Share This:

I am a descendant of Richard William Donnelly and Margaret Murphy, living in Toronto Canada.   I have come across the history below.   I am visiting Ireland ths summer, and would like to know where the family home was and where Richard Donnelly is buried

 

Maggie Murphy was born in 1809 in County Wexford, Ireland. Her husband Richard Donnelly was born in the same county in the town of Ardinagh Little in 1799. They were married October 7, 1829 in the parish of Taghmon, County Wexford, Ireland. Richard operated a brick yard and owned a home. He did not appear to own other land according to the Griffith's Valuation of Tenements.

Richard and Margaret Murphy Donnelly were Catholics. They had eight children-all born in Taghmon parish. The children were Patrick, James, Bridget, William, Denis, Mary, John, and Margaret. One son, also named Denis, died as a baby. The father Richard died in 1848 in Ardinagh Little, County Wexford, Ireland. He was kicked in the head by a horse. Maggie and the children all went to Walkerton, Ontario, Canada. Patrick and James left in 1849 and worked to earn the money for the rest of the families' passage. They landed at New York and walked to Niagara. They worked for a time near Cayuga on the Grand River. The 1851 census of Ontario, Canada shows Patrick (23) and James (19) Donnelly working as servants in Cayuga, Oneida Township, Haldimand County. They spent three years in Haldimand county. From there the two brothers made their way north to the Queen's Bush (as Bruce County, Canada was then called).

Meanwhile the two brothers accumulated sufficient money to send back to Ireland to enable their mother and six younger siblings to travel to Canada (1954). James built a small house on his property for his mother, Margaret Murphy Donnelly. She lived there with her unmarried daughter Bridget until her death. Maggie died May 8 1895, aged 86 years. She is buried in the Chepstow Cemetery, Greenock Township, Ontario, Canada.

DRD

Saturday 23rd Feb 2019, 05:05PM

Message Board Replies

  • DRD:

    A belated welcome to Ireland Reaching Out!

    We are undertaking a cleanup project of old messages which did not receive a response. We apologize that you did not receive a response last year. We also hope you had a great trip to Ireland in the summer of 2019.

    Your message provided a wonderful story of the emigration of your family to Canada. I took the liberty of adding the story to our XO Chronicles site on the Taghmon parish site under Margaret Murphy Donnelly.

    If you have any questions, please let me know.

    Roger McDonnell

    Castlemore Roscommon, IrelandXO Volunteer ☘

    Tuesday 21st Jul 2020, 02:47PM

Post Reply