Annie,
Were you able to find out any more information about your family tree? Edward was also my great-great-great grandfather, and I have a little bit of information, but it doesn't appear to be anything new.
To my knowledge, James, the father of Edward, was born around 1794, as was Anna (Mc)Cormick.
I'm assuming that the James Murphys that you are referring to are the ones that are buried in Drumranney? I do not believe that specific father and son pair of James Murphys are the same father and son Jameses that you or I are related to, at least not as far as Edward is concerned. They have have been related in another way, but they are not the father and brother of Edward.
Edward's brother James was born in 1822 in Drumraney and died in 1893 and is buried at St. Nick's in Freedom. The James Murphy buried in the cemetery in Drumraney died at age 27 in 1818. See what I mean? So the Jas Murphy that was the father of that James Murphy is not the same James Murphy that was the father of Edward.
Unfortunatley, I don't have any information on James Murphy or Anna McCormick. If you were able to put together any more pieces of the puzzle, I would love to hear any information that you have found. I will also be heading to Westmeath in about a month and have been trying for over a year to find information further back, but it has been to no avail.
Thanks,
Tim Murphy - Wisconsin - Son of Patrick, grandson of Ralph, great-grandson of Patrick J., great-great-grandson of Michael, all of Freedom, WI, and great-great-great-grandson of Edward.