James Hearty and Catherine Murtagh

Hearty:

The subscription site Roots Ireland does not have the marriage record or the baptismal record for Michael. Many RC parishes in Ireland do not have records back to 1826 or earlier. Based on where the surnames are found, Co. Armagh is a good possibility for where they were from.

Have you considered DNA testing?

Roger McDonnell

Heartu,

There is a lot of information about this family on Ancestry. They appear in many census records, for instance. On the 1851 Canadian census of Litchfield, Ottawa, James and Catherine were living with numerous children—Michael, Catherine, Ann, Edward, Francis, and Denis, all said to be born in Ireland. But a later census says only Michael was born in Ireland.

There’s also a Francis Murtagh, 38 (b c. 1813), born in Ireland, living in the household along with many Murtagh children, all born in Canada. Francis is likely a brother of Catherine; perhaps you can find his baptismal info, which would give the place of origin.

This is just a sample of what the censuses hold. If you haven't seen the relevant birth, baptism, marriage, death, and cemetery records, they might hold some of the information you are looking for. Also headstone inscriptions and newspaper death notices and obituaries can be helpful, often providing the place of origin.

I hope something here is helpful.

Thank you so much for the quick reply.

James and Catherine Hearty did have another son James born 1841 the same year they immigrated. Some say he was born here. Some say he was born in Canada. The census in canads shows him.and it says born in Ireland.

My Grandfather said they were from Crossmaglen?

Where were a lot of The Murtagh's from?

My family are proud of our Irish Heritage.

Vinton Quebec was settled by the Irish.

Thanks again

Jeff Hearty

Jeff,

Crossmaglen is in the parish of Creggan. In the tithe applotment records for 1828 there were both Hearty & Murtagh families farming in that parish. That doesn’t mean it is where the family originate but it fits with the information you have.

http://www.irishgenealogyhub.com/armagh/tithe-applotments/creggan-parish.php

The tithes only list farmers (so they don’t include labourers, servants and others without land). And they only list heads of household.

Crossmaglen is in the parish of Upper Creggan. It has baptism & marriage records for the following years:

Baptisms and marriages, 1796-1803, 1812-29 and 1845-81.

So that covers a possible marriage in 1822 and a baptism in 1826 (but not a baptism in 1841). Though the records should be on the rootsireland site Roger has already checked there’s no harm in looking at the originals in case the events were missed or mistranscribed.

https://registers.nli.ie/parishes/0206

Family Tree DNA reportedly has more people with Ulster roots than any other company. That obviously increases the chances of finding a match. You might want to try them or, if you have already tested, you can transfer your results to them for no fee.

The North of Ireland Family History Society is running an Ulster DNA project in conjunction with FTDNA and can offer testing kits at a reduced price.  http://www.nifhs.org (Go to DNA project on the website).

Elwyn,

Thank you so much. I do believe that's them. That's the area where we've heard they're from. My Grandfather was told that from Michael James Hearty born 1826 died January 10, 1918.

I really appreciate everyone reaching out. That's great.

I find it strange that they left before he famine?
My Cousin Sylvia heard they had to leave. They were told to leave. I'm not sure if that's the truth or not.

Thank you

Jeffrey Hearty

Keswick Ontario, Canada

Jeffrey,

You ask why your ancestors might have left Ireland. I am sure they left for the same reasons that millions did. To find work, or better paid work. Ireland has very few natural resources (no oil, coal, iron ore etc) and so did not benefit from the industrial revolution in the 1800s, the way Scotland, England, the US, Canada & Australia did, which created hundreds of thousands of comparatively well-paid new jobs in new industries (coal mining, steel making, railways, ship building etc). So that was a big pull factor. There had also been a huge population explosion in Ireland going up from about 3 million people in 1750 to 8 million in 1830. There simply weren’t jobs for all those people. In much of Ireland the only employment was subsistence farming topped up in Ulster and one or two other areas with a bit of linen weaving. And then the straw that broke the camel’s back, along came the famine, numerous times throughout the 1800s. The worst period was when the potato crop failed almost completely 3 years in a row in the late 1840s, and then partially several more years after that. 

Other factors encouraged emigration, eg early mechanisation on farms. With new machines to turn the soil and plant seed, farmers no longer needed an army of agricultural labourers to help on the farm. So those jobs were rapidly disappearing. Likewise mechanisation had led to linen factories being set up in places like Belfast. These made home weaving uneconomic and so also upset the labourer’s family economy. Agriculture was the biggest single employer in Ireland, but it was mostly a barter economy. Few people had any ready cash save what they could make from weaving or any government sponsored work such as building new roads. So when the opportunity arose to get jobs with a regular wage packet, as opposed to a few pence from your father each week, the decision to migrate wasn’t really all that hard to make. So it was as much about economic betterment as anything. 

In addition, the British Government often placed adverts in the press encouraging people to migrate to take advantage of land that was available overseas. (I have attached as an example an article from the Belfast Commercial Chronicle of 1st November 1828 offering lands in Upper Canada).

There was a massive tide of migration all through that century, including long before the famine. Years after the worst of the famine it’s impact was still being felt across Ireland, and there were still plenty of much better job opportunities in Australia, Canada and the USA. 

So to summarise, people had been pouring out of Ireland long before the worst of the famine. All the famine did was speed the tide up.

Thank you Roger for the reply.

Iam considering do a DNA test. Yes Armagh is where they were supposedly from. Crossmaglen to be precise.

Thanks again for you help

Thanks so much for the information. It was greatly appreciated. It's quite sad what happened to the Irish people. Both sides of my family are from Ireland.

Sloan's, , Mcgee's, Hearty's, and Wrinn's!

The Hearty"s and Wrinn's are the hardest ones to find any information about.

Again thank you so much.

Where abouts are you from?

Jeffrey,

I assume your query is directed to me. I am in Co. Antrim.

Yes, Elwyn is was directed at you. That was a great summary of why the Irish left for new lands. Very enlightening.

Thanks

Jeff Hearty

Jeff,

Glad to have helped. 

It’s very easy to blame all of the issues in Ireland in the 1700s and 1800s on the British. Folk often do. There’s no doubt that their treatment of Irish people was at times dreadful, but there were a lot of other things going on too as hopefully my snapshot explains. The British weren’t the only reason that folk left, and it would be sloppy history to say that they were.

Any updates on this ? .