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Murphy from Ballinakill / Woodford Co Galway - Siblings left for Australia in 1862 & 1864

GalwayBallynakill Killian (Galway)

I am looking for information and links with the Murphys from Ballinakill / Woodford Co Galway. They were catholics and three siblings, John & Margaret (1862) and William (1864) left Ireland for Australia in 1862 (Lady Milton) and 1864 (Queen of the East). Their parents were Thomas Murphy & Catherine Fahey (or Fahy) (John & Margaret) and Thomas Murphy & Bridget Fahey (or Fahy). Apart from this information I have nothing more about their life in Ireland.

John Murphy (born around 1831) arrived in Australia from Woodford, County Galway Ireland on the Lady Milton 28 June 1862. He was accompanied by his sister Margaret Murphy (born around 1836) whose recorded aged was 26 and she is listed as coming from Ballynakill Co Galway. Parents: Thomas Murphy & Catherine Fahy.

William Murphy aged 23 arrived in Sydney on the 'Queen of the East' ship 30 April 1864. He was a farm labourer from Ballinakill Co Galway. Born around 1841.

William was a half brother to John & Margaret.

Once in Australia they settled in the Borenore farming community (near Orange New South Wales) and lived alongside the Duffy family (Daniel & Anne Madden). Daniel originated from Newtown Co Tipperary and arrived in Sydney Australia on 28.6.1865 on the "Trebolgan". Daniel married Anne Madden who came for came to Australia on the ship "Abyisinian," and was born in 1839 in Athlone Co Roscommon to John Madden & Mary Lynch.

John Murphy is my Great Grandfather while Daniel & Anne Duffy are also Great Grandparents.

If possible I would like to know the following and any other information that may be available;

  • Where the Murphy family lived
  • The birth dates and or baptismal records of John, Margaret & William.
  • Any information about the parents Thomas & Catherine Fahey (or Fahy) perhaps their marriage date and also marriage date of Thomas & Bridgit Fahey (or Fahy).
  • Whether there are any Murphy relatives still around the area in Galway.

Regards and Thanks

Bernard Duffy

bduffy49@bigpond.com

00 61 434 504 414

bduffy49@bigpond.com

10 replies

Bernard:

Welcome to Ireland Reaching Out!

I searched the subscription site Roots Ireland for Murphy baptismal records where the father was Thomas Murphy and the mother's surname was Fahy/Fahey but no records were located. I also did not locate a Thomas Murphy marriage to a Fahy/Fahey.

The Woodford RC records start in 1821 but there is a gap from 1843-1851. https://registers.nli.ie/parishes/0340 

The parish to the west Ballinakill/Duniry has records starting in 1839  https://registers.nli.ie/parishes/0321

One possibility is that the older two children were baptized in Ballinakill pre-1839 and records are no longer available and that William was baptized in Woodford during the gap period from 1843-1851.

Let me know if you have any questions.

Roger McDonnell

Castlemore RoscommonIrelandXO Volunteer

Thanks Roger for your prompt investigation and reply. What a shame that it looks like the inforation is lost.

1.  Woud there be a chance of coming across death certificates for Thomas Murphy, Catherine & Brigit Fahey (Fahy)?

2. Also do you know who I would contact to follow through on the other side of our Irish ancestory - Daniel Duffy & his wife Anne Madden (GG Parents).  They married in Australia on 14 July 1865 just over two weeks after he arrived so we assume they knew each other from Ireland. 

Daniel Duffy was born in 1837 in Newtown Co Tipperary. and came to Sydney Australia on 28.6.1865 on the "Trebolgan". His parents were William Duffy & Bridget Hogan.  (I was in Ireland last year and was staggered to find in N Tipperary that there was a prosperous looking town named Newtown and 2 rural localities in the same proximity called Newtown). Daniel was a farm hand so its presumed he came from one of the rural localities. We understand Daniel had four brothers, one sister and a half brother (Mother Bridget O’Dea). 

