Hello, I am trying to find information about my 2 times great grandfather Luke Murray. Luke immigrated to the United States some time before 1853 when his first son John Henry Murray was born in New York. By 1867 Luke and his family moved to East Greenwich, Rhode Island.
Luke died in 1898 and is buried in Saint Patrick's Cemetery in East Greenwich, Rhode Island. On the headstone it reads a native of Co. Roscommon. I don't know about parrishes or if Co. Roscommon should mean something about where they lived in Roscommon. Luke's Wife, Ann Kelly was also a native of Co. Roscommon.
In 1969, one of my great uncles sent a letter to a main newspaper in Roscommon before he traveled there in March of 1969. The letter outlined what he knew about the Murray Family and listed where he would be staying in Ireland. Edward hoped that someone in Ireland would recognize the information and would want to meet with him. A man did come to see him when he was visiting in Ireland. This man, Bernie Murray, who seemed shy, and his wife did make contact with Edward at the hotel where he was staying. After comparing notes, they were convinced that they were cousins. Bernie told Edward that Luke Murray was the only one from the family at the time to immigrate to the United States from Ireland and that the family lost touch with him. Edward also found out that most records about the family were destroyed in a fire. Edward did not stay in touch with Bernie from Ireland and because the records were lost, he was convinced that the family would not be able to research our ancestors any farther back than Luke and Ann Murray.
I would love to learn more about my great great grandfather Luke Murray and our family, so I would appreciate any information that may help in this search. I would also love to hear from anyone that remembers a father or grandfather talking about meeting Edward Murray in 1969.
Thank You
Karlene Murray
Wednesday 25th Jul 2012, 07:49PMMessage Board Replies
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Hi Karlene,
Do you know much about their emigration? Dates, the reason why they left, etc.? Generally more information was given at the port of arrival rather than the port of departure. If you knew which city they arrived at (CAstle Garden, Ellis Island), this could be a good place to find more information, and perhaps even find out an exact place of origin. Free searchable databases are available at these sites:http://www.castlegarden.org/ and http://www.ellisisland.org/ .
Once a point of origin has been established church records can also be useful and are available from the local parish or the National Archives at http://www.nationalarchives.ie/. . If you have any difficulty, you could try writing to the parish priest for more assistance.
You could try checking the land records called the Tithe Applotment Books (1823-38) or the later Griffith's Valuation (1848-64). The Tithe Applotment Books (1823-38): Microfilm copies of the books for all of Ireland are available at the National Archives of Ireland (NAI) http://www.nationalarchives.ie/genealogy1/genealogy-records/tithe-applotment-books-and-the-primary-griffith-valuation/ or the Church of Latter Day Saints (LDS)https://familysearch.org/ . Griffith's is freely available here: www.askaboutireland.com or here: www.failteromhat.com Failte Romhat has lots of other useful links you could try looking at.
The Tithe Applotment List might be of use to you, or at least interesting for you. These lists constitute the only nationwide survey for the period, and are valuable because the heaviest burden of the tithes to the Established Church, the Church of Ireland, fell on the poorest, for whom few other records survive. The information in the Tithes is quite basic, typically consisting of townland name, landholder's name, area of land and tithes payable. Many Books also record the landlord's name and an assessment of the economic productivity of the land. The tax payable was based on the average price of wheat and oats over the seven years up to 1823, and was levied at a different rate depending on the quality of land. For Parishes where the registers do not begin until after 1850, this information can be useful, as they are often the only surviving early records. They can provide valuable circumstantial evidence, especially where a holding passed from father to son in the period between the Tithe survey and Griffith's Valuation.
Valuations office in Dublin (http://www.valoff.ie) will have a record of the land registry from 1855 to modern times. This will assist in seeing what happened to Luke's land (as it usually passed on to a relation).
You can check for information about the frequency of the name in the mid-19th century and any other variant spellings of the name here: http://www.irishtimes.com/ancestor/surname/
A genealogical database for Co roscommon is avalable for a fee from http://roscommon.rootsireland.ie/ .
I wish you the best of luck with your search.
Please make sure you link anyone else in your family who is interested in their Irish heritage to our site - and indeed anyone else you know of Irish heritage.
Kind regards,
Cynthia O'Connor
Genealogy Support
Ireland Reaching Out
cynoconnor
Friday 10th Aug 2012, 09:50AM