. 1, Carrigkilter, Ballycotton, County Cork.

The household included:

• David Dorgan

• Elizabeth Dorgan, his wife

• Jeremiah Cronin, farm servant

• Mary Hassett, domestic servant

All four household members were recorded as Roman Catholic.

This census confirms that David and Elizabeth remained at Carrigkilter at the beginning of the twentieth century and documents the continuation of the Dorgan family presence in the townland.

1911 Census of Ireland — David D. Dorgan Household

The 1911 Census records David D. Dorgan and Elizabeth at House No. 2, Carrigkilter, Ballycotton, County Cork.

Their household also included:

• Ellen Mahony, general domestic servant

• James Flynn, boarder and scholar

The household members were recorded as able to speak both Irish and English.

James Flynn’s presence may be significant because of the family’s Flynn connection through Johanna / Anne / Nancy Flynn, but his relationship to David and Elizabeth has not been confirmed.

1914 Guy’s Postal Directory

The 1914 Guy’s Postal Directory lists David Dorgan in Cloyne. Elizabeth appears as Mrs. Dorgan, Vintner.

This directory evidence connects David and Elizabeth with the Cloyne commercial setting and helps trace the family between the 1911 census and later records.

Cloyne Branch Census Records

The Cloyne census returns document Johanna Garde Dorgan, widow of Michael Dorgan, and the continuing Dorgan household in Cloyne.

The 1901 Census records Johanna at House No. 17, Rock Street, Cloyne. The household included her children Patrick, Mary Eliza, and Helena, together with David Dorgan, identified as a cousin.

Johanna was recorded as a widow, vintner, and grocer. Patrick was recorded as a farmer.

The 1911 Census continues the household evidence for Johanna and Patrick and leads into the later Cloyne family line associated with Patrick Dorgan and Johanna Millerick.

These records help distinguish Patrick Dorgan of Cloyne from Patrick J. Dorgan of the Carrigkilter and Rhode Island branch.

John and Margaret Healy — 1926 Irish Census

The 1926 Census of the Irish Free State records John and Margaret Healy living with their five children in Carrigtwohill, County Cork.

John Healy: Age 60, farmer and employer
Margaret Healy: Age 45, home duties

Their children were:

• Elizabeth Healy

• David Healy

• Jeremiah Healy

• John Healy Jr.

• James Healy

The return states that John and Margaret had been married for eleven years and that five children had been born alive. Their agricultural holding contained approximately 60 statute acres.

The census records John as age 60. If he was the John Healy baptized on 10 November 1870, he would have been 55 on census night. This difference remains an unresolved age discrepancy.

Patrick J. Dorgan and Mary Catherine Hartnett Dorgan — Rhode Island

The American census and directory records trace Patrick J. Dorgan and Mary Catherine Hartnett Dorgan after their emigration from East Cork and settlement in Providence, Rhode Island.

Census Timeline

1900 United States Census: Documents Patrick, Mary Catherine, and their family in Providence after the 1896–1897 emigration sequence.

1910 United States Census: Continues the Providence household after more than a decade in the United States.

1920 United States Census: No household has yet been positively identified for Patrick and Mary Catherine. This should remain recorded as an unresolved research gap.

1925 Rhode Island Census: Records Patrick, Mary Catherine, and their daughter Mary at 61 Bergen Street, Providence. Their son David and his wife Helen occupied another floor of the same property with Helen’s father, James Doorley.

1930 United States Census: Records Patrick and Mary Catherine with their daughter Mary Catherine, son-in-law Raymond J. Moriarty, and granddaughter Barbara Jane Moriarty. Patrick was working as a fireman in a boiler room.

Providence and Cranston Directories

Providence and Cranston directories trace Patrick and Mary Catherine between census years and document changing addresses, occupations, and household continuity.

Known directory and residence entries include:

• 1900 — Ashburton / Ashborne Street, Providence

• 1905 — Charles Street, Providence

• 1907 — Osborne Street, Providence

• 1913–1919 — Wayne Street, Providence

• 1923–1928 — Bergen Street, Providence

• 1929–1930 — Rosedale Street, Providence

• 1932 — Bayview Avenue, Cranston

These directories are especially important because they help bridge the family’s unresolved 1920 federal-census gap.

John Henry O’Brien and Ellen Theresa Hartnett O’Brien — Providence

The Providence census records help trace John Henry O’Brien and Ellen Theresa Hartnett O’Brien after their 1910 marriage.

Ellen was a sister of Mary Catherine Hartnett Dorgan, connecting the O’Brien household with the wider Hartnett–Dorgan family network in Rhode Island.

Census Evidence

1910 United States Census: Records John O’Brien in Providence shortly before his marriage to Ellen. He was single, born in Ireland, employed as a carpenter, and recorded as having immigrated in 1907.

1920 United States Census: The correct household for John and Ellen has not yet been positively identified. An uncertain census image should not be displayed as confirmed evidence.

1925 Rhode Island Census: Records John and Ellen with John and Mary. The household may also include a boy named Henry O’Brien, approximately ten years old. His identity and relationship remain unresolved.

1940 United States Census: Records John and Ellen with John H. O’Brien Jr. and Mary C. O’Brien.

1950 United States Census: John appears as a widower following Ellen’s death in 1946.

These records should be compared with Ellen’s Cloyne baptism, 1901 passenger manifest, 1910 Providence marriage record, John’s naturalization records, and the O’Brien family cemetery marker.

Evidence and Research Cautions

Census records are valuable household evidence, but they may contain incorrect ages, birthplaces, spellings, relationships, or immigration dates.

Confirmed household evidence should be distinguished from unresolved census candidates, indexing errors, and relationships inferred from recurring surnames.

Original record images should be preserved and compared with parish registers, civil records, directories, passenger lists, naturalization records, cemetery evidence, and family narratives.