Carroll & Burke

I thought that I had posted previously in both the Killoscobe and Moylough boards, but I do not see a previous posting on the Moylough board.  Thus, this long message.

Summary: My paternal grt grandparents were a John Carroll and a Catherine Burke, both from Ireland.  Who evidently arrived in the U.S. as a married couple, but whether via a U.S. port or Canada hasn't been ascertained.  Letters to Catherine Burke from a brother Micheal Burke, written in the late 1870's and early 1880's, indicated his residence as "Eskerrow, Menlough." (Both townlands in my understanding, and not a townland and parish; and, thus, somewhat confusing.)  She passed these on to a brother (or 1st cousin, Patrick Burke), and his descendents at one time had the original letters.

I gave copies of these letters in 1967 to the then parish priest in Moylough, who indicated that he intended to put them into a small "museum" he envisioned at the local school.  Since that time, through a series of accidents, all copies of the letters in the U.S. have been lost or destroy; and so, if they still exist, those in Moylough are the only copies extant.

The letters would suggest that Catherine Burke probably came from the same area as where her brother was resident.  And, according to not necessarily reliable family tradition, her husband, John Carroll, also came from the same locality.  The fact that they seem to have arrived in the U.S. as a married couple, though, suggests that this might actually have been the case.  John Carroll and Catherine Burke settled in Elma, Erie Co., New York state - near the city of Buffalo; Patrick Burke (her brother or cousin) settled in the city of Buffalo.  All three had emigrated before ca. 1855.

I wrote, at the suggestion of Martin Curley of the Killoscobe board, to Fr. O'Connor at the parish newsletter email address some time ago to enquire if he knew whether the letters referred to above still existed, but I have had no response.

Since then I have learned from old U.S. records that John Carroll's father's name was Edward Carroll, and his mother was recorded as Bridget Mulrooney.  Going on the assumption that both John and Catherine were from the Mt. Bellew region, I checked Griffith's Valuation.  It shows:

1. Patrick Burke in Gortnalogh townland, Moylough. Landlord Robert French.

2. Edward Carroll, and Patrick Carroll in Annaghmore West townland.  Landlord Thomas Blake. The two Carrolls are also shown in a group of small holding with a Michael Burke and a Michael Bourke.  Thomas Blake, landlord.

3. James Mulrooney and John Mulrooney in Annaghmore East townland, landlord Francis A. French.

Given the date of Griffith's none of these could be the Carroll and Burke in the U.S., however, they could be brothers or fathers, and the mix of given names is the same. (My grt grandfather John Carroll named his only son, Edward, presumably after his father.)  And the fact that there are Mulrooneys in the same area is a further coincidence.  (Thus far, there is no record of the names of Catherine Burke's parent's names that I have found.)

My question/situation is this:  Having not heard from Fr. O'Connor in Moylough as to the existence of the letters, any further family information they might contain can be considered lost for good.  But given the coincidence of family and given names in Griffith's then, is there a way to proceed?  And is there any point in considering the possibility of hiring someone to do local research?  I do live in the EU (Portugal), however, I am too old to be able to hire a rental auto in Ireland, and without that freedom to travel it only makes sense to have an Irish person do research...if, indeed, there is anything worth researching. 

Any advice would be appreciated.

Sincerely,
John Carroll