Parents of Timothy & Ellen (Murphy) Sullivan, born circa 1808 and 1810 in County Cork?

Hello Timothy,

Timothy Sullivan and Ellen Murphy had two more children born in Ireland before the family left for America. These children were Catherine in 1836 and Honora in 1840, both baptized in the Kilmurry Catholic parish.

I initially found the two baptism transcriptions at the Find My Past (FMP) website. FMP does not charge to search for Catholic baptisms, marriages or burials. Also, attached to each baptism, marriage, and burial transcription is a link that will take you to the parish register where the baptism, marriage, or burial can be found. The Catholic parish registers are held by the National Library of Ireland on Kildare Street in Dublin City.

Catherine Sullivan was baptized on 25 March 1836.

You can view Catherine’s FMP baptism transcription at the following FMP link: https://www.findmypast.com/transcript?id=IRE%2FPRS%2FBAP%2F1313496

You will have to register with the FMP website to access the transcription.

The transcription shows that the name of Catherine’s father is “Timy.”

To access a copy of the original baptism record for Catherine Sullivan, go to the following National Library of Ireland link at: https://registers.nli.ie/registers/vtls000634440#page/43/mode/1up

You can enlarge the baptism register by means of round icons in the upper center/ right of the screen. The icons are white with green backgrounds. You can also access the full-screen function by clicking on the last icon on the right with the two arrows pointing northeast and southwest.

Catherine’s baptism is on the left-hand register page, under the March 1836 subheading. Scroll down until you came to the number 25. The baptism record shows that Catherine’s sponsors, or godparents were Mick Ahern and Norry Murphy. Norry Murphy may have been Ellen’s sister.

To the right of Narry’s name you’ll see the name of a townland. This townland is Mahalock, also spelled Mahallagh. Mahallagh would have been the residence of Timothy and Ellen Murphy, and their newly baptized daughter Catherine.

A Google Map shows that Mahallagh, by the shortest route, is 6.6 miles north of Kilmurry: https://is.gd/bTsrgb

For a Google Street View of the road leading to Mahallagh, go to: https://is.gd/OnEbYS

Next, Honora Sullivan was baptized on 31 May 1840. You can view her FMP transcription at:
https://www.findmypast.com/transcript?id=IRE%2FPRS%2FBAP%2F1314769

The transcription shows that at the time of the baptism, the family had been living in the town of Carrigan.

A copy of the original Kilmurry Catholic baptism record for Honora Sullivan can be found on the right-hand register page, last entry under the May subheading at number 31. Go to the link at: https://registers.nli.ie//registers/vtls000634441#page/12/mode/1up

The name of Honor’s godfather asppears to be D.S Murphy. The D.S may stand for Denis. Her godmother is Cath Riordan. To the right of Catherine Riordan’s name is the residence of Timothy, Ellen, and Honora Sullivan. It does look like “Carrigan,” but the name of the town extends into the fold or edge of the page. The last letter in the name of the town appears to be y. I went through the baptism register to see if I could find similar towns and did find one for the baptism of Dan Long. He was baptized on February 28 1840. The name of the town where he and his parents were residing is spelled, “Carrigarehy.” There is no town in County Cork with this spelling, but I believe this town refers to Carrigdarrery. A Google Map shows that Carrigdarrery is 5.5 miles south of Mahallagh, by the shortest route: https://is.gd/Zd9Tpy

Another Google Map shows that Carrigdarrery is only 1.4 miles north of Kilmurry by the shortest route:
https://is.gd/GtU1vC

For a Google Map showing the location of the Kilmurry R.C. Catholic Church, see: https://is.gd/xoyNrx

According to the Kilmurry Catholic Parish website, the present day church, St. Mary’s, was built in 1861, and so would not have been the structure where the children of Timothy Sullivan and Ellen Murphy were baptized. See: http://www.kilmurry.ie/churches/kilmurry_church.htm

But, an Ordnance Survey Map of Kilmurry from the 1837 to 1842 time period shows that the location of the old Kilmurry R.C. Chapel was in the same location as St. Mary’s today. You can view the Ordnance Survey Map at the GeoHive website link at: https://bit.ly/2vVJKKA

Another Ordnance Survey Map of Kilmurry from the 1888 to 1913 time period shows St. Mary’s R.C. Chapel, where the old church once stood: https://bit.ly/3akzJ8t

THE MARRIAGE OF TIMOTHY SULLIVAN AND MURPHY

I uncovered the marriage transcription for Timothy Sullivan and Ellen Murphy at the FMP website, which shows the marriage took place in the Kilmurry Catholic Parish on 13 February 1831. See: https://www.findmypast.com/transcript?id=IRE%2FPRS%2FMAR%2F0265464%2F1

A copy of their original marriage in the Kilmurry registers is on the right-hand register page, 2nd entry up from the bottom at: https://registers.nli.ie//registers/vtls000634440#page/66/mode/1up

The witnesses to the marriage were Timothy Murphy and Catherine Sullivan. The Rev. Denis Murphy married Timothy and Catherine.

