I am searching for information on my ancestors and present here the bits and pieces we ‘know’, as well as a few other potentially interesting leads that we have unearthed.
My great, great, great grandparents Matthew Murphy (born 1762) and Mary O'Neill left Ireland for Canada/North America, we believe in 1811-1812. We think they came with at least 2 sons, Michael, my great great grandfather Peter (born 1807/08), and perhaps a younger John and/or Martin.
Family lore has it that they came from Ross/New Ross area, though Clonard is another possible search thread.
We think they came directly to PEI, but it could also have been via other Eastern Canada ports, such as New York, Boston or Newfoundland. We have come across a record for a family, including Mathew and Michael Murphy who embarked from Dublin for New York on the “Belisarus” on 6 July 1811.
There is a record of a Murphy family who leased land from Viscount Monck in Adamstown parish, New Ross and also a Murphy who was a tenant of a Samuel Hopson at Oldross. We have not been able to access detailed records for searching.
Also, it may be that Mary O’Neill may have been born into of an O’Neill family who were shipbuilders in Wexford, who inter-married with Murphys.
At the time of emigration, Matthew was in his late 40s, so we hope we can find a trace of him and of Mary considering he was well into mid-life (age 48-50y) by 1811.
If anyone has any information that could assist us, we would be very, very grateful.
Pauline Murphy Sutow
Friday 16th Aug 2013, 09:33PMMessage Board Replies
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Hi Pauline,
Thank you very much for your message. I hope that someone with information makes a connection with you and helps you to further your research.
In the meantime have you tried looking at Church records to see if you can find a birth record for Matthew in Ross/Old Ross? Most Catholic records are held locally so you may need to write to the local parish priest for possible assistance. One website that you may find useful is the Irish Times where they give an overview of what records are available in specific parishes. It also shows you where copies of the records are available. For Old Ross parish, follow this link:
For New Ross:
Most surviving Church of Ireland records are still held by the local clergy, although some are in the National Archives of Ireland and others are in the Representative Church Body Library in Dublin. Here are their websites: http://www.nationalarchives.ie/ and http://ireland.anglican.org/about/42
Lists of these surviving registers can also be found at the National Library of Ireland.
Some other websites that you may find useful are:
The National Archives of Ireland http://www.nationalarchives.ie/genealogy1/genealogy-records/introduction/
The National Library of Ireland http://www.nli.ie/en/family-history-introduction.aspx
Family Search: www.familysearch.org
Irish Genealogy Toolkit: http://www.irish-genealogy-toolkit.com/index.html
Genealogy Links: http://www.genealogylinks.net/uk/ireland/wexford/index.html
From Ireland: http://www.from-ireland.net/county-wexford-genealogy/
All the best,
Genealogy Support
Wednesday 21st Aug 2013, 09:53AM