JAMES HURLEY

Thank you so much, Roger and Christina, 

JAMES HURLEY: I got the Cappamore lead from James Hurley's South African Death Notice in 1905, which was completed by one of his sons who might not have had full information. It states that he was born in Kappermore, Limerick, Ireland and that his parent's names were unknown. His possible dates of birth, calculated from the ages stated on his marriage record, ship's passenger list, death notice, death information form, and surviving spouse's age on his wife's death information form are 1833, 1832, 1830, 1827 and 1832.  I have been working on 1832 +/- 5 years.

I had traced James and Ellen's marriage on Findmypast and ordered a copy of the record from the Ireland General Register Office. This gave the additional information which I mentioned in my post. I also found the baptism of their first son John Hurley in Doon Parish in 1858, as well as a possible daughter Bridget Hurley in Doon Parish in 1857 but she does not appear on the emigration ship's list with them so may have passed away.

ELLEN (LACY) HURLEY: James was still alive when his wife Ellen (Lacy) Hurley died in 1895 and he completed her Death Notice himself, stating that she was born in Newport, Ireland and giving her parents' names as William and Mary "Lacey". I might have traced her baptism in Newport, Cashel and Emly, Tipperary on 25 March 1831, with the parents being listed as William Lacy and Mary Brien.  I also managed to trace these parents' marriage in Newport of 25 January 1815. I didn't try to go further back with the Lacy family because I wasn't sure that the baptism was actually hers but any additional information would be most welcome, of course. Ellen's inferred birth years, calculated from the ages given on various documents are way off from the baptism which I found in 1831, ie, 1836, 1836, 1839 and 1839.

DNA: My son has done the Family Finder and YDNA tests but there haven't been Hurley matches or any other recognisable names.

Thanks again for your help. I have only recently joined. It has taken many years of research to get to this point so it would be wonderful to find out more about the Hurley ancestors in Ireland. 

Regards,

Thanks again, Roger,

Yes, that's an important point you make about their religion. Now that you mention it, I see from the attached civil marriage record that it states Church of Ireland. This is the document which I obtained this from the Ireland General Register Office. I did not find a reference to the actual church marriage register on Findmypast or FamilySearch. Did you come across it on your website? As far as I know, they were Roman Catholic. Apparently all five of their children born in South Africa between 1859?60 and 1871 were baptised in the St Patrick's Catholic Church in Grahamstown but these records are not available on line. However, I do have the Death Records of both James and Ellen which state that they were buried in the Catholic Cemetery there. I am also attaching a page with the birth and baptism dates of their first son, John Hurley, born in Ireland in 1858, as well as a record of their names on the ship's passenger list. Do you know how they would have gone from Ireland to Southampton and whether there are any such emigration records, other than the ships' passenger lists?  Thanks again for all your help. The DNA results are already on Gedmatch.

Regards, Wendy.

Hello, I'm looking for a different James Hurley, I guess. Also married to an Ellen, perhaps Ellen Mary. They were parents to a son named Edwin Patrick or Patrick Edwin who was born in 1861 and this son was orphaned in childhood and moved to Dublin. He is my great-grandfather, who emigrated to Canada in 1888.

Wendy,

There's a James Hurley baptised 1825 in the parish of Galbally & Aherlow, East Limerick. While it's only a possibility the location is near to the parish of Kilteely & Drumkeen, which I think is a variation on Dromkeen where he married Ellen Lacy in 1856.

If you Google RC Parishes of Ireland, you will find both the above parishes on the eastern border of Limerick.

You might also try searching for records in FindMyPast.ie where RC records are free to search on registering. I'd also suggest the Government run site Irish Genealogy where you might find parent deaths in post1864 civil records.

When faced with only one possibility we are tempted to grab it and not look for supplementary evidence. I'd try looking for possible siblings of James using same parishes and parents

Peter

Thanks, Peter. I will look again. I do subscribe to Findmypast. 

Regards, Wendy.

Dear Wendy,

My cousin has entered his DNA and that of his brothers onto GEDMATCH and has found at least two connections that way. So far that hasn't led to finding our ancestor's parents but it did reveal other things - such as places that younger relatives were from (for us, it's west Limerick).  I wanted to mention this in case it would be helpful.

Elizabeth Neill

Hi Wendy.

My name is Stephen Lord. My Dad has just discoverd that James Hurley is my Great Great Great Grandfather. My dad looks afte rour family tree and not sure if you've been in touch with each other as you might be able to share some info. His name is Brian. He's uploaded it all to Ancestry.com

https://www.ancestry.co.uk/family-tree/person/tree/9210148/person/342201930405/facts

Stephen

Thank You, Elizabeth. That is useful and I will bear it in mind. Unfortunately Gedmtch didn't come up with any Hurley matches.

Regards, Wendy.

Hello Stephen, Thank you so much for your message. Yes, I have recently been in contact with your mom and dad due to another message which I had left on this website. We have been gathering information on the family but I don't automatically have access to trees on Ancestry so that will be sorted out later. Whereas your line stems from James & Ellen's son James, ours comes from their son Patrick so I think that makes you 4th cousins with my children because your common ancestor is 5 generations back. With best regards, Wendy.

Hello Wendy and others,

An interesting post and good communication from everyone.

Especially wise words from "Peter".  Never lock into a name match, secondary and tertiary evidence are the best reinforcements for making a judgement call.  DNA is very useful ....  can be indicative, but also leads today's researcher into assumptions, that become brick walls.

As for HURLEY, it's a name I see frequently in the background of trees sharing DNA with me.  West Limerick, a place to explore.