Hello,
My name is Bernadette Palmer from New Zealand and on my father's mother's side of the family we are McAuley decendants. My grandmother said we were related to Mother McAuley, founder of the Sisters of Mercy. My Great great grandfather was James McAuley(born 1839) who left Ireland for Melbourne in 1860. He then came to New Zealand later in the 1860s for gold-digging in Gabriels Gully in Otago. He married Elizabeth Hunt in 1862.
I have contacted the Sisters of Mercy in Dublin a few years ago, but they have no info on Catherine McAuley's parents' family. Our best guess is we are related through her father's brother, but we have no futher accurate information. I know a bit about the McAuley and McGauley name change and the MacAmhalgaidh seat in Westmeath, but would dearly love to learn more.
If anyone has any thoughts they think might be helpful, anything would be greatly appreciated, especially by my father, who is proud of his Irish ancestoral roots.
Many thanks and blessings,
Bernie
Wednesday 26th Jun 2013, 07:53AM
Message Board Replies
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Hi
Thank you for your message.
Have you checked the immigration records in Australia? Generally, more information was given at the port of arrival rather than the port of departure. The University of Woolongong has produced, on microfiche, a complete index and transcript of all information concerning immigrants of Irish origin recorded on ships' passenger lists between 1848 and 1867 for New South Wales. These are useful for finding out an exact place of origin as well as parents' names. The Public Record Office of Victoria has good online databases of settlers at www.prov.vic.gov.au Otherwise, other records may be found in the Colonial Office Papers of the UK National Archives, class reference CO 201. This class contains a wide variety of records, including petitions for assisted passages, emigrants' lists, records of emigrants on board ship, petitions from settlers for financial assistance and much more.
You can check for information about the frequency of the name in the mid-19th century and any other variant spellings of the name here: http://www.irishtimes.com/ancestor/surname/
You could try checking the land records called the Tithe Applotment Books (1823-38) http://titheapplotmentbooks.nationalarchives.ie/search/tab/home.jsp or the later Griffith's Valuation (1848-64) http://www.askaboutireland.ie/griffith-valuation/ or the Church of Latter Day Saints (LDS) https://familysearch.org/
Some sites which may be useful to you (if you haven't tried them already!) are:
British parliamentary papers on Ireland can be found at: http://eppi.dippam.ac.uk/documents/9824/eppi_pages/215093
The National Archives of Ireland http://www.nationalarchives.ie/genealogy1/genealogy-records/introduction/
The National Library of Ireland http://www.nli.ie/en/family-history-introduction.aspx
The National Archives UK ? genealogy search: http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/records/looking-for-person/
The Public Records Office of Northern Ireland http://www.proni.gov.uk/index/family_history.htm
Remember to post as much information as you can with regard to the people you are researching. The more information you post, the more likely it is that one of our volunteers will be able to advise or assist you. Also include information concerning which sources you may have already used so others may further your search.
Kind regards,
Genealogy Support
Thursday 4th Jul 2013, 03:22PM