Hello! My name is Shannon Murphy and my family is from Chicago, IL, USA. I have been feeling such a strong sense to connect to my Irish heritage/roots and stumbled upon this site. My father's name was Kevin Patrick Murphy and his father was John Murphy.
I did ancestry.com's DNA test and am 56% Irish and 29% Scottish. It says my family is mostly from the Munster, IE area. Would love to connect! Thank you!
Shannon:
Munster is one of the four provinces in Ireland and comprises six counties: Clare, Tipperary., Waterford, Kerry, Cork and Limerick I don't know if we can help you find out the exact location but we can try. Did your grandfather emigrate from Ireland or was it further back? Do you have the parents names for the person who emigrated?
I would suggest that you contact your top DNA matches and see if they are paternal or maternal connections. Maybe you will find someone with Murphy connections who has more info on the family in Ireland. Keep in mind that in my experince maybe 25-50% of the people who you contact will respond.
Roger McDonnell
Hello! Thank you so much for the reply! My ancestry.com DNA results lists 6 areas of Munster in this order:
-North Kerry & North Cook
-Iveragh Peninsula
-East Kerry & West Limerick
-North Kerry
-South West Munster
-North Iveragh Peninsula
I believe it was further back than my grandpa who emigrated and unfortunately I do not know who. This is what I've discovered thus far:
Father: Kevin Patrick Murphy
Paternal Grandpa: John J Murphy Sr of Parents: Patrick Murphy & Rose Morrison
Paternal Grandma: Gwendolyn R Fletcher of Parents: Alfred Fletcher & Ruth McGee
Unfortunately all the abovementioned are deceased so I do not have the ability to get much more information.
Thank you for any help and direction you can provide!
It appears I have Irish roots on my mother's side as well :)
Maternal Grandmother: Mary Agnes Rafferty
Maternal Great-Grandmother: Bridget Agnes Houran (Or Agnes Brigette Houran?)
Maternal Great-Grandfather: John J Rafferty Sr, born of Arthur Rafferty and Sarah Rice
Shannon:
I did some searches on the subscription site Roots Ireland and did not find any leads.
If you have an Ancestry subscription, start with your grandparents and see if you can go back into the 19th century looking at census records etc. Possibly you will find an ancestor born in Ireland.and will also know the parents names. I would focus on your mother's side because searching Murphys in next to impossible.
If you find leads, let me know.
Roger