Cahericiveen - Moriarty

[MarieP]

Chasing a birth or roots of John Moriarty, arrived in Australia circa 1850, native place given as Cahericiveen.  Birth approximately 1817.  Brickwall in finding further information.  Appreciate anything, advice or directon.

[shanew147]

What details do you have on your John so far - e.g. from marriage and death certs ?
These often include details of parents etc which could help you locate the correct Moriarty  family.

Do you know if your Moriarty family were RC or Church of Ireland ?

The place to start with parish records for Co. Kerry is www.irishgenealogy.ie

see : Introduction to Irish Records


Shane

[MarieP]

Hi Shane!  John was an R.C. arived in Oz circa 1850, although no record can be located.  He married Margaret Long in Camden in 1852.  They had 14 chidren:  Daniel James, Michael John, Catherine, John, James, Hugh, Mary, Margaret, Mary, Ellen, Hannah, Johanna, Bridget Agnes and Eliabeth Ann.

No parents of John noted anywhere.

I have been researching for many years and been to Cahericiveen twice with no luck.  Whilst he named Cahericiveen as his native place, of course he could have come from any townland surrounding.

Other family members have also been there and had no luck, so if anyone can help, or point us in a good direction, it would be more than appreciated.

I will keep trying.
Thanks
Marie in Sydney

[shanew147]

Moriarty is a reasonably common surname in Co. Kerry, which is why some family details could be important ..... any sign of any other Moriartys in the same area of Australia that might be related - e.g. siblings ?

I checked the IrishGenealogy website, and there are no Moriarty baptisms that I could see in Caherciveen parish in the early 1800s. The parish covered the town and quite a large area surrounding.

I think your problem is dates... RC baptism records for Caherciveen go back to 1846, so if the clues relating to location are correct for your John then unfortunately there will be no written baptism record available. The list on the IrishGenealogy website indicates records back to 1800 for this parish, but I dont think this is entirely accurate. Just three early records on the system that I see - an 1800 baptism and an 1803 marriage - both with assumed dates, plus an 1819 marriage. All of the remaining records are 1839 or later. The assumed dates are usually derived from details on adjacent pages.

The NLI Index on this parish notes that 'some pages mutilated', which might explain some of the difficulty with  this register.


Shane

[MarieP]

Hi Shane!  Thanks for your efforts on my behalf.  The dates we have give his birth, from various documents, as from 1807-1817.

Whilst there appears to be nothing in Cahirciveen I did locate a birth in 1807 at Slievemiss, Tralee,  to a Daniel Moriarty and Catherine Curnane.  Daniel was the name of his first male child and Catherine the name of his first female child.  Do you think this is worth following up?

I also came across the birth of a Catherine Courname to Dermot and Honora in 1814, whilst realising that would not be 'our' Catherine Courname the Sponsors were John Moriarty and Ellen Moriarty.  Just found that interesting.  However looking at a map of the area it does seem too far away. Wha do you think?
Marie

[shanew147]

I'm not sure it's safe to discard the evidence that your John was born in or near Caherciveen, unless you find some clues that in Australian records that contradict this, or locate additional family evidence  - e.g. parents names.

The average starting date for rural RC records is 1830, so it's not unusual for there to be no record available for a baptism in 1817. Tralee parish just happens to be one of the few where the records do go back quite early, so that's why those baptisms (about 18 by my count between 1800 and 1820) show up in the parish during the first part on the 19th Century.


Shane

[MarieP]

Shane,   thanks for sharing your thoughts.  I guess we may never find any further information, but we will keep an open mind and you never know.

Marie

[shanew147]

you may have already exhausted all these avenues of research, but a couple of ideas for long shots....

1. Parents
Search for further documents on John, to see if there is any mention of parents - e.g. certs, obituary/death notice, newspaper articles, old letters etc 

2. Tangents
Look for any other Moriartys (ideally younger) in the same area of Australia that your John turned up in, and trace them... I'm guessing it was a less common surname in Australia at this time than it was in Co. Kerry. Did any Moriartys turn up in your research as witness to John's marriage, godparents at his children's baptisms, neighbours ?
Maybe a sibling travelled with him, or a cousin followed him out later ?

Both long shots, and probably would not directly help with your John's baptism, but might show up a connection to a younger sibling or relation in Caherciveen, and maybe help confirm location and even pinpoint your Moriarty family in earlier Tithe records (assuming John's father was a farmer, and a less common first name).


Shane

[MarieP]

Hi Shane,   thanks for all your thoughts on researching John Moriarty.  However, I have to say I have been down all those paths.  It is quite often a good thing to go sideways but not in this instance.  Unfortunately none of John's siblings appear to have emigrated, and he only sent for his wife's brother and sister, John and Catherine Long, to come out.

The godparents to his first children were his neighbours and then his children were godparents to each other.

However, I will continue in any way I can think of and who knows what may become available at some time.
Thanks again,
Marie