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Simon Frances Muphy, b. 1853-1859

I've been searching for my husband's great-grandfather who was born in Wexford around 1854, possibly 1859, as previous info said the earlier date, & more recently his grave marker says 1859.

He emigrated to the US to the Cleveland Ohio area around 1881 we think...based on copies of maritime papers showing his working as a fireman (?) on board several & traveling the world...before supposedly coming into the US in California & making his way to his sister's in Cuyahoga county, Ohio.

I do not have confirmed names for his parents or any siblings. Are there manifests of ships that might help with next of kin and such?

We will be in Ireland in 2 weeks & are stopping in Wexford. It would be nice to be able to find a church, pasture, something he was connected to.

Thank you in advance.

Marie Murphy

5 replies

Here are 4 baptisms from www.rootsireland.ie/:

Name:Simon MurphyDate of Birth:05-Jun-1854
Date of Baptism:06-Jun-1854Address:
Parish/District:WexfordGender:
CountyCo. Wexford
Denomination:Roman Catholic
Father:Mathew MurphyMother:Mary FrenchOccupation:
Informant 1:George Pepper
Informant 2:Anne French

Name:Simon MurphyDate of Birth:
Date of Baptism:30-Oct-1857Address:TinnacrossParish/District:MonageerGender:
CountyCo. Wexford
Denomination:Roman Catholic
Father:Charles MurphyMother:Anne DoyleOccupation:
Informant 1:John Doyle
Informant 2:Mary Cartan

Name:Simon MurphyDate of Birth:20-Mar-1858
Date of Baptism:21-Mar-1858Address:
Parish/District:WexfordGender:
CountyCo. Wexford
Denomination:Roman Catholic
Father:Mathew MurphyMother:Mary FrenchOccupation:
Informant 1:Robin Furlong
Informant 2:Anne French

(This one in case it was a misspelling or mistranscription of Simon)

Name:Simone MurphyDate of Birth:23-Feb-1855
Date of Baptism:
Address:
Parish/District:AdamstownGender:
CountyCo. Wexford
Denomination:Roman Catholic
Father:Lawrence MurphyMother:Anastasia Colfer

I had a look on ancestry.com and the John Busher family tree has his birthdate as 5th June 1854 which is the first record above. It gives the parish as Wexford which is assumedly Wexford town which has all the following churches:

Wexford town St. Michaels of Feagh, St. Johns, St. Doologues, St. Bridgets, Maudlintown, St. Selskars, St. Peters, St. Patricks

Another idea: Did he have children? IF he followed the Irish naming pattern, the first son & second daughter would be named after his parents.

IF the name Simon had been in the family perhaps his father uncle or grandfather may have been Simon also. Griffiths Valuation has 2 Simon Murphys in Wexford in 1853:

TenantFamily Name 1MURPHYForename 1SIMONLandlordFamily Name 2POUNDERForename THOMASLocationCountyWEXFORDBaronyBALLAGHKEEN, SOUTHUnion ENNISCORTHYParish BALLYHUSKARD TownlandCOOLADINE Place NameCOOLADINE Place TypeTOWNLAND

TenantFamily Name 1MURPHYForename 1SIMONLandlordFamily Name 2GODKINForename 2JAMESLocationCountyWEXFORDBaronyBALLAGHKEEN, NORTHUnionGOREYParishKILTENNELLTownlandBANOGEPlace NameBANOGEPlace TypeTOWNLAND

 

ColCaffIrelandXO Volunteer

Hello:

Thank you for your post to the Ireland Reaching Out website.

I have found 4 church baptism records for a Siumon Murohy born in Wexford between 1854 -1858.  

Two of them relate to the samefamily which would indicate that the first Simon Murphy died.  

They are:

Simon Murphy 

baptised 6 June 1854 in Wexford parish, County Wexford.  

Parents were:  Matthew Murphy & Mary French.  

Sponsors were:  George Pepper and Anne French.  

 

Simon Murphy

baptised 21 March 1858 in Wexford parish,County Wexford.

Parents were:  Matthew Murphy & Mary French.  (It would appear that the first Simon died and another child was given the same name). 

Sponsors were:  Robin Furlong & Anne French.  

Both records are Roman Catholic.

Two other records:

Simone Murphy 

baptised 23 February 1855  Adamstown parish, County Wexford.

Parents were:  Lawrence Murphy & Anastasia Cofter

Sponsors were not listed.

Simon Murphy 

baptised 30 October 1857.  Residence was Tinnacross.  Parish was Monageer, County Wexford. 

Parents were:  Charles Murphy and Anne Doyle.

Sponsors were:  John Doyle and Mary Cartan.  

 

You can find these records on the Roots Irelandwebsite which is a subscription site.  You can also access the parish registers for free for the above here:

Wexford: https://registers.nli.ie/parishes/0610 

Adamstown:  https://registers.nli.ie/parishes/0567

Monageer: https://registers.nli.ie/parishes/0581 

Please let me know if you need further assistance.

 

Kind regards,

Jane

 

jhalloranryan@…

Jane, thank you! This second naming would explain the discrepancy in dates. These same parents, Mathew & Mary, had another son around 1875, at least from a 1901 census. I've been trying to find some info on him but have no access to ancestry.com world records.

A question I have, and possibly an obvious one, is how to find a specific church where a baptism took place. If Simon was born in the Wexford parish & Ferns Dioscese, there are multiple churches in that area, which one? 

And where would one look for old maps to see if streets have changed?

Thank you again for all the help,

Marie

 

Marie Murphy

Hi Marie:

I believe that the link that I gave to you in the previous post for Wexford parish is the correct parish register,and that church would be the church.  As to old maps, there are several sources:

 

The Ask About Ireland website has the Griffith's Valuation documentation including Union Maps (1870s-1880s or so) online through their website.  You can view them through this link:  

http://www.askaboutireland.ie/griffith-valuation/

You will need to either search using a family name (surname) or using a place (Wexford).  It may be easier for you to search using "Matthew Murphy" as a search term, and then looking through the Wexford parish listings.  

You may also view maps online through the Ordinance Survey Ireland website using their mapviewer feature.  The link for that is here:

http://map.geohive.ie/mapviewer.html

You can search using an address or you can search via the number of options on the Menu in the left-hand side of the screen.  You will want to click on "Base Information & Mapping" in order to see the historical maps that you can use to search.  

A third option is through the UCD digital library which offers a number of maps of towns and cities in Ireland.  The link for this is here:  

http://digital.ucd.ie/maps/explorer/

You can zoom into Wexford and you will note that it has a polygon symbol,which means that a map to view is available.  You can also view by year.  

If you have any further questions,please let me know.

All the best,

Jane

jhalloranryan@…

Thank you again, Jane. I will search these maps momentarily.

I apologize in advance, as I feel quite thick. But when I look at the microfiche records showing Simon's baptism, all I have noted is 'wexford', in the Ferns Diocese. I am not Catholic & perhaps my ignorance is showing, but I see no mention of the name of a church. Are you saying the church was called ,Wexford', as it was in that county? I thought a diocese was an area, not an exact location too. I feel like I am missing something obvious here. People have said on other boards if you have the register you know the church, but when I look at the scanner version all I see is a book titled baptismal register 1851-1869.

Again, please forgive my ignorance in this. Trying to understand where all these people brought their babies for baptism so many years ago!

Marie Murphy

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