Tracing Murphys back to Ireland

The Montana Standard, Butte, 1992-05-29, p.4

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Summary

ARCHIVE-DEFINING CLIPPING. A "letter to the editor" published in the Montana Standard's "Our readers speak" section on 29 May 1992, submitted by Donald V. Murphy of Godfrey, Illinois, announcing that a Murphy genealogy book has been compiled tracing Murphy family history back to: - **Michael C. Murphy (1788–1890)** of CLOUNAGLASKIN, CASTLETOWNBERE PARISH, COUNTY CORK, IRELAND. His son **Timothy Murphy (aka Tady)**, born in 1825, had 15 children, eight of whom emigrated to Butte in the late 1800s. Their names: **Kit, Julia, Michael, Dan, Johney, Pat, Jerry, and Cornelius**. Contact given: Donald V. Murphy, 3404 Emma Lane, Godfrey, IL 62035. ALIGNMENT WITH THE ARCHIVE: - Castletownbere parish = Berehaven = the same parish the archive has used as its primary Beara anchor since the 1846 Times starvation clipping. Clounaglaskin is a townland in that parish. - The eight Butte-emigrant Murphys include a "Pat" who arrived in Butte in the late 1800s. The archive's person_patrick_j_ murphy_bartