Looking for information on

Hi Eric, my name is Carmel O'Callaghan (nee O'Reilly).   I am an Administrator for Ireland xo for the parishes of Bailieborough, & Shercock...O'Reilly is a very common name in Co. Cavan.

However, when did Phillip leave Ireland, when you say eventually he arrived in Australia, did he go elsewhere?  Have you looked to see where he went, the relevant years & who he went to or with whom did he travel, these may give you  more clues.  

Familysearch.org is a free site & you may find some information there.  Ancestry.com is a subscription site, would have good information there also.. nationalarchives.ie carries for free the census for Ireland 1901 & 1911

Were there any priests in the family?  they are well documented.. 

I will point you in the directions that I can, local cemetries are not documented, but I can go & look for you, if we make good progress.

Where are you? & are there still male O'Reillys, DNA testing is also a possibility but I am not fully versed on it yet..

Best wishes Carmel 

Dear Carmel,

Thank you for the response. I live in Brisbane, Australia and am the great grandson of Phillip Arthur O'Reilly.

Phillip had 6 children, 2 males and I am descended from one of his daughters, Margaret Ellen O'Reilly who had a large family with many descendants, His two sons married and I have been slowly gathering information on their families in Australia.

The story told to me is that Phillip left Ireland to see the world with the expectation of returning. When in Singapore he received a letter from Ireland telling him there was nothing for him in Ireland and to seek his future elsewhere, at that time his primary choices being USA, Canada and Australia.

Phillip came to South Australia and commenced farming wheat in the Clare district which had a large Catholic population and expectations of community growth. Wheat farming was unsuccessful in the low and unreliable rainfall area and the story also includes some health problems (asthma) resulting in the family relocating to the Northern Rivers District of New South Wales into dairy farming. Philiip married Bridget Ellen QUINLAN, who was born in South Australia, in 1882. They died at Gympie in Queensland in 1942 and 1946 having lived mostly in the Murwillumbah (Northern Rivers) area.

I am subscribed to Ancestry and have searched numerous data bases including family search without success in Irish records for O'Reilly to date.

My grandmother was the only grandparent I knew, being the youngest in my family, and lived to 97, my mother to 95 and two sisters are living at 96 and 102 years. I expect that Phillip was educated and had some money when he came to Australia from Virginia, Co. Cavan.

Two of my grandparents have Irish ancestry  ( O'Reilly and Powerand one was born in Ireland (Harrison) with Isle of Man ancestry.

Any lead will be appreciated.  Regards

Hi Eric,  I will do more thinking on this for you, meanwhile findmypast would have a lists of outgoing passenger from UK, which I guess he where he would have left from.. which may be best suited to your searches, the have 50 credits free on offer at the moment, finishing soon..

Regards Carmel 

Hi Eric,

A.I looked through the list of  Clergy ordained for the parish of Kilmore, but I could not find any born to Michael around the dates that Philip was born, in the hope that I would find a brother.  There is also a list ordained for the Missions, & I will look that up when I get to the Library.  

B.  I looked up Griffiths valuation see link below:

http://www.askaboutireland.ie/griffith-valuation/index.xml?action=doNam…

The parish of Lurgan covers Virginia & there is a Michael in Virginia, whether thats your family or not, it is hard to know.  

C. There was a book published on Virginia, Sheila Courtney may be able to help you with this, see this link.

http://www.ulstervirginia.com/virginiacountycavan.asp

Cavan Genealogy,
1st floor,
Johnston Central Library,
Farnham Street,
Cavan Town,
County Cavan.
Tel: +353 (0)49 4361094
Fax: +353 (0)49 4331494
Email: cavangenealogy@eircom.net

I hope this assists you & if you need any more direction, please let me know & if you wish to come to Co Cavan, I would be glad to show you around.. Best Wishes Carmel