Information on a James Murtagh

My grandfather grew up about a mile from Kinaffe/Kinaff (in Irish, Cionn Damh), and it's not actually in Aghamore parish, but across the parish boundary in Kilconduff (Swinford) parish.

You can see more info about it here:  https://www.townlands.ie/mayo/gallen/kilconduff/killedan/kinaff/

There are links there to the Griffith's Valuation records for the townland, and there is a John Murtagh shown, but no Patrick.  Links to info for the neighboring townlands are also shown, and you can see that the townland just to the west of Kinaffe, Knockbrack, is in the neghboring parish of Bohola.  Three parishes come together in that immediate area:  Swinford, Bohola, and Killedan (Kiltimagh), and most people would have had relatives from all three parishes (and Aghamore, which is nearby as well). 

The Catholic parish records for Swinford go further back than any others in the area (1808 for marriages and 1822 for baptisms), and they are available online here:

https://registers.nli.ie/parishes/0133

I did a quick check, and the baptism of your James Murtagh is there.  He was baptized on 8 August 1868, and his parents are listed as Patrick Murtagh and Bridget O'Brien (with their first names all "Latinized", as some priests chose to do), and their townland of residence is listed as Kinaff.  I'm attaching a copy of the entry below (it's the first one on the first of the two facing pages).  The civil registry had been created only a few years before, and people were not entiirely used to it.  There was a fine for registering more than a certain number of days after the birth, so people would give a false birth date if they were late in registering (the authorities would not bother to consult the parish register to check, since it was not offically accepted for a period of time).

I have both Murtagh and O'Brien relatives myself, but know of no specific connection to your family.  However, some of the Gallagher and McNicholas tenants listed in Kinaffe in Griiffith's Valuation are very likely to be my relatives, and most of the families had been in the area for centuries (some perhaps for thousands of years), so we are probably at least distantly related.  I've done DNA testing, in case you want to compare notes.

In case you're interested in history, there were two Irish surnames (from unrelated families) which were both Anglicized as Murtagh (sometimes Murtaugh) or Murtha.  They were the surnames Ó Muircheartaigh ("descendant of the navigator") in Leinster and Mac Muircheartaigh ("son of the navigator") in Roscommon (which borders Mayo nearby, and is probably the main source of the name in Mayo).  Actually, there may have been three families, since the name was also found in Scotland, and brought from there to Ulster, where it was usually Anglicized as Murdoch.  Either of the two Irish forms of the name could end up as Murtagh or Murtha, depending on how they were heard by whoever was writing out the Anglicized forms (Irish has a number of sounds which English speakers find hard to hear clearly, and there are also regional difference in pronunciation).  It was thus not unusual for different Anglicized versions of a surname to be used within the same family, and in fact the Murtagh relatives I have, many of whom ended up in Missouri in the US, use both forms in different branches of the family.  What may also have contributed to the discrepancies is the fact that they would all have been Irish-speaking in the 1800's (my grandparents grew up speaking Irish at home in Mayo even in the early 1900's), so they may not themselves have known (or possibly cared all that much) how the name was written in its Anglicized form, at least until later on in the century or when they emigrated.

In case you're interested in folklore or local color, Dublin City University has a huge online collection of folklore from most parishes, collected in the 1930's by local schoolchildren, and the collection covers all sorts of topics about local history, people, place names, etc.  There is interesting info for all of the parishes mentined above, and you can view the records here:  dúchas.ie

Good Evening Kevin,

Firstly please accept my sincere apologies for not posting sooner your comprehensive reply is greatly appreciated, thank you very much.

Unfortunately I have done some further digging over the last few weeks and I believe I had the wrong James Murtagh. I now believe he was born 15th June 1871 to a Patt (possibly Kevin Patrick Murtagh) and Julia (possibly Judith - formerly Loftus) Murtagh. I have done a further search and Google revealed the below from the Discover Mayo website (link below). If you or anybody has any further information on this family it would be greatly appreciated, I promise that I will reply a lot sooner! :-) Unfortunately the post is dated 2003 but I have posted requesting anyone who has further information to get in touch - fingers crossed!

"Agnes, here's what I have on Kiltimagh. Note that the name"Loftus" appears several times. KevinPatrick Murtagh was born about 1805. He was 96 years old duringthe 1901 census. He was married to Julia Loftus who was born about1837 and died on 24 Sept 1897 (at age 60). Note that Patrick was32 years older than his wife, Julia. He was 56 years old when theirfirst child was born and 66 years old when the last child was born. I would guess that Patrick had more children for which there are norecords.Griffith's Valuation (1856) shows that Patrick was a joint tenant,with Thomas Murtagh, James Murtagh, Martin Rooney and James Langan of54 acres in the townland of Cuillalea. They rented from PatrickTuohy, who in turn rented from Anthony Ormsby of Ballinamore. I have no record of when Patrick died. Patrick was the fatherof 5 children that I know about. They are:A. John Murtagh (my line) was born about 1861. He marriedCatherine Cavanagh (born about 1866) in Claremorris Parish on 5January 1889. Their witnesses were James Murtagh and BridgetCavanagh. No record on when John or Catherine died. Iam given to understand John was brought to the states by his sonAndrew and lived with him.B. Michael, baptised 17 September 1863, sponsors Michael McGrealand Sally Roche.C. Anne, baptised 11 October 1866, sponsors Mathew Loftus andHonor Loftus.D. Bridget, baptised 18 February, sponsors Thady Lavelle and MaryLoftus.E. James, baptised 15 June 1871, sponsors Martin Mathew Loftusand Mary McGreal.John Murtagh and Catherine Cavanagh (my line) had seven children.They are: Michael, baptised 5 October 1890, sponsors James Murtaghand Kate Costello; Andrew, baptised 17 December 1891, sponsors AndrewKeveney and Mary Loftus; Bridget, (know later as Aunt Viola) baptised 6 July 1893, sponsors Patt Murtagh and Bridget Kavanah; Mary(Kevin Crowley's grandmother), born 26 August 1895, baptised 5September 1895, sponsors James Greally and Julia Murtagh; emigratedto Jersey City, married James Breheney, 5 children; died 16 December1961; James, baptised 26 September 1897, sponsors John and KateCostello; John, baptised 3 September 1899, sponsors Tom Mullen andKate Murtagh; Catherine, baptised 19 January 1901, sponsors JamesKeveny and Mary Mullen"

https://www.mayo-ireland.ie/en/roots/view-message.html?mid=15223

Look forward to hearing from you or anybody else who may have any further information.

JC

Hello,

By coincidence, I am now researching a Loftus/Murtagh couple from the same townland, arising from a reasonable match I have noted on MyHeritage. I was in fact researching the name McNicholas as I seem to have quite a few matches with that name but came across the Loftus/Murtagh match. I am homing in on the name Loftus as my ancestors were the Loftus family from nearby Spoddagh, Culleens, Killeen, (all three names used) near the Meelick tower in the parish of Kilconduff. The only tithes records for the name Loftus in that parish relate to Kinnaff so I am guessing that there has to be a connection. A Michael Loftus married a Mary Murtagh daughter of a James Murtagh on 13 March 1886. Michael was the son of Patrick Loftus. It is possible/likely then that your Julia was connected to the above Michael Loftus. Are you on the MyHeritage site?

Regards,

Deirdre Carroll, Dublin.