Purcell Family

Hi Jim

I hope a descendant/cousin will be in touch with you.

In the meantime, once you can confirm the Griffith's Valuation record you can think about joining that info with the later Valuation Book (Revision Books) kept in Dublin. Unfortunately they are not available online for the Republic of Ireland yet but they would be able to provide a link to the 1950s and 1960s in some cases. They are kept in the Valuation Office:

http://www.valoff.ie/en/

You can learn more about them here:

http://www.irish-genealogy-toolkit.com/revision-books.html

Best wishes

Clare Doyle

Genealogy Support 

Hi, Clare.

I'm sorry I did not see this post until now. Thank you for responding. Yes, I do hope a local Purcell or Nesbitt (or even Carr) responds. I have connected with a possible Nesbitt cousin in Australia, who believes my assumptions to be correct.

We shall see. Thank you for the reply.

Jim

Keep us up to date on how you are getting on

Good luck!

Clare

Genealogy Support 

Hi, Clare. A new year has dawned and I find myself no closer to discovering whether my ancestors, Patrick Purcell and Mary Nesbitt, are truly from Loughmore-Castleiny Parish or not.

Can you tell me, are there any Purcells left in Loughmore and whether there is a way to contact them? I'd also be interested in knowing if there are any Nesbitts or Carrs, as well. I'll be visiting in June and would like to stop into the parish office there to see if I can make any connection whatsoever.

Thank you for being that connection for now.

Jim Purcell

Hi Jim

There is no easy way to find out how many are living in the area. One of the latest online records is the 1911 Census and if you look at that or John Grenham's Irish Ancestor's site as an indicator - you will be able to see how may were living there at that time.

If you have some time though during your visit you could visit the Valuation Office as suggested above, to see if you can learn more about what families held land in the parish from the time of Griffith's Valuation up to the 1960s/1970s. You should be able to track up to that point and if the same family held the land (assuming they are entered in the Griffith's Valuation) then they might still hold that land today or have purchased it later on, as is the case with my family, for example. This will tell you what family of the above named are still in the area to as 'present day' as you can get.

You could also take a look at the residential phonebook to get an idea of any living in the area.

Beyond living in the parish though it is often very hard to know who lives where, especially when new families move in and older families die out. That's when a local heritage group can be very handy, but I don't see one listed for the area. You could also check historicgraves.com too for any reference to the dead and the living connected to them. This is another site I have located referring to graves located there.

Best wishes for a happy 2017!

Clare

Genealogy Support

Hi Jim,

You may have already tried Rootsireland but what I would do is pay for a 24 hr subscription and search their records for a Purcell Nesbit marriage.

Think you can use wild cards in their search too, to cover variations in surname spellings e.g. Purcil & Nesbitt

You can do surname searchs only and even an all Ireland search as well as an all of Tipperary search.The all Ireland search will pick up if the bride came from a neighbouring county.

They would have been married in the bride's parish which may not have been Loughmore. This is where an all Tipp marriage search could help.

Good luck searching & have a wonderful time in Ireland

Kathleen Fanning 

Hi, Clare.

Thanks for the reply. I have tried all of the ideas you mention. I'm really looking for living Purcell's, Nesbit, or Carrs who may live in the area.  I know that the castle was in the hands of McGraths early last century and, coincidentally, one of my Fleming ancestors married a McGrath in Pennsylvania.

I'll try to find relations via the residential phone book.

Thanks, again.

Jim

Hi, Kathleen.

Thank you for those suggestions. I've tried. The only marriage I can find is in Drom parish between a Patrick Purcell and a woman Mary Purcell- 1843. Since it's just down the road, this could be it, particularly since it is an errant entry out of sequence in the parish records.

At any rate, as I mentioned to Clare, I'm trying to find living potential relatives to see if we can trace back to common ancestors. Any ideas?

Jim

Hi Jim.

My wife was born in Loughmore, coming from a long line of Purcells and Butlers. In our tree we have a query marriage of William Purcell (my wife's 4th gt grandfather) and Ellen Carr circa 1800's but nothing substantiated so far. William's son was also a William and he was born circa 1880, He married a Bridget Ryan on the 29th July 1818 in Drom, Co.Tipperary.

Researching Patrick Purcells is a nightmare as there are no end of them.

