I have learned that my ancestors, William (b. 1816) and Ellen (b. 1817) Murphy, hailed from Paulstown, Shankill Parish, Kilkenny. (Although an alternate source tells me that Paulstown is in Kilmacahill Parish?). Ellen's maiden name was McCormick. They had a daughter, Catherine (b. 1848). It seems that they immigrated to New York after Catherine's birth and before the birth of William H. (1952).
I would be interested to learn more about William's family as well as the McCormicks. Any information or tips you could provide would be appreciated.
Thanks!
Sunday 5th May 2013, 02:23AM
Message Board Replies
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Hi,
Thank you for your message.
Shankill and Kilmacahill civil parishes are beside each other so I suspect that Paulstown straddles both of them. However both parishes belong to the Roman Catholic parish of Paulstown! I know that this sounds very confusing, and Irish land divisions can be hard to comprehend sometimes, here is a link that helps explain them though:
http://www.irish-genealogy-toolkit.com/index.html
Also here is a map showing Kilkenny?s civil parishes:
http://www.irishtimes.com/ancestor/fuses/civilparish/index.cfm?fuseaction=GetMap&CityCounty=Kilkenny
and Catholic parishes: http://www.irishtimes.com/ancestor/browse/counties/rcmaps/kilkennyrc.htm
You could try using Griffith?s Valuation to try and narrow down the townland that they lived in. This is a property valuation survey that was carried out in Ireland 1848-1864. It doesn?t offer any genealogical information but can sometimes be used to tie a person to a specific place. you can search it here:
http://www.askaboutireland.ie/griffith-valuation/index.xml?action=nameSearch
You could also try the earlier land records called the Tithe Applotment Books (1823-1838)
http://titheapplotmentbooks.nationalarchives.ie/search/tab/home.jsp
Have you tried looking in church records for information? Most Catholic records are held locally so you may need to write to the local parish priest for possible assistance. One website that you may find useful is the Irish Times where they give an overview of what records are available in specific parishes. It also shows you where copies of the records are available. For Paulstown parish, follow this link:
As you can see from the above link the family history centre in Kilkenny, Rothe House and Garden have copies available. Here is their email if you would like to contact them, however a fee may apply: kilkennyfamilyhistory@rothehouse.com
Most surviving Church of Ireland records are still held by the local clergy, although some are in the National Archives of Ireland and others are in the Representative Church Body Library in Dublin. Here are their websites: http://www.nationalarchives.ie/ and http://ireland.anglican.org/about/42
Lists of these surviving registers can also be found at the National Library of Ireland.
Civil registration began in Ireland in 1864 so any births, deaths or marriages in the family after this date would be recorded in these records. Civil records are available from the General Register?s Office in Dublin. Here is their website:
http://www.groireland.ie/research.htm
You can search the indexes to these records online at:
https://familysearch.org/search/collection/1408347
Have you tried looking in the 1901/1911 census records to see if there were any family still in the area at the time? You can so so here: http://www.census.nationalarchives.ie/search/
Some other websites that you may find useful are:
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
Irish Newspaper Archives: http://www.irishnewsarchive.com/
Family Search: www.familysearch.org
Genealogy Links: http://www.genealogylinks.net/uk/ireland/kilkenny/index.html
Rootsweb: http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~irlkik2/
I hope that some of this is helpful.
Best wishes,
Genealogy Support