How to locate a birth town?

Hello,  We're coming to Ireland this fall and I'm trying to locate a town that an ancestor said he was born in on the US immigration records.  However, it was spelled three ways and I can't find any of them.  Do you have an idea how to search for what may now be a non-existent town?

The towns are:  Ganonturton, Ganontenton, or Garmonturton...and was born in 1826, last name Cunningham.  I don't even know if this is in the Republic of Ireland or Northern Ireland.

Thanks for any help you can offer.

Hello Laura,

Tracing old townlands can indeed be a little tricky as handwriting and spelling were not always easy to read!

Would you have an image of the document that you could share with us here?

We have had a quick look on Irish Townlands website using the three names but haven't had much luck either.

Martin

Hello Martin,
Thank you for sharing that townships website.  I am having difficulty attaching that image...it looks like it takes up the whole screen so I'll add this reply first.  The document  is from the Massachusetts Naturalization Record and shows a handwritten town name.  I've seen it typed in other documents with those other spellings.  I'm wondering if this is a case where the name was changed...as  when Queenstown was changed to Cobh.  Or, perhaps its a very small, rural parish.  He was Roman Catholic.  Or, could it be a Gaelic spelling?
I'll keep trying to post that document.

IMG_0986.jpg

Thanks so much for sharing this detailed image of the Massachusetts Naturalization record for Patrick, Laura! 

It definitely looks like the name starts with a 'G', and is something along the line of Ganonturton. As Martin mentioned, there is no townland that is similar, but it is possible that the person writing down Patrick's information wouldn't be familiar with the spelling of his hometown, and wrote it down phonetically. 

Before 1864 records were kept in the form of church and parish records and all the remaining records have been sorted into county based genealogical centres. Since we don't know where Patrick Cunningham was born, I've had a look through the available church records, and there were a few hits, but nothing really stood out.

Do you happen to have any other names from his relatives, like parents or siblings? This might be able to help us narrow it down. 

Hopefully some of our experts can take a look at well, maybe they recognise the name from somewhere. :) 

Thank you Melin!  No, I'm stuck right now with finding additional information.  I know his wife's name is Bridget, and I believe her maiden name is Feury but I haven't been able to substantiate it.  But, I suspect he married her in Massachusett, but can't find any marriage records.  I do know he came over on the Windermere arriving Boston on May 19, 1853 at age 27 and his wife is nine years younger.  I will keep trying to locate more information.

Hello again, Laura! 

You've found some pretty substantial information so far, so hopefully it'll lead to the missing piece of the puzzle! 

This page from Roots Ireland with information about passenger and ship lists might be able to provide you with more helpful resources as well. 

Keep us posted on your findings! :)

Thanks Melin & Martin for your help.
Turns out I was barking up the wrong tree and Patrick isn’t a relative. However I’ve found ancestors from Tipperary, Tallow, Waterford, Monaghan Cty and Cty Mayo..,.so, I’ll have a lot of areas to explore. Can’t wait to visit your beautiful country.