Talk:Michael Corcoran

Birthplace

I must challenge the accuracy of Michael Corcoran's birthplace as reported here. It should be Ballymote, Co. Sligo; a monument to him there was due to be unveiled by New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg last week but was cancelled due to Mayor's more pressing concerns at home.

I believe you are correct. Why not go ahead and make the change, perhaps footnoting your source? Scott Mingus 03:38, 3 August 2006 (UTC)

Michael Corcoran's Cause of Death

Your reason for Michael Corcoran's cause of death is inaccurate. He did not die due to a skull fracture caused from a fall from his horse. In fact, he complained early that morning he was not feeling well. Later in the day, a few moments after he dismounted his horse, Brig.Gen. Corcoran collapsed. The cause of death was determined to be a stroke, or more than likely a brain aneurism.

---

(The above, unsigned paragraph is not from me.) On the other hand, his commanding officer, in a telegram to the AP, said Corcoran died "from injuries received from a fall from his horse". And again, the Irish-American reported the incident in great detail, citing witnesses, and concluded by stating the general fell from his runaway horse and died hours later. The paper attributed the cause of death to "apoplexy", which can be a stroke but also a cerebral hemorrhage, which seems in line with a hard fall. (See the article on Corcoran at irishamericancivilwar.com for a long list of contemporary references.) Either way, this section (Corcoran Legion and Death) has not a single citation, so every word is suspect. In fact, the previous section (The Enchantress Affair) lacks citation as well. Poluistor~enwiki (talk) 17:48, 21 July 2017 (UTC)

Birth in Sligo not Donegal

Please, please stop reverting the place of birth of Michael Corcoran to County Donegal. He was born in Sligo as the various references shown on the page prove [1], [2], [3]. There is also a monument to Michael Corcoran in Ballymote, Co. Sligo [4]. Three anonymous users have changed his Sligo birth place to Donegal [[130.91.93.33]], [[69.248.239.218]] and [[68.81.99.84]] All of which I think are the same user. They have contributed to (and reverted) similar pages, including University of Pennsylvania, and others relating to Penn and Corcoran. --The.Q | Talk 12:38, 2 March 2007 (UTC)
Just checked, all three IP addresses are based in Pennsylvania, if that tells us anything. --The.Q | Talk 12:38, 2 March 2007 (UTC)

• • This vandal has been warned and continues to be a problem. I recommend that an administrator protect this page and/or block those IP addresses from editing Wikipedia. Windyjarhead 00:41, 3 March 2007 (UTC)

The American Civil War Task Force has the overall administrative lead on monitoring ACW articles, along with a select handful of non-task force members who are veteran editors and contributors. I have, on behalf of this task force, placed a formal warning on the user's talk page that he / she has used up the three-revert limit. Another one will result in a formal complaint to the administrators to block this person. Scott Mingus 12:24, 6 March 2007 (UTC)

The below is copied from a Request to Wikipedia Administrators:

Michael Corcoran (edit | talk | history | protect | delete | links | watch | logs | views)

semi-protection A series of IP users (probably the same person) insists on refuting a very well sourced fact. This user references an erroneous piece of information from an unreliable history website. Namely, Michael Corcoran was born in County Sligo, Ireland and I have provided 7 external sources to that effect. The IP user insists he was born in County Donegal and references a single suspicious-looking website. We have been in a revert war over this trivial bit of history. Windyjarhead 04:39, 11 March 2007 (UTC)
Declined At one per day, this just needs to be watchlisted and reverted for now. Return here if vandalism increases in intensity. -- Avi 05:52, 11 March 2007 (UTC)

Corcoran Birthplace Dispute

Background

I have been engaged in a revert war with an IP user over the issue of in which Irish county Michael Corcoran was born.

Carrowkeel

[5] [6] These sites that our IP contributor attempted to reference list Corcoran's place of birth as "Carrowkeel, County Donegal"

[7] [8] [9] These sites list Corcoran's birth place as "Carrowkeel, County Sligo."

• There are at least six places called "Carrowkeel" in Ireland, one in County Donegal[10], one in County Fermanagh[11], one in County Galway[12], two in County Roscommon[13] and one in County Sligo[14]. One source [15] puts the number of Carrowkeels at 61. This is undoubtedly the source of our confusion.

• "Carrowkeel" is an anglicization of the Irish An Cheathrú Chaol meaning "the narrow quarter." It is a description of terrain features and therefore a completely unexceptional placename.

So, it seems that there are reputable published sources in support of a Sligo birth and a Donegal birth, we can safely rule out the Carrowkeels in Fermanagh, Galway and Roscommon.

So, the question remains: From which Carrowkeel did our General Corcoran hail?

• It seems significant that Corcoran served in the constabulary in Donegal.[16]

It is easy to see how the fact that Carrowkeel is a common Irish placename, coupled with the fact that Corcoran served in the constabulary in Donegal could lead someone to assume that Corcoran was from the Carrowkeel in Donegal and never give the matter a second thought. One might even enshrine this confusion in a published history book.

• It also seems significant the the Mayor of New York dedicated a memorial to Corcoran in Sligo[17] and the local newspaper in Sligo calls Corcoran a " . . . Carrowkeel native . . . who left Sligo for America . . . "[18]

• No such contemporary sources link Corcoran to Donegal, only Civil War History books and websites that reference them.

Conclusions

It seems probable that an early historian of the Civil War mistakenly assumed Corcoran was from Donegal for the reason discussed above and that numerous other historians cited his/her mistaken assumption in their own histories.

I cannot prove my hypothesis through internet research alone. However, I would venture that an unbiased and reasonable reading of the evidence I have provided will lead the reader into agreement that Corcoran was from Sligo.

If you still don't agree, take a look at his tombstone.

Responses

In essence, you are willing to reject two published history textbooks and a government website for the "WildGeese.com" and an article with Mayor Bloomberg? 209.244.188.210 17:18, 16 March 2007 (UTC)

• It's more than thewildgeese.com and Mayor Bloomberg, there are 8 references listed in the article, not to mention Corcoran's tombstone. Windyjarhead 01:47, 17 March 2007 (UTC)

That is not Michael Corcoran's original tombstone. It was erected in 1989 by the Slingo Men's Assoc. Also, the engraving states that he was Catholic, which is incorrect. Please take a closer look at the tombstone. 209.244.30.249 02:49, 17 March 2007 (UTC)

• • Actually, he was a Catholic, see (McTernan, John C. (1994). "General Michael Corcoran", Worthies Of Sligo, Profiles of Eminent Sligonians of Other Days. Sligo: Avena Publications, pp. 80-85. ISBN 0-9520594-3-6.) Windyjarhead 15:50, 17 March 2007 (UTC)

Yes, tombstones and history books are usually written after someone's death. However, I have a copy of a document where Capt. Corcoran of Co. F of the 69th, himself, states his birthplace as Ballymote, Co. Sligo and that he arrived in Sep 1849 per ship (Dromehain ??? not clear). It is a png image of the 1857 test book of the Emigrant Savings Bank. These test books were used to identify people (How many Patrick Kellys were in the Irish Brigade?) and contain this information as well as family members. If someone can tell me how to upload a png file here, I'll share it with you. BTW, this was a joint account set up by Corcoran, Eugene Kelly and John Reynolds for Co. F and contains info on the two others. Laburke (talk) 05:04, 1 September 2010 (UTC)

WikiProject Military history/Assessment/Tag & Assess 2008

Article reassessed and graded as start class. --dashiellx (talk) 18:50, 16 May 2008 (UTC)

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