The mysterious Murphy's of Cork: link to Australia in the goldrush era

[annemareeinerko]

Thanks, Sue and Neale, for picking up on Alice's possible diabetes, which had not occurred to me. Now reading this from you both, it makes sense because she died so suddenly.

It was just awful that Ambrose had to work at such a young age in the cold night air in regional Victoria. I am sure these stories were common.

[Wexflyer]

I searched Irish baptism databases and found Mary Murphy born on the 5th of May 1820, her father's name was Jerh Murphy and her mother's name was Joha Connor. The civil parish was Kilmurry, Co. Cork, and no further information about townlands. These names are the only ones I could find with matching names for Mary's approximate birth year in the whole of Ireland.

Jerh and Joha had two other children, Julia born in 1813 and Cath Murphy born 1815. I cannot find any further information about the family after 1820.

Some observations:

- If there is no information about townlands, then how do you know that the civil parish was Kilmurry?

-  "Jerh" and "Joha" are obviously just abbreviations for Jeremiah and Johana and should not be regarded as their actual names. The original register entry has superscripts indicating the abbreviation.

- As regards being the only matching birth in Ireland, you have to remember that, unfortunately, probably less than 50% of Catholic baptismal records reach back far enough to matter, so to a large extent you are "looking under the lampposts".

- Have you tried DNA matching to increase confidence in identifying the location of origin?

[Neale1961]

Marriage record: Could this be the record you are looking for? Seems like a good fit.


3826/1840 V18403826 162B
JAMES WALSH
to
MARY WALSH
LG
(Roman Catholic Bathurst; Kelso county; St Michael's)

[Wexflyer]

Unfortunately, the 1820 birth in Kilmurry  is not unique in the timeframe of interest.

I rapidly found a baptism on 1 February 1817 in Inniscarra, Co. Cork, of a Mary Murphy to Jeremiah Murphy and Mary Connor.

There is also an earlier Mary in Kilmurry, in December 1817.

[Wexflyer]

I have checked https://www.irishgenealogy.ie/en/ quite a bit but I do not subscribe to any databases like Ancestry. Griffith's Valuation records show a few Jeremiah Murphys in the Kilmurry parish between 1848 and 1852.

That IrishGenealogy database only covers Catholic records for part - not all - of Co. Cork. Specifically, it covers the diocese of Cork and Ross, except for Cork City. More problimatically, it does NOT include the diocese of Cloyne, which covers more than half of county Cork, see
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roman_Catholic_Diocese_of_Cloyne

Part of Co. Cork is also in the diocese of Kerry - so Cork is covered by three Catholic dioceses.

If your funds are low, and you don't want to subscribe to a pay servive, then I would suggest checking if any local public library or university has a subscription to Ancestry's Library Edition.

[wivenhoe]

"oldest son (James) marriage certificate in 1867, stating he was born in Sydney"

This seems odd that the WALSH family would be in Sydney...ever...... having started in Bathurst and continued on to rural Victoria?

Did the WALSHs do any mining in Victoria?...or always farmers?

And if James WALSH is born in Sydney then you might expect to have him baptised there?

Can you list all the information on the marriage certificate, 1867, for James WALSH.

[sparrett]

"oldest son (James) marriage certificate in 1867, stating he was born in Sydney"

This seems odd that the WALSH family would be in Sydney...ever...... having started in Bathurst and continued on to rural Victoria?

Did the WALSHs do any mining in Victoria?...or always farmers?

And if James WALSH is born in Sydney then you might expect to have him baptised there?

Can you list all the information on the marriage certificate, 1867, for James WALSH.

I guess one possibility, if it is true James was born in Sydney, is that they came into Victoria via coastal passenger ship from Sydney.  Perhaps (very ) slightly less arduous than overland for a women expecting a baby. But James arrived in Sydney.

I feel the theory is not very likely, but .....

Sue

[annemareeinerko]

Hi, Neale

Thanks for looking up the NSW BDM register. I ordered a copy of 3826/1840 from NSW BDM and I was sent a transcript for James and Margaret Walsh, who married in Bathurst on 4th June 1840 at an unnamed Catholic Church. So the transcript did not match.

Wexflyer - The databases I use record parishes and not townlands in Ireland. I also found birth records for Cath Murphy in 1815 and Mary Murphy in 1817 to Jerimiah Murphy and Johanna Connor. I already understood that Jer'h and Joha were not their actual names, I have checked the parish records and they obviously abbreviated Jeremiah and Johanna.

[annemareeinerko]

Hi, Sue and Wivenhoe

Yeah, funny that the family traveled to Bathurst of all places, and James Jr was born in Sydney! Why Bathurst - that was prior to the gold rush???

James Walsh jr got married to Mary Collins at St Alipius, Ballarat 4th of January 1867, bachelor and spinster, his birthplace was Sydney and her birthplace was Galway, Ireland. He was a miner and she was a servant. Both were aged 22. The residence is hard to read but looks like his residence was recorded as Cobble () and she lived in Ballarat. His father was James Walsh (farmer) and his mother was Mary Murphy. Her father was John Collins (farmer) and her mother was Mary Hackett.

Wexflyer - Thanks for the heads up regarding the records in Cork. Re: "Have you tried DNA matching to increase confidence in identifying the location of origin?" My Irish ancestry can be traced to Fermanagh, Cavan, Meath, Kilkenny, Cork, Clare, and Galway.