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Hello all,

My name is Dennis O'Rorke, Age 79, San Francisco, CA, U.S.A. I am very much interested in finding out any information about the family of my great grandfather Peter Joseph O'Rorke. My grandfather Robert Ambrose McCallum O'Rorke was born in Glasgow, Scotland around 1890 to Peter and Susan McCallum O'Rorke. The family moved to Belfast and lived at 149 York Street where they both resided and operated a place of business as fishmongers. My grandfather Robert came to America and married my grandmother Irene Coffey and they had one son, my father Robert Anthony. They divorced shortly after and my grandfather returned to 15 Old Lodge Road, Belfast, never to return. So I have no personal family information to go on. Peter Joseph aquired a bit of notoriety when he was the target of an ambitious scam around 1900, being informed that he was the heir to a large fortune left by a distant relative who had gone to America years before. There were several articles in newspapers of the time and I was able to obtain some information from their archives. . Peter indicated that he was born in Boyle, County Roscommon around 1867. He had a sister living in Lisburn around 1900. Peter was referred to in the newspapers as the " Heir to the American Millions". Which sadly, was too good to be true. I would be most grateful for any scrap of information about the O'Rorke family. Thank you for your time and attention.

Dennis O'Rorke

DAORorke@aol.com

 

daororke

Sunday 25th Apr 2021, 09:58PM

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  • Dennis:

    The subscription site Roots Ireland has a December 17 1865 baptismal record in Boyle for a Peter Rourke with father Patrick Rourke and mother Margaret Kelly. Here is the related civil birth record for Peter Rorke which shows he was born December 24 1865. I think the parents adjusted the date of birth and likely he was actually born a few days to a week before December 17.

    See third record https://civilrecords.irishgenealogy.ie/churchrecords/images/birth_retur… Looks like the family lived in Ballinphuill townland in Boyle parish.

    If this is the correct family then Peter had older isblings Winifred 1855 Patruck 1857 James 1859 Brigid 1864 and one younger sibling Margaret 1868.

    Patrick and Margaret were married November 14 1854 in the Kilfree and Killaraght RC parish in Co. Sligo which border Co.Roscommon.

    Roger McDonnell

    Castlemore Roscommon, IrelandXO Volunteer ☘

    Sunday 25th Apr 2021, 10:39PM
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    Roger,
    Thank you very much for that information. I feel that there is an outside chance that there is a connection. My little scrap of information only refers to one sister, however. I have also located a Peter O'Rorke who was baptized in Navan in 1867 but no other details were provided. Thank you again.

    daororke

    Tuesday 27th Apr 2021, 09:33PM

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