William McMurray of Killyleagh, Co. Down

There are some McMurrays from Killyleagh on this Co Down site. Having said that I have to say that records for the 1600s in Ireland are pretty well non existent and I?d be quite surprised if you can find anything positive to link to your ancestor. However you might be lucky:

http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~rosdavies/

Thanks!  That's very encouraging.  And thanks for the link to Rosalind's web site.  Had not seen that yet.  Next thing I'd like to find out is if any of those McMurray's in Co. Down have Y-DNA tested.  There are a bunch of us here on this side of the big pond who have tested with Family Tree DNA.

I should think it?s unlikely that they have been DNA tested. There wouldn?t be the same enthusiasm for that in Ireland as there is in the USA. I have only known a handful of people here who have been DNA tested. Most are either not interested, put off by the costs or just a bit suspicious of it.

You could try contacting people living in Co Down today, or perhaps more widely in Northern Ireland. Bear in mind that Killyleagh is a small village and people will have moved  away for work over the years.

Killyleagh is in the BT30 postcode area. Searching the current phone book there are 2 people named McMurray who live in that area - both in Crossgar ( none in Killinchy itself). You could start with them. There are 60 people of the surname throughout the whole of Northern Ireland. (Bear in mind that about 50% of the population are ex-directory these days so there will be others).

http://www.ukphonebook.com

Thanks for the link to the UK phone book!  That will be useful in searching through Ayrshire as well.  When I was in Ayrshire 2 years ago I wrote down all the McMurray's in the phone book by hand.  I also have to figure out how to buy credits with my credit cars when I establish the account.

Question: When you say "there are some McMurray's from Killyleagh on this Co. Down site," do you mean there are McMurray's who are researching their genealogy on the site and are members, or that there are McMurray's living in Killyleagh?

I have a double dose of Scots-Irish.  Om my mother's side I have a John McAdams, b. 1737 in Co. Antrim, near Derry, married Ann?, emigrated to America between 1750 and 1800.  Soon I'll post a message about that.

My name is Mike McMurray and I live in Houston, Texas.

e-mail: mmac734155@sbcglobal.net

Thanks for asll your help!

When I said there were McMurrays from Killyleagh on the site, what I meant was that the owner of the site (Ros Davies) has listed various events involving people named McMurray who lived in Killyleagh. If you click on the surname option and search McMurray, you?ll find them. Though most are a good bit later than the 1600s, they might be descendants of your ancestor.

I had a look at the church records that still exist for Killyleagh. If your ancestors were Presbyterian ? and there?s a strong chance they were ? then it might be worth checking out the records for Killyleagh 1^st Presbyterian church. It?s records go back to 1693 which must be amongst the oldest in this part of Ireland. So you won?t find William?s baptism but you might find his marriage and the baptisms of his children. A copy of the records is held in PRONI. This is what they have got:

P. 1st Killyleagh Baptisms, 1693-1757 and 1835-1881; marriages, 1692- 1757, 1833-51 and 1854-72; minute books, 1725-32, and 1809-70; accounts, 1820-60; communion rolls, 1835-70.

The records are not on-line and a personal visit is required to access them.

I would like to add a question or so on this subject, if I may politely do so. My last name is MacMurray, however in the census records here in the U.S. my family used the spelling McMurray until around the 19th century. I've done quite a bit of research on my family line, and its true that at least my McMurray's came from a Presbyterian church.

Now, I have one question. I've asked this quite a bit around the internet to different sites, and I usually get different answers, but I was hoping by asking someone in Ireland, I may get the right answer, or at least one that is more reliable. Where did the McMurray surname come from? Here's what I've concluded. First of all, no it didn't come from the Murray surname of northern Scotland. However, it seems to have come from MacMuireadhaigh. Muireadhaigh, the name, somehow comes from a bardic family of the Galloway area of Scotland.

Originally, this name came from another historical figure known as Muiredach O'Daly [1180 - 1222 AD]. This O'Daly fellow fled Ireland for killing a man for various reasons. You can read more about it here: http://www.clancurrie.com/history.html. After fleeing as far south of Ireland as he could go, he took a boat, or ship, to Scotland. Once he arrived, he met and became great friends with the Donalds, and eventually became their bard. He then remarried, gave them his name, Mhuireadhaigh, which later became Mac Muireadhaigh through later generations.

Whether any of this is true or not is debatable, but it is what I have concluded based on what I know. Which brings me back to my question, where did the McMurray's come from? If my hypothesis is true, then this would explain where all of the McMurray's came from. Notice, too, that the O'Muireadhaigh's came after the MacMuireadhaigh's. My suggestion is that this is because the MacMuireadhaigh's in Scotland, by the 15 or 16th century or so, had hard times and went back to Ireland, near the Down area. In Black's Dictionary of Scottish Names, he claims the MacMurray's also originated in Galloway, which again would offer more evidence for my hypothesis.

In any case, I'm working on the historicity of the MacMurray's (McMurray's) and I've started a group on facebook called the MacMurray Genealogical Project. You can search for it there. I'm hoping to use this as a mechanism for uniting other MacMurray's around the world and come to the true answer to our heritage and history. If what I've presented is at all true, then we came from one of the most respected bardic family's of not only Ireland, but also Scotland. But, the research is still crawling along, as I'm still trying to gather as much information as possible for it. Anything you can add would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks!

I am curious regarding the William first mentioned here as where in the U.S.he settled. I have traced my husband's line of McMurry to Caswell County, NC. I assume that to know from where he came from, someone must know where his descendents went later.
My last link in my search is William C. McMurry born in Caswell County in 1801 and died in Franklin County, GA in 1891. Census records show his father's name as John.
Respectfully,
Robin McMurry