seeking Information about Luke Murray b. abt. 1825 and a storey from 1969 in Ireland

Hi Karlene, 

 

Do you know much about their emigration? Dates, the reason why they left, etc.? Generally more information was given at the port of arrival rather than the port of departure. If you knew which city they arrived at (CAstle Garden, Ellis Island), this could be a good place to find more information, and perhaps even find out an exact place of origin. Free searchable databases are available at these sites:http://www.castlegarden.org/ and http://www.ellisisland.org/ . 

Once a point of origin has been established church records can also be useful and are available from the local parish or the National Archives at http://www.nationalarchives.ie/. . If you have any difficulty, you could try writing to the parish priest for more assistance.

 

You could try checking the land records called the Tithe Applotment Books (1823-38) or the later Griffith's Valuation (1848-64). The Tithe Applotment Books (1823-38): Microfilm copies of the books for all of Ireland are available at the National Archives of Ireland (NAI) http://www.nationalarchives.ie/genealogy1/genealogy-records/tithe-applotment-books-and-the-primary-griffith-valuation/ or the Church of Latter Day Saints (LDS)https://familysearch.org/ . Griffith's is freely available here: www.askaboutireland.com or here: www.failteromhat.com Failte Romhat has lots of other useful links you could try looking at.

 

The Tithe Applotment List might be of use to you, or at least interesting for you. These lists constitute the only nationwide survey for the period, and are valuable because the heaviest burden of the tithes to the Established Church, the Church of Ireland, fell on the poorest, for whom few other records survive. The information in the Tithes is quite basic, typically consisting of townland name, landholder's name, area of land and tithes payable. Many Books also record the landlord's name and an assessment of the economic productivity of the land. The tax payable was based on the average price of wheat and oats over the seven years up to 1823, and was levied at a different rate depending on the quality of land. For Parishes where the registers do not begin until after 1850, this information can be useful, as they are often the only surviving early records. They can provide valuable circumstantial evidence, especially where a holding passed from father to son in the period between the Tithe survey and Griffith's Valuation.

 

Valuations office in Dublin (http://www.valoff.ie) will have a record of the land registry from 1855 to modern times. This will assist in seeing what happened to Luke's land (as it usually passed on to a relation).

 

 

You can check for information about the frequency of the name in the mid-19th century and any other variant spellings of the name here: http://www.irishtimes.com/ancestor/surname/

A genealogical database for Co roscommon is avalable for a fee from http://roscommon.rootsireland.ie/ . 

I wish you the best of luck with your search. 

 

Please make sure you link anyone else in your family who is interested in their Irish heritage to our site - and indeed anyone else you know of Irish heritage.

Kind regards,

Cynthia O'Connor

Genealogy Support

Ireland Reaching Out