Laurence Murphy 1820 - 1896

Graham,

Just wondering if you can cast any light on the address (in the column date and place of death) of Laurence? This may help to narrow the possibilities for where he was buried.

Best wishes, Kieran 

Hi Kieran

Thanks for getting back to me. My Great Grandfather was a farmer who lived in Ballyhea I think but what’s on the document for the record of his death is Impbrick which is now Imphrick and above that on the document looks to me like Shananach.

The record of my Grandmother’s birth also lists her place of birth as Impbrick and I have attached a copy of this.

Hope this is of some help but not having been to Ireland I am guessing. 
 

Cheers

Graham

Graham,

I think the townland name is Shinanagh, in Imphrick. I will be passing there shortly and will ask about burials, although there are no guarantees that a person used the local graveyard.

Best wishes, Kieran

Hi Kieran

Thanks for getting back to me again. I look forward to seeing how you fare with the burials. 
 

Thanks once again for your help. 

Cheers

Graham

Hello Graham,

The Find A Grave website references four cemeteries in Ballyhea/Ballyhay, County Cork. These are: Ballyhay Graveyard, Ballyhea New Cemetery, Ballyhea Old Cemetery, and St. Mary's Cemetery. See:
https://www.findagrave.com/cemetery-browse/Ireland/County-Cork/Ballyhea…

I checked each cemetery at Find A Grave to see if anyone had submitted information about the burial of a Laurence Murphy, but found no one had, though it is possible that Laurence Murphy was buried in one of the four cemeteries noted above.

A Find A Grave description of the Ballyhay New Cemetery states that it “adjoins St. Mary’s Church, Ballyhea.”

The Ballyhay New Cemetery and the St. Mary’s Cemetery may actually refer to the same cemetery.

A Google Map shows that the townland of Imphrick is 2.3 miles south of St. Mary’s Roman Catholic Church in Ballyhea: https://rebrand.ly/kk5f8l6

The location that looks like “Shananach,” Imphrick, recorded in Laurence Murphy’s 1897 death record is actually a reference to the townland of Shinanagh, as Kieran had pointed out in his reply of 2 March 2023. The registrar who recorded Laurence’s death, (the registrar’s last name appears to be Corbett), spelled the name of this town on the death cert the way that he may have heard it pronounced.

On Google Maps there is a Shinanagh Crossing 2/10th of a mile from Imphrick: https://rebrand.ly/c3mjcwe

Shinanagh Townland itself is 1.2 miles north of Imphrick and Shinanagh Crossing: https://rebrand.ly/9zef0tz

Here is Google Street Views of the Shinanagh Crossing railroad tracks: https://rebrand.ly/erekda5

The railroad tracks you see in the Google Street View of Shinanagh Crossing were once part of Ireland’s Great Southern & Western Railway, which over the years has amalgamated into Irish Rail. See the Wikipedia articles: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Southern_and_Western_Railway https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iarnr%C3%B3d_%C3%89ireann

This next Google Street View is just outside of Imphrick: https://rebrand.ly/ynob6vg

I could not find a Google Street View for Shinanagh, but the following link will bring you to a Google Street View of St. Mary’s Church, Ballyhea: https://rebrand.ly/du84skt

A Google Satellite View shows a cemetery just north of St. Mary’s Church. This is likely the St. Mary’s Cemetery referred to at Find A Grave: https://rebrand.ly/ocx8ywv

The 1896 death record shows that Laurence Murphy’s daughter, Lizzie Murphy, of Shinanagh, was present at the death and had reported the death to the registrar. I looked for Lizzie Murphy in the 1901 census for Shinanagh, but didn’t find it.

I also did a general search for her in townlands near Shinanagh in 1901 census, but didn’t find her. I also looked for her in the 1911 census but could not identify her.

The 1901 and 1911 Ireland census are available to search for free at the National Archives of Ireland: http://www.census.nationalarchives.ie/search/

I looked for her possible marriage at the free irishgenealogy.ie website but did not find one between the years 1896 and 1911. I also could not identify a death record for Lizzie.

Finding the location of the cemetery where Laurence Murphy was buried may be a bit of a challenge because there is more than one cemetery in the area and also because there is the possibility Laurence doesn’t have a gravestone at all if his family could not afford one.

Hopefully, Kieran will be able to uncover information about Laurence’s burial location when he visits the area.

THE TITHE APPLOTMENT BOOKS

I found that a Charles Murphy was recorded in an Irish land record called the Tithe Applotment Books, leasing farmland in “Shinnangh,” with 8 other landholders.