My wife, son and myself have had our DNA tested through Ancestry.uk and this had helped to find matches for cousins and other relatives who have also taken the tests. Obviously, the tests only show matches if you apply through Ancestry. (as far as I'm aware) The DNA test also shows your ethnicity. I actually discovered that I was mainly of Irish descent and not mainly British as assumed I would be. So the DNA testing was well worth the cost.

Hope this gives you some hope for the future. If I can be of more help then let me know.

Tracing Irish family roots is a time consuming and frustrating business but very satisfying when progress is made.

Keep in touch.

Many regards

Alan

Hi, Alan.

Thanks for the reply. Yes, it is frustrating trying to research Patrick Purcells, especially when married to women named Mary! I've made some progress, but, after 3 years of research, am still not convinced I've found the right one. I belong to an Irish genealogy forum (www.youririshheritage.com) and have gotten lots of encouragement and some people more knowledgable than I believe I've got the right ancestors.

As for DNA, I manage the DNA connections project for the forum I just mentioned. There is a way to compare your DNA to thousands of others through GEDMatch.com. This site takes raw DNA files from Ancestry, FamilyTree, 23&Me, MyHeritage, and a couple of other services and it is free to use. I can help you add yourself to it. On the forum, I keep track of the DNA kit numbers for the members and run comparisons within our small group - we've got 137 of the 170 or so members matching each other within 8 generations (which isn't that surprising).

I'd be interested in continuing this conversation with you. Perhaps we can find where our family trees intersect. My email address is jjpurcell2004@msn.com, if you'd like to email me and see what we can find out together.

Thanks,

Jim

Hi Jim,

Here are the Purcells and Nesbitts listed as buried in Loughmore Cemetery. The addresses may be of help in tracking down living Purcells and Nesbitts and hopefully your ancestors! There were no Carrs listed as buried here.

Hope you had a great time in Ireland. Were you able to get any further with your family history?

regards

Kathleen Fanning

Kathleen,

Thank you for this list. We had a wonderful time visiting (it's only been 6 days since we flew home from Shannon!), but I did not have any time to do any research. The purpose of our trip was mainly to acquaint my wife with the beauty and history in order to convince her to return - it worked. We had to pass right through Tipperary on our way from Trim to Skibbereen, but we will return. And, if I can convince myself I've found the right Patrick Purcell, I will visit the parish office to see what we can find.

Jim

Hi Jim,

Glad you had such a great time in Ireland. We faced the same dilemma when we visited:do family history or see Ireland. I lasted three hours in the National Library in Dublin before I opted for seeing as much of beautiful Ireland as I could. Also hope to go back.

regards

Kathleen fanning

Hello

look for some advice/information, I am in the process of planning and booking a trip to Ireland in April in fact its my honeymoon.

Part of the trip I would like to visit Tipperary and find out as much history of the Purcell family so that I can to complete the family tree/history my aunt had started a few years ago. I would also like to visit the Loughmoe Castle. Any tips or suggestions on where to start my search and if a visit to the castle is possible and how to make arrangements to visit the castle 

any information  would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks

Paul Purcell

Hi, Paul.

You'll find that Loughmore is a small village when you visit. In order to see the castle, you simply need to stop at the house on the property and ask permission. The castle is on private property in the middle of a horse pasture, but the family who own it are very accommodating to us "namesakes."

I can give you some pointers on where to go and what to see. Email me - jjpurcell2004@msn.com.

Jim,
I am connected to the Purcell Family from Monemore, Emly, Tipperary. My family has lived there, at least from 1750 maybe longer. I was told by a local historian that my Purcell family had lived in Cashel and had originally lived in Loughmore. I would be curious if my Gedmatch# A480548 matches yours or anyone's in your forum.
Alan,
I have my DNA test on AncestryDNA, username: MaryTV. Let me know if there is a match.

Regards- Mary

Comparing Kit A734056 (Robert Scott)  and Kit A480548 (*GOHIO76)

Chr 14, 6.2cM, 31,686,696 - 33,641,264

My Purcell ancestors lived in Cashel in the late 1700s and early 1800s, also Thurles in the 1700s.

Robert,

Thank you for responding back. My 4th great grandfather was William Purcell. Most trees on Ancestry.com show him born about 1750 in Monemore, Emly, Tipperary. He is buried in Emly Cemetery in an unmarked grave. I have not been able to take my tree any further back and I am not sure how my family connects to those living on Cashel or Loughmore. I checked our shared matches on Gedmatch but did not recognize any of the names. Did you?

Regards- Mary