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Siblings Thomas and Ann Murphy - born c. 1840 and immigrated to the United States

GalwayAhascragh (Galway)

Siblings Thomas and Ann Murphy were born in this parish. Their father was James Murphy and their mother was Winnifred Carr.

Thomas was born in 1837 and Ann was born c. 1840. Both immigrated to the United States - date of immigration is unknown but both were living in Bordentown, New Jersey by around 1860.

Ann married Timothy Connolly (born 1840) in 1864 in Bordentown. they had three sons - I am Ann & Timothy's great-great-grandaughter.

Thomas Murphy married Bridget Connolly in the 1880s (also in Bordentown). (I have confirmed that Bridget Connolly and Timothy Connolly were not siblings).

I know that the Murphy siblings were from Ahascragh parish - Thomas was buried in St. Mary's cemetary in Bordentown, New Jersey and identified that as his birthplace.

Bordentown, New Jersy is a town located fairly close to Philadelphia. I have reason to believe that a cluster of families from the Ahascragh parish ended up in the Bordentown area - names that crop up in my Bordentown New Jersey research are: Connolly, Murphy (as outlined above) and Raftery.

I'd like to confirm if possible the townland that the Murphy siblings lived on.

I'd also like to match up with any Ahascragh descendents that ended up in Bordentown, New Jersey.

IrelandXO member

3 replies

lafcolleen:

Welcome to Ireland Reaching Out!

I checked Roots Ireland and there were no baptismal records in Galway East for children of James Murphy and a wife with the surname Carr. Records for Ahascragh/Killosolan/Caltra parish start in 1840 so it is likely that Ann was also born pre-1840. You can look at the register to see if you can find any records.http://registers.nli.ie/parishes/0535

I also looked at the 1855 Griffiths Valuation for Co. Galway. There are two civil parishes: Ahascragh and Killosolan which correspond to Ahascragh/Killosolam/Caltra RC parish. There were no James Murphy records in either parish.

Questions? Have you considered autosomal DNA testing?

Roger McDonnell

Castlemore RoscommonIrelandXO Volunteer

Hi Roger,  Thanks for looking for the Murphys.  I have thought about DNA testing but have been unable to sort through the various options to determine what makes sense for our family.  Is there a handy (reliable) primer that you could direct me to so that I can figure this out?  Thanks for any help.

IrelandXO member

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