McAuliffe (Church Question)

Jon:

Can you provide the names and approximate year of births for your ancestors? Also, provide names of parents if available. Lets see if records are available before we look for church fires. Thanks!

Roger McDonnell

Hi Roger, 

I should have mentioned that we have already conducted the search for records, through this site, a genealogy research firm, and other sources.  There is a related thread from earlier this year here:  https://irelandxo.com/ireland-xo/message-board/ellen-mcauliffe-murphy-f…; Based on what I was able to find in U.S. records, I have some doubt whether those records are for my ancestors.  

I have found additional information since then.  Here is what I know: 

• Parents:  Michael McAuliffe and Julia Murphy
• Children of Michael and Julia:
  • Cornelius (b. 1837-38 in Co. Cork, Ireland; d. 1919 in Lima, Ohio, USA)
  • Ellen (b. 1842-43 in Ireland; d. 1920 in Lima, Ohio, USA) 
  • Jeremiah (b. approx. 1848 in Ireland; d. 1910 in Lima, Ohio, USA)
  • Catherine (b. approx. 1849 in Ireland; d. 1911 in Toledo, Ohio, USA)
• Siblings of Julia Murphy:
  • Patrick Murphy (b. unknown, Ireland)
  • John Murphy (b. unknown, Ireland) married to Catherine Bradley

In an a sworn affidavit to the U.S. government in 1890, Cornelius stated that he could not obtain records of his birth because his family's church burned and the records were destroyed.  

I also recently found that Cornelius, Ellen et al. had a first cousin named Julia Meehan, who was born as Julia Murphy to John Murphy and Catherine Bradley.  According to her death certificate, she was born in 1847.  I thought this record was nearly a perfect fit (parents correct, and the sponsors would match her uncle and aunt); however, the birth year would be off by three years.  

Likewise, we had found an 1844 baptism record in Castleisland for Catherine to parents Michael McAuliffe and Johanna Murphy, but the date would be off from what was stated on her death certificate. 

Thank you,

Jon

Jon:

I was unable to open the message link in your response. So I posted another link.

https://www.irelandxo.com/ireland-xo/message-board/ellen-mcauliffe-murphy-family

I see from this earlier message that Patricia and Dave Boylan have already spent a lot of time researching your family.

Roger

Roger:  Yes, they certainly have.  I am doubtful that much more can be found in records.  I am hoping I can identify a church fire that occurred in the area to add another layer of circumstantial evidence pointing to the same location.  

Jon:

One thing you could do is to go to the NLI site https://registers.nli.ie/  and enter the parishes of interest to see if there are gaps in their records. It would not confirm a fire caused the gap since priests lost books but at least it would give you some info.

Roger