I don’t know how, or even if this Charles Murphy was directly related to Laurence Murphy, but he may have been.

The Tithe Applotment Books were compiled in the 32 counties of Ireland from 1823 to 1837. The tithes were paid for the upkeep of the established Church of Ireland. Needless to say, Catholic farmers were not overjoyed at having to pay their hard earned income to a religious denomination they didn’t belong to, and that had persecuted their ancestors.

The tithes for the Civil Parish of Imphrick and Shinanagh are from 1825. The other landholders recorded in Shinanagh in the Tithe Applotment Books are John Hassett, William O’Connor, James Barry, James Roche, Michael Danahy, and Patrick Roche.

The handwritten Tithe Applotment Book entries for these farmers in Shinanagh can be found at the National Archives of Ireland link: https://rebrand.ly/jhoipyz

Charles Murphy is last farmer recorded at number 7 in Shinanagh. He farmed 2 Acres, 3 Roods, and 0 Perches of land. The amount of tithes he had to pay to the Church of Ireland was 2 Shillings and 11 Pence.

For information about acres, roods, and perches, go to the Lochista website link at: https://lochista.com/understanding-acres-perches/

For a comprehensive explanation of the Tithe Applotment Books, go to the National Archives of Ireland links at:
http://titheapplotmentbooks.nationalarchives.ie/search/tab/home.jsp
http://titheapplotmentbooks.nationalarchives.ie/search/tab/about.jsp
http://titheapplotmentbooks.nationalarchives.ie/search/tab/aboutmore.jsp

GRIFFITHS VALUATION

I also located a William Murphy leasing property in Shinanagh, in an Irish property tax record known as Griffiths Valuation. William may have been related to Charles who was recorded in the Tithe Applotment Books, and could also have been related to Laurence Murphy.

Griffiths Valuation was enumerated in the 32 counties of Ireland between 1847 and 1864. The valuation for Shinanagh and surrounding townlands in the Civil Parish of Imphrick was completed by November 1850.

Unlike a census, Griffiths Valuation did not enumerate individual members of a family, such as husband, wife, and children in a household residence. Those named in the valuation were individuals who paid to lease property, such as land, houses, and outbuildings. Each person who paid to lease the property was called an “Occupier.” The other person listed in Griffiths Valuation was the person who owned the property, or who worked as the middleman collecting the rent on Gale Day for the owner. This middleman was called the “Immediate Lessor.”

You can access Griffiths Valuation transcriptions and original copies for free at the Ask About Ireland website link at: http://www.askaboutireland.ie/griffith-valuation/index.xml

The Griffith Valuation for Shinanagh can be accessed at: https://rebrand.ly/0uwkfnr

William Murphy is number 7 in the townland, just above the G.S. & W. Railway Co., which is the Great Southern & Western Railway Company noted earlier in the reply.

Griffiths Valuation shows that William Murphy did not lease a house, but only land from an Immediate Lessor named, Reps. Of Robert Holmes, Esq.

Genealogist John Grenham, in his, "Irish Roots How to date Griffith’s Valuation precisely," describes Reps of this way:

"Reps of," an abbreviation for “Representatives of”, indicating that the individual named was dead at the time of the valuation and his or her legal interest in the holding was being represented by a family member or by an executor.”
----

The land that William Murphy leased was 39 Acres, 0 Roods, and 28 Perches. It was valued at an even 30 Pounds. He would paid a percentage of this value toward the property tax.

By contrast you’ll see the Immediate Lessor for the G.S. & W. Railway Co., was “In fee.” This means the railroad owned the 5 Acres and 7 Perches of land running through Shinanagh. This land was valued at 6 Pounds.

The number 7 to the left of William Murphy’s name is a Map Reference Number, showing where his acreage was located on a map of Shinanagh that accompanied Griffiths Valuation. This map is also available to download from the Ask About Ireland website. See the map at: https://rebrand.ly/b9cuql4

You’ll see Map Reference Number 7 is in the center of the map of Shinanagh.

That William Murphy did not lease a house in Shinanagh is an indication that his house was in another, perhaps nearby townland.

I found that it was. See Griffiths Valuation for Imphrick at: https://rebrand.ly/t2u6tco

Griffiths Valuation shows that William Murphy had two leases in Imphrick. The first of these, at Map Reference 1a,a,a, include a house, offices, and land that he leased form the Reps of Robert Holmes, Esq. The land was 37 Acres, 3 Roods, and 28 Perches, and valued at 27 Pounds. His house and offices were valued at 1 Pound and 10 Shillings. The total valuation for William’s lease was 28 Pounds and 10 Shillings.

