John Joseph O'Connor 1864-1909, Abbeyfeale, dead end with multiple potential parents

John O'Connor is so common that there is confusing information with overlapping details regarding parents and spouses.
I have potential of father Michael 1840 (born in Dungarvan, died in Tennessee) and Johanna Flynn (died in Dungarvan), I have a potential father of Michael- James, married to Ellen Welsh (died 1924).
I do not find any dates for James O'Connor or Ellen Welsh or John 1840 and Johanna Murphy.

John Joseph (my great grandfather) moved to Marshal, Texas where is buried with his family. The family then moved to Chicago.
My ancestry tree dead ends on the O'Connor branch. My DNA is 49% Ireland and 50% Great Britain.

It can indeed be a little tricky searching for ancestors that far back in time!

As you say, without complete details from birth, marriage and death certificates which have dates and locations it is difficult to narrow down some of the potentials.

Before 1864 records were kept in the form of church and parish records, all the surviving records have been sorted into county-based genealogical centres. So, for Dungarvan, Co Waterford, RootsIreland.ie would be a good place to take a look at.

Have you had a look at the maritime passenger records, sometimes they hold information on arrivals to America?

There are some other wonderful places to find information on our article on Irish Genealogy Resources, please feel free to have a look there too.

I hope this gives you some further ideas and inspiration, and hopefully your fellow members and some industry partners will be able to add to this list!