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I have been searching for years to find the family of Mathias Purcell, of "Borris" (possibly Borris, within TwoMileBorris, County Tipperary,) the first progenitor of my Purcell line in North America.   He emigrated to Newfoundland, Canada, lived there about 8 years, and then moved to Prince Edward Island, possibly in the St. Peter's Bay area.   Then he moved to Nova Scotia.   He had at least three sons: Edmund, Patrick and Mathias.   Possibly also had two daughters: Johanna(?) and Mary(?).   This information (except for the daughters) comes from an article that was written about his life in a newspaper in Antigonish, Antigonish County, Nova Scotia.   The article says that he came from "Borris" in Ireland.  He may have settled in the community of Roman(s) Valley, Guysborough County, Nova Scotia, or in Antigonish.   I have no solid information, and no information about his wife.   Have not found him in Griffiths Valuation.   He is either my g-g-grandfather or my g-g-g-grandfather.   The newspaper article garbles some of his sons' relationship to him.   My great grandfather is Patrick Edward Purcell from Bangor, Maine, and was born about 1860 in Charlottestown, PEI.  He may be Mathias's son, or grandson.   His daughter, Mary Agnes Purcell, is my grandmother.   If anyone has any information about this family, or even any clues, I will be very grateful.

Saturday 15th May 2021, 03:08PM

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  • There is another Borris in County Carlow.
    Michael Purcell..........what year did he leave Ireland or approx birth year.

    Margot

    Margot

    Sunday 16th May 2021, 09:13AM

  • Based on the birth year of Patrick Edward Purcell (1861), I would guess Mathias's birth year to be ca. 1821 if there is an intervening Patrick, and ca. 1841 if there is no intervening Patrick.   I would take +/- 10 years around both of those dates.    I have no idea when or where he settled in Newfoundland.   I have been scouring records in Newfoundland whenever I can find some online, but have not found any reference to him thus far.  Thank you for the information about the County Carlow Borris.

    I edited the original post to change his name from Michael to Mathias.   I had been working on a Michael Purcell prior to posting this message, and I guess my mind couldn't make the leap to Mathias when I began writing it.   Only when I saw your message about Michael did I realize I had made that mistake!

    Monday 17th May 2021, 12:19PM

  • Hi, ok, so Mathias, we would now need his fathers name.
    In the Tithe records there is a Mathias Purcell in Ballydavid, Twomileborris. Poss. his father.
    Ballydavid being the townland.
    There isn't a year stated on this document, so about 1823.
    004625729/004625729_00155.pdf (nationalarchives.ie)
    This is the main search results, none in County Carlow.
    The Tithe Applotment Books, 1823-37 (nationalarchives.ie)

    This link is any Purcell in Twomileborris.
    The Tithe Applotment Books, 1823-37 (nationalarchives.ie)
    This is the main site link.
    Genealogy (nationalarchives.ie)
    Cheers
    Margot

    Margot

    Tuesday 18th May 2021, 08:27AM

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    Well, I think you have discovered your couisins, at last, in Ireland.  I am from the Purcell family of Two Mile Borris where Mathias is a big family name and we are looking into the history of the family over a number of years. The history of the early Purcells in Loughmore Castle is well documented and other Purcells in Kilkenny.  My recent locking-in  the different areas of information points to a number of cstles stretching from Kilkenny right over to Loughmore.  We may all like to think we came from the big castle but this may be just a dream of all the Purcells.  However it should not be too difficult to claim that we come from one old branch of these Purcell families, especially if birth certificates etc originated from this line of castles existing in the Kilkenny Loughmore region. I am just making contact here and can send you information of our family in Borris.  My email is noel.purcell56 @gmail.com and this might be easier to make contact and forward you more info.  Hopefully with whatsapp etc we can talk.  I am a retired history teacher in Strasboug, France and tons of Purcells still living around the Two Mile Borris region. Again, there is plenty of info on the early Purcells but links from the 1800's back to the 1700's are difficult to find.  Perhaps you may provide one.  Look forward to hearing from you.  Noel

     

     

     

     

     

    noel 56

    Saturday 8th Jan 2022, 07:24AM

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