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Surname/tag: murphy
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Clan Murphy
- Gaelic Name (Tuath)
- Coat of Arms Motto - Brave and Hospitable
- Meaning - Descendant of the Sea Warrior
- Location (County, Barony ,Townland) - Counties Cork, Wexford, Roscommon and Tyrone
- Kinship (Cineal)
- Branches
Interesting Facts
- It's the most common name in Ireland. There are well over 50,000 bearers of the name in Ireland alone.
- There are more Murphys in the USA than in Ireland.
- Murphy's Law is named after Edward Murphy Jr. It derived from the US Air Force tried to test human tolerance to acceleration, and the project went awry.
- The "Murphy Bed" was the name of the concept to put one's bed in the wall to make space for other belongings.
History of the Murphy family name
Vikings invaded Ireland as early as the 800s A.D. They founded cities like Dublin, Cork, Belfast and Waterford. The Viking raids continued until the Danes were defeated at Clontarf in 1014 by the great Brian Boru.
From 1100 to 1600, Ireland was ruled by the Normans. But their kings retained Viking and Gaelic names. Murchadha means sea warrior, and is an early form of Murphy.
criomthann mac murchadha mac murrough caomhanach king of leinster 1557 to 1582
His son domhnall spainneach mac murrough caohanach 1595 to 1632,caused a lot of trouble, and his sons changed their names to Murphy after his death.
His sons owned and lived in Blarney castle, where the last bard John Murphy (1700 to 1780) lived.
Now going back to Britain, the Dunford family came over with William the Conquerer in 1066, as part of the Norman Invasion of England. They were two brothers, both generals in William the Conquerer's army,
After the death of King Harold 1066, the high officers in Williams army were given land to farm in payment for their services.
The two Dunford brothers were given Lancashire and Yorkshire, where today you still will see their names at River Dunford, Castles Dunford, and similiar places.
In Ireland, in 1641, Oliver Cromwell came to Ireland, confiscating the better land of the Murphys in Wexford, but giving them farmland in Tipperary, Ballmun, and Cashel.
Upon his return to Britain, Cromwell informed his loyal friends, the Dunford family in Lancashire and Yorkshire, there was free farm land in Wexford, Ireland for them, and the Dunford's gladly accepted Cromwell's land grant.
The local farmers would sell their livestock - horses, sheep, cows ,poultry , and also seeds to each other, and in doing so ,they got to know each other well. Soon, a Dunford would marry a Murphy ,and share their farms.
We have traced both familys down to 1700.
We know of John Dunford, born 1789, ived at Naylor Street, in Liverpool, Lancashire.
With only 89 years missing, John Dunford is a likely descendant.
After 150 years, the Murphy family is still farming in Ireland, and we find John Murphy born in1850 Dublin.
It would be grand if we could only go that little bit further to connect them up. We need to seek out early Dublin Church records and the Tithe Applotment Books for Dublin, and Wexford. If the families were of the Anglican faith, more records should be available. If the families were Catholic, records could not be kept before the early 1800s due to Penal Laws. The National Library of Ireland would be a good place to start.
john murphy born 1850 dublin
came to a brick wall ,cant find his grave or marriage
I know he was on the 1901 census of Leesonpark Avenue , Raithmines and Rathgar, East Dublin. but was dead before the 1911 census of 1.2 Westmoreland Park Raithminesand Rathgar, East Dublin.
His wife was Anne. We could not find her maiden name or grave.
History of Clan Murphy
I have been told by the genealogy ireland that the murphy family surname started by the dermot brothers grand sons of the last king of leinster
domhnall spainneach mac murrough caomhanach 1595 1632
his father criomthann mac murchadha mac murrough caomhanach 1557 to 1582
called the sea warrior,or sea wolf, viking name
after the last king of leinster died he had a very bad name so using the murrough name they cut it to murr and added a y,the very first murphy in ireland,
the wexford murphs are the direct descendants of the last king of leinster.
so all the murphy.s are from the last king of leinster,out of the population of 4 million 55 000 are murphy,they now spread all over ireland,
but if you were to keep your search in wexford dublin areas you should be able to trace your murphy family down from the las king of leinster,
dont forget john murphy born 1700 was the last recognised head of blarney bards who lived in blarney castle,now they go back to the last king of leinster,murchadha,sea warrior,that was only a hundred years from the last king of leinster,
also in 1620 a branch of the murphys from leinster moved to tipperary when there lands in wexford were confiscated by cromwell,but were granted lands in ballymore,cashel,county tipperary,in 1689 ,as they were good farmers,
Septs (finte)
See Also
List of Kings of Leinster
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_kings_of_Leinster
Last King of Leinster
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Domhnall_Spainneach_Mac_Murrough_Caomhanach
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