Cos. Tyrone, Donegal, Londonderry & Fermanagh Ireland Genealogy Research
Official Website of the CoTyroneIreland.com Mailing List
Samuel & Letitia Cobain from Inishatieve, Pomeroy, County Tyrone, Northern Ireland Ancestors of Kurt Cobain, Famous American Musician
Source: A poster outside the Patrician Hall in Carrickmore, Parish of Termonmaguirk
Transcribed and Formatted by
Jim McKane, Kitchener, Ontario
jamckane[at]gmail.com
This file of Samuel & Letitia Cobain from Inishatieve, Pomeroy, County Tyrone, Northern Ireland Ancestors of Kurt Cobain, Famous American Musician forms part of the vast archive of 3,000+ pages of genealogical records relating to COUNTIES TYRONE, DONEGAL, LONDONDERRY & FERMANAGH provided without charge or subscription by CoTyroneIreland Welcome to the Premier Website & Research Tool for Cos. Tyrone, Donegal, Londonderry & Fermanagh Genealogy A complete list of records pertaining to County Tyrone, Northern Ireland on this website can be found at the foot of this file.
A poster outside the Patrician Hall in Carrickmore, Parish of Termonmaguirk (double click on photo for larger view)
Samuel Cobane Jr. was born on thc 23rd of May 1823 in this Parish of Termonmaguirc [sic] to parents Samuel Cobane and Ellen Lagan. Growing up Samuel Jr. lived about two miles south-east from whcre you now stand in the townland of Dunmisk. His Uncle William Cobanelived further down the lane and he had a daughter called Letitiawho was born on the 18th of June 1835. Samuel Jr. married Letitia in 1854 in in [sic] St. Columbkilles Church of.Ireland Carrickmore which still stands at the bottom of Main St. In 1860 the couple moved to a farm in the neighbouring townland of Inishatieve growing crops and farming the land. Six of their children were born in Carrickmore, including their son John James Cobane. Samuel Jr. and Letitia along with their six children lived in Inishatieve until 1875 at which time they left Ireland and sailed by passenger ship to the Province of Ontario in Canada. In 1878 they had a daughter named Letitia who was the only Cobane child of this family not to be born in Ireland. Like many other Irish emigrating to north America at that time their names where changed or misspelled on offical documentation and the Cobanes became Cobains!
In 1887 John James Cobain was 23 years old, he had met and fell in love with a local girl named Anna Van Alstine. When in 1888 the Van Alstine family moved to Washington state, John James decided to followed [sic] Anna to the new country and the pair married on June 17th 1888. A baby boy was born soon after in 1889 whom they named John James (JJ) Arthur. In 1890 Samuel Jr. and Letitia along with some of their children followed their son to live in Washington State. John James Cobain was a shoemaker by trade working at the H. A. Gotzian store in Ellensburg and also raised livestock and grew crops on his farm a few miles outside the town. Their youngest child, a daughter named Frances Cobain was born on the 16th of October 1910. Their son JJ Arthur Cobain would go on to marry a local woman called Grace Gibson and the couple had a son called Leland who was born in 1923. Leland Cobain is the grandfather of Kurt Cobain.
Kurt was born on the 20th of February 1967 to Donald and Wendy Cobain in Aberdeen, Washington. From an early age he was attracted to music and art. By the age of four he could play the piano and was writing songs influenced by the likes of The Beatles and Arlo Gutherie. On his 14th birthday he received his first guitar as a present from an uncle, Kurt said:
“As soon as I got my guitar, I just became so obsessed with it”
This was the beginning of a life of music which would eventurally see him go on to form the band Nirvana touring the world and influencing countless other musicians. Cobain sparked a revolution in music and popular culture bocoming a figurehead to a new genertion that was coming into its own. Rolling Stone magazine voted im in the top 12 greatest guitarists of all time.
“I’d rather be hated for who I am, than loved for who I am not”
Kurt married singer Courtney Love in 1992 and their daughter Frances Bean was born soon after. Frances shares the same name as her great-great-grand Aunt, daughter of Carrickmore man John James Cobain! Kurt had been very aware of his ancestry and prior to his death had begun to research his Irish heritage, unfortunately he never got the chance to complete this research. He had suffered for some time with physical and mental health issues, later developing substance addiction and and along with the pressure of fame, he died on the 5th of April 1994. His death came three days before Nirvana was due to play a concert in the RDS in Dublin. In 2010 researchers discovered his connection to Carrickmore. Many direct descendants of Samuel Jr. and Ellen Cobane and distant relatives of Kurt Cobain still live in the Carrickmore area today!
“I never really knew about my ancestors until this year, when I learned that the name Cobain was Irish. My parents had never bothered to find that sluff out. When we toured Ireland... . I walked around in a daze. I'd never felt more spiritual in my life. It was the weirdest feeling and 1 have a friend who was with me who could testify to this I was almost in tears the whole day. Since that tour, which was about two years ago, I’ve had a sense that I was from Ireland.” Kurt Cobain – 1993
CoTyroneIreland.com uses cookies to: analyze usage so that we can improve our service; allow our advertisers to provide content of specific interest to each user; monitor usage of our service; detect, prevent and address technical issues; allow you to participate in interactive features of our service when you choose to do so and to provide and maintain our service.
Google uses cookies to help serve the ads it displays on the websites of its partners, such as websites displaying Google ads or participating in Google certified ad networks. When users visit a Google partner's website, a cookie may be dropped on that end user's browser.