Anne Madden came to Australia on the ship "Abyisinian," and arrived in Sydney on the 29.5.1862. She was born in 1839 at Athlone Roscommon and her parents were John Madden & Mary Lynch. 

I hope to get back there one of these days.

Thanks again for your help.

Bernard Duffy

 

 

 

bduffy49@bigpond.com

Bernard:

The free site www.irishgenealogy.ie has civil death record images from 1878-1968. Right now, the death records for 1864-1877 are just index records and you would have to write to Ireland for a copy of the record. We expect in the next year or so that they will add the images for the records from 1864-1877.  Your Murphys would have been included in the Portumna registration district. I did see one index record for a Thomas Murphy pre-1878 but can't tell if it is your ancestor. Catherine would have died before 1864 so a civil record would not exist. I did not see a Bridget Murphy record up to 1900 but possibly she did not die until after 1900 so you may want to check.

Regarding Daniel Duffy, there are more then 20 Newtown localities in Tipperary. I believe your Newtown would be in the civil parish of Dorrha. His four brothers were Patrick1831 William 1832 Michael 1834 James 1836 Mary 1843

I did not locate an Anne Madden baptismal record anywhere in Ireland with the parent names you provided.

Roger

Castlemore RoscommonIrelandXO Volunteer

Hello Again Roger,

You are  mine of information - thank you. 

I am still getting a handle on civil and church parishes. Are the civil parishes the Church of Ireland ie state parishes? . I did hear when we were in Ireland that if we wanted to view  Tipperary church (catholic) records we would have to go to Thurles. By then we were up North and couln't double back. Would that be correct?

1.  Did you happen to find actual birth dates of the Duffy siblings? What records were they? 

2.  Apparently Mary was a half sister - did you locate her mother? 2nd wife perhaps? With regard to Daniel Duffy (my GG Father) I came across a possible birth date of 22 Oct 1837 but I don't know the source. We always knew he was born in 1837.  Are you able to confirm that date?

3.  Am I free to keep peppering you with questions?

4. Should I be making a contribution to someone?

 

Regards Again

Bernie Duffy

.

 

 

bduffy49@bigpond.com

Bernie:

Our services are free but we do have a way to donate money if you are interested  https://irelandxo.com/donate   Most of our funding comes from grants from the Irish goverment or other sources in Ireland. We also generate some funds from ads on some of the pages.In addition to local volunteers at the parish level, there are about ten of us who help respond to the messages on the main message board. Most of the folks are in Ireland but some like me are in the USA, Australia etc.

The civil parish and the Church of Ireland parish are one and the same. Not sure why you were directed to Thurles to view Tipperary church records. The parish registers available for the 19th century up to 1880/1881 are available here https://registers.nli.ie/parishes  The limitation is that you need to know your parish to search their records. If you just know Tipperary then it is problematic. There are two options and both are subscription sites: Roots Ireland and Find My Past. Not all Tipperary parishes are on Roots Ireland because some parishes in the Diocese of Cashel and Emly are not on Roots.

The Duffy records I located were on Roots Ireland and they would be baptismal dates which were usually up to a week after the birth. I just copied down the year without opening the actual record.

Below is the transcription of the baptismal record for Daniel Duffy. You can see the actual record on this register https://registers.nli.ie/parishes/0781

Also below is the transcription record for Charles Duffy 1847 mother Bridget O'Dea.

Feel free to ask more questions.

Roger

 

Name:Daniel DuffyDate of Birth:
Date of Baptism:22-Oct-1837Address:Not RecordedParish/District:LORRHAGender:MaleCountyCo. Tipperary
Denomination:Roman Catholic
Father:William DuffyMother:Bridget HoganOccupation:
Sponsor 1 /
Informant 1:Patrick Hough Sponsor 2 /
Informant 2:Mary Smith 

Name:Charles DuffyDate of Birth:
Date of Baptism:07-Oct-1847Address:Not RecordedParish/District:LORRHAGender:MaleCountyCo. Tipperary
Denomination:Roman Catholic
Father:William DuffyMother:Bridget O'DeaOccupation:
Sponsor 1 /
Informant 1:James Buckley Sponsor 2 /
Informant 2:Ellen Smyth 

