Rochfort/Rochford
I had previously traced my GGG Grandfather, Valentine Rochfort, to Meath, and one of the towns he possibly sprang from was Kells. I am now fairly certain that he was born in Mullagh, Cavan. He was born in 1792. The 1821 cencus shows a family of Rochford (the "t" and the "d" are often interchangeable in my family history) living in Mullagh, with a father called Richard, mother Catherine, sons Thomas, Walter and Stephen and daughters Mary and Ann. Valentine was not present on the census, because, if this is the correct family, he had already migrated to Bradford, Yorkshire. I can trace Valentine later to Bradford, where his paths cross with a Walter and Stephen Rochfort who are of identical ages to the Mullagh boys. Family naming patterns suggest his mother was indeed Catherine. There is a Valentine Rochfort on the subscription list for the "Doway Bible" IN 1816, but I believe the list to be out of date as Valentine had left Ireland in 1813. There are further references found to Valentine, who had become very influentual in the Bradford Catholic Parish, reading out a letter from a Fr O'Reilly, the parish priest of Mullagh, and another from the Protestant minister of Carlanstown, Meath while fund-raising for famine relief.
I am trying to trace the family back any further than Richard and Catherine and am wondering if any records exist in the town that can be of help. I do suspect I have possibly reached a dead end, but who knows.
Another distant line of my family, a GGG Aunt on my father's father's mother's line, married the son of one of the Brinsley Sheridan family, who I believe also spring from Mullagh!
Michael Rochfort, Sydney, Australia.