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Non Parental Event in 1700's or early 1800's history question

I had my brother's ydna tested excited to find out which Murphy line we came from. To my utter surprise there were no matching Murphy surnames.  The closes match to us were people with Clarke surname (and that is like 8+ generations back) and further back in genetics were names like Maguire, McGuire, Corrigan, McManus etc...(16-20 generations)

It's slightly possible that people haven't tested in our line but there are so many Murphys out there I doubt that.

My gr gr grandfather born around 1827 was Patrick Murphy and he lived in Inniskeen, County Monaghan. They were Catholic and his sons were very passionate about that. I also heard the cousins who remained were active in "the troubles". We are genetically connected to that Patrick, so whatever occured with surname came before then.

I am thinking it was an adoption event due to deaths or other circumstances.

Were families apt to take in children if their parents died? Or for a child to take another surname for another reason?

I am still ordering Ireland history books but it is so hard to find answers to partiuclar questions.

SNiehart

1 reply

There was no formal adoption in Ireland till the 1900s (1927 for Northern Ireland and the early 1950s for the Republic of Ireland). Prior to that all adoption was normally by word of mouth agreements and little or no paperwork.

So when parents died or a foundling required a home then a child was often adopted. It would simply be absorbed into the new family and use it’s surname. Another possibility is that your ancestor might have been illegitimate, and in that case the father may not have been a Murphy. The baptism records for the 1800s have plenty of illegitimate births in them. That was common enough. It’s a wise man that knows his own father, as they say.

Elwyn, IrelandXO Volunteer ☘IrelandXO Volunteer

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