THE BAPTISMS OF TIMOTHY SULLIVAN AND ELLEN MURPHY

You information shows that Timothy Sullivan was born circa 1808 and that Ellen Murphy was born circa 1810. According to a link at the National Library of Ireland, the Kilmurry, Cork baptisms start on 2 June 1786, while marriage commence in 1803 and continue to 1805, when there is a gap in the marriage entries until 22 February 1812. See: https://registers.nli.ie/parishes/0070

This means that if Timothy and Ellen were born in the Kilmurry Parish circa 1808 and 1810 respectively, there should be baptism records for them, and maybe even marriage records for their parents.

I went to the FMP website to see if there was a Kilmurry baptism record for Timothy Sullivan for the year 1808. But I did a spread of time for the search between 1800 and 1810 in case his age of 42 was not accurate in the 1850 census for Juniata, Blair, Pennsylvania, which I suspect you have already seen.

I particularly wanted to see if a Timothy Sullivan baptized in the Kilmurry Catholic Parish between 1800 and 1810, had a father whose first name was Denis, as Timothy and Ellen named one of their sons Denis. Many Irish parents followed naming patterns whereby the first born son was named after his father’s father, while the first born daughter was named after her mother’s mother. Not all Irish families, either in Ireland or America, followed this naming pattern however.

At the FMP website I uncovered three baptisms for children named Timothy Sullivan baptized between 1800 and 1810. Two were baptized in 1803 and one in 1809. You can view the index of these baptisms at: https://is.gd/YIKXcc

You’ll see from the indexes that the first name of the father of one of the children named Timothy Sullivan was Denis. The transcription of this baptism shows that Timothy was baptized in 15 April 1803, and that his mother was Ellen Croneen: https://www.findmypast.com/transcript?id=IRE%2FPRS%2FBAP%2F1306263

The names of the parents of the other Timothy Sullivan, baptized on 1 January 1803, are Patrick Sullivan and Julian Murphy: https://www.findmypast.com/transcript?id=IRE%2FPRS%2FBAP%2F1306030

For the Timothy Sullivan baptized in 1809, no month or day of the baptism is recorded. His parents are Jeremiah Sullivan and Anne Warner: https://www.findmypast.com/transcript?id=IRE%2FPRS%2FBAP%2F1306861

I don’t know which of these baptisms, if any, would pertain to the baptism of your direct ancestor, Timothy Sullivan.

Concerning Ellen Murphy, I looked for her baptism in the Kilmurry baptisms register between 1805 and 1815. FMP indexes show 13 baptisms of children named Ellen Murphy between 1805 and 1815. If Ellen and Timothy followed naming patterns, their first born child, who was Mary, baptized in 1831, would have been named after her mother’s mother. Of the 13 Murphy baptisms in the Kilmurry Catholic Parish, only one of the baptisms shows the mother’s first name is Mary. The father’s name is not recorded however. See the baptism indexes at: https://is.gd/wLHTAU

This Ellen Murphy was baptized on 5 February 1812. Her mother is Mary Ford: https://www.findmypast.com/transcript?id=IRE%2FPRS%2FBAP%2F1307267

The above could refer to your Ellen Murphy, but you would need another document that gives the names of her parents to confirm it, and I’m not sure if that document exists in either Ireland or Pennsylvania.

DEATH RECORDS

I found the U.S. death records for 4 children of Timothy Sullivan and Ellen Murphy at the Ancestry.com website. All of the death records are attached to this reply. The names, ages, and years of death for the Sullivans are for:

Timothy A. Sullivan, Jr., age 70, 31 January 1916
Mary Sullivan, age 85, 27 May 1919
Dennis Sullivan, age 80, 6 September 1919
Margaret Sullivan Fogle, age 90, 7 May 1928
____

Please see the attachments.

Timothy, you come from a long line of long-lived Sullivans.

With Best Wishes,

Dave Boylan