Thursday, March 17, 2011

My Irish Heritage-Is it all Blarney?

I wrote about the Murrays earlier.  I uncovered inaccurate family stories, stories that served to impede discovery of where the Murrays came from and when they came to the US.  The story that they came from Ireland is not too far-fetched with the name Murray.  Assuming that consistency over decades of census data is an indication of reliable information, all I know is that my great-great-grandfather was born in 1812 in Cayuga County, NY and that his parents were born in NY.  That would mean my supposed Catholic Irish ancestors were here well before the Irish Famine immigrants.  That would mean my ancestors immigrated to colonial America or to the newly formed United States.

Well, we know what they say about assumptions...

Until there is more data online or I have the opportunity to make a field trip to Cayuga County, I'm not sure there's much I can do.  Without better data, I could end up wasting huge amounts of time.

What if my ancestor's name wasn't really Murray?  Aagghh!!

Later today I'll post on a family line I know more about so I'll feel I've actually accomplished something.

UPDATE 12/9/13

A recent DNA test result shows my Murray line is connected to Niall of the Nine Hostages. Looks like it wasn't blarney!

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