Castlemore RoscommonIrelandXO Volunteer

Hi Bernie!  I too am a Murphy and my Murphy line has been traced to Woodford.  My GG Grandfather was James Murphy & his father's name was John.  James came to the US in 1870 and ended up on Pennsylvania, which is where I'm from.  Unfortunately, that's all i have on the Murphy's, but I was wondering if you've taken a DNA test on Ancestry as I am curious to see if we're related.  It's my understanding that the Murphy name wasn't common in that area of Ireland so the chances of being related might not be that slim!  

I've been to Woodford twice and it is a lovely place.

Take care,
Susan

stsliwa@gmail.com

Hello Susan,

Three Murphy siblings John (my G GFather), Margaret and William left Ireland in 1862 & 64(William) for Australia. Their parents were Thomas Murphy & Catherine Fahey (or Fahy) (John & Margaret) and Thomas Murphy & Bridget Fahey (or Fahy). I have obtained their parents name form Marriage & Death Certificates in Australia. I have had no luck so far with records in Galway although I was referred to the Woodford Hertige Centre by a lady in Australia. She saw my posting  and her usband come from Woodford. I haven't had time to contact Woodford HC yet.

We stayed in Portumna just 12 months ago but at the time I didn't realise my GGF and siblings came from Woodford which is quite close by. 

I have taken a DNA test through Ancestry. It was about 2 years ago but I have let my m/ship lapse. There was a whole list of possible relos and at the time was not working on the Murphys. I don't think I looked beyond 3rd cousins. Perhaps there is a connection.

I would be pleased to know if you find any connection - my guess is there could be.  My email is bduffy49@bigpond.com

Regards and Thanks for catching up.

Bernie

 

 

bduffy49@bigpond.com

Hello Roger,

I have had a reply from another member who also has Murphy as a G GParent from Woodford. She  married a fellow from Woodford asnd lived there for a number of years. When they were tracking their Murphys they discovered that Murphy wasn't a common surname in that area and that our Murphy's probably came from the typical Murphy region of Munster. In their case that was where her Dad's DNA pointed him to.  The Murphy's probably came to the Woodford area to work for the Burke family as they were the English landowners.

Does this snippett make it possible to check records in the Munster area?

Their details again

John Murphy (born around 1831) arrived in Australia from Woodford, County Galway Ireland (according to the shipping list) on the Lady Milton 28 June 1862. He was accompanied by his sister Margaret Murphy (born around 1836) whose recorded aged was 26 and she is listed on the shipping list as coming from Ballynakill Co Galway.  Parents: Thomas Murphy & Catherine Fahy.

 William Murphy aged 23 arrived in Sydney on the 'Queen of the East' ship 30 April 1864. He was a farm labourer from  Ballinakill Co Galway (again the shipping list). Born around 1841.

William was a half brother to John & Margaret.

Regards

Bernie Duffy

bduffy49@bigpond.com

Bernie!!!  I have some great news!  We ARE related!!  You showed up as a DNA match under my Dad (BernardJohnDuffy)!!  You didn't show up under mine, but we've seen that happen before.  It's probably because you and I are one generation apart from each other.

I'm guessing that your John Murphy (b. 1831) was a cousin to my James Murphy (b. 1838)...OR maybe they were brothers?  However, you mentioned that John's father's name was Thomas.  On James' wedding documents, his father's name was listed as John.....if only they had more unique names!!

My GGGrandfather, James married a woman by the name of Mary Tuohy, also form Woodford. We were able to find a good amount of information for them and we do know that 2 of Mary's sisters went to Austrailia as well.  Wonder what the draw was back then?  My GGGrandfather, James & Mary went to the States and settled in Johnstown, PA which, back then was a steel/coal town so that makes sense.

 

 

stsliwa@gmail.com

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