Hephy

Charmaine:

Welcome to Ireland Reaching Out!

I will alert one of our parish liaisons in the area about your message.

Roger McDonnell

Hi Charmaine
I come from the area and I also have ancestry in Galbally.  Unfortunately I have found the Galbally baptismal records to be quite patchy which is so frustrating.  I can't find any siblings for Catherine on RootsIreland.ie but in my experience that probably does not mean that none existed.  Before 1851 baptisms were usually performed in the family home and frequently the priests forgot to record them.  After the Synod of Thurles priests were instructed to only perform sacraments in church which greatly increased the chances of the baptism being recorded accurately.
The Poor Law Unions sometimes assisted poor women to emigrate.  From 1850 Galbally was part of Mitchelstown Union but unfortunately Mitchelstown Workhouse was burned down during the Irish Civil War in 1923 and no records survive as far as we know.  From 1841 to 1850 Galbally was in the Kilmallock Union.  This was during the famine years and the minutes books survive but very little else. Those books are kept here in Limerick but it is a very hard slog to go through them unless you know a date and what you are looking for.
The Tithe Applotments books for Galbally (approx 1830) are viewable at this link:
http://titheapplotmentbooks.nationalarchives.ie/pagestab/Limerick/Galba…
These often have some informaion about location but unfortunately a query is returning nothing for "Hephy" or "Heaphy".  You have to enter the name information for the query exactly to get the data so if there is any kind of a spelling variation this site is very unforgiving.  If you have lots of patience to go through the handwritten pages you might still find something.
Sorry I can't give you something positive for this.

Regards
Tim

I have investigated Mitchelstown workhouse and it was opened in 1852. Catherine Heaphy was on he boat in Sept 1852 so I am guessing she came from Kilmallock. I have also read an interesting article on the web 'Emigration from the Limerick Workhouse"  by Shris O'Mahony which mentions Orphans to Australia. One such person named was a Matron Charlotte O'Sullivan who accompanied a group to Australia in return for a free passage. She also is on the passenger list for the 'Louisa' she was paid 10 pound to take charge of the girls. So I have came to the conclusion Chaterine Heaphy was indeed an Orphan in  1852 and was admitted to the Kilmallock workhouse either alone or if with family they have died in there.   Dates to look in the minute books?  
​July & August 1852 girls were selected and approved by the Colonial Land & Emigration inspector. September 1852 they were dispatched to Plymouth.   I hope to come to Ireland in a few years will these minute books be held in Dublin?