Murray/Egan

Hi there,

Thank you very much for your query. Have you checked the census records in the US? If the girls all worked for the same houshold, then there's a good chance their details will be on the census records. It would also be worth looking at emigration records, such as the records held at Ellis Island. Many passenger lists are available on the internet, so this might be a good place to start.

If you already know some information about their parents, James and Catherine, and especially if you knew which parish they were from, you could check Griffith's Valuation (1848-64) or the earlier Tithe Applotment Books (1823-38) for information about the land.

In the meantime, keep checking the IRO website. Someone in the Tipperary area might have more information and pass it on to you.

Kind regards,

Sinead Cooney

Sinead, thanks for your quick replies to my inquiries.  Again, I want to say that I love this project!  Thank you to all volunteers who work on this invaluable venture.

Yes, I have used all those resources.  I really knew nothing about the family until I tracked them down in New York.  It was facinating to find, census after census, a Murray girl working for that same family.  I know the chain system was common, but this was an amazing piece of luck.  Unfortunately, there isn't much else to learn about them from those records other than their names and birthdates.  I don't know enough yet for Griffith's or the TAB to be of use to me.  

I found nothing on the Castle Garden website, as they have only some of their records online at this point.  Ellis Island wasn't open when they immigrated, of course.

The New York Immigrant Savings Bank records (on Ancestry) are also a good source of info.

I realize it may be quite some time until someone may be able to help me further, but family history research never really ends anyway, does it?

thanks,

Sarah

Hi Sarah,

Yes you seem to have done a lot of thorough research so far. As I said in my previous message, hopefully someone locally will be able to help you out a bit more.

Perhaps you could track down the family the girls worked for. There might be information about them in the census records there. The local library might have papers related to the family.

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. The more people who join the global community, then more heads will be able to worrk out the family history queries!

Kind regards,

Sinead