An ”office” in Griffiths valuation could refer to a barn, stable, blacksmith shop, piggery, etc.

At Map Reference Number 2, William Murphy leased 1 Acre, 2 Roods, and 39 Perches of land from Archdeacon Mannsell. The land is “Glebe Land,” which is land owned by the church. In this case, it may have been land owned by the Church of Ireland. The land was valued at 2 Pounds, which was also the total valuation for the lease. William would not have been required to pay a tax on the Glebe Land he leased as, occupiers of properties valued under 5 Pounds were not required to pay the tax.

The Griffiths Valuation Map at the link coming up shows Map Reference 2, labeled, “GLEBE.” This is the land that William leased from Archdeacon Mannsell. To the east of this property is Map Reference 1B, and to the east of 1B are the Great Southern & Western railroad tracks, after which you’ll see Map reference 1A recorded twice. This is the location of William Murphy’s house, offices, and 37 plus acres of land that he leased from the Reps of Robert Holmes, Esq: https://rebrand.ly/ux0igh9

With Kind Regards,

Dave Boylan

SOURCES

Find A Grave
Google Maps
Google Street Views
Reply from Ireland Reaching Out volunteer Kieran dated 2 March 2023
Wikipedia
Google Satellite View
National Archives of Ireland 1901 and 1911 census enumerations
irishgenealogy.ie
National Archives of Ireland Tithe Applotment Books
https://lochista.com/understanding-acres-perches/
Ask About Ireland Griffiths Valuation
Genealogist John Grenham: "Irish Roots How to date Griffith’s Valuation precisely."
Ask About Ireland Griffiths Valuation Maps

Graham,

The visit to Impheric went out of my head completely! Hopefully, I will get there in the next few days and I will get back to you then.

Best wishes, Kieran

Thanks Kieran. Look forward to your next message 

Cheers

Graham

Graham,

Apologies that it took me so long to get to Imphrick. I went there today and had a very pleasant experience. I stopped at a house where a lady was sitting out in the sun having tea. I asked her about Murphys and Shinanagh but she didn't know much. She did say that her mother may know and she rang her mother for me. Her mother did know something. There is a Murphy family living very close to Shinanagh and she was able to show me where they lived. Unfortunately, there was nobody there so I was unable to determine if they are related or if they know where Laurence was buried. I will get over there again soon.

I also visited Imphrick graveyard. It is a small graveyard (maybe 30 headstones or so) so I had a look around but there was no sign of a Murphy grave. There were a few headstones that not accessible.

So, in summary, progress is being made, albeit slowly. Watch this space!

On a related issue, I notice that your grandmother was Eliza and the witness to to Laurence's death was Lizzie. Is this the same person? Do you know if Laurence and Mary had other children?

Best wishes, Kieran

Hi Kieran

Thanks for your latest message and the work you are doing to find where Laurence is buried. Eliza or Lizzie as she is recorded as the witness to Laurence’s death is my Grandmother. She traveled from Ireland with her sister, Bridget Josephine Murphy to Western Australia. Both of them married in Western Australia and lived here till they died. The rest of the family had come to Australia prior to Laurence’s death and settled in Melbourne, Australia. It was only in the last couple of years that I found that Laurence’s wife also came to Melbourne which I assume means that my Grandmother stayed in Ireland to look after her baby sister Bridget Josephine and her Father until his death. 
There were other siblings as listed below:

Amelia 1856, James 1860, Catherine 1864, Isabella 1864, Margaret 1868, Ebby 1870, Jeremiah & Maria 1873, Eliza 1877 and Bridget 1880. 
 

Once again thanks for your work on this. I look forward to what you may find  

Cheers

Graham

Hi Kieran

As I haven’t heard from you for a while I was wondering if you had made any progress with my enquiry about Laurence Murphy’s burial site. 
 

Thanks

Graham Fisher

Graham,
I didn't get a notification about your message of May 30 so I thought you hadn't seen my message.

I visited Imphrick again and unfortunately the Murphy family there are not connected to you. They arrived at Shinanagh from Churchtown in the early 1900s. They didn't know anything about a Murphy family before them.

Imphrick graveyard is very close to Shinanagh and is quite small. I had a look at most of the headstones (a few were inaccessible) but there was none to Laurence. It seems that people from Shinanagh would be buried in Ballyhea

Sorry I couldn't be of more help.

Best wishes, Kieran 

Hi Kieran

Thanks for all your help with this. 
 

Cheers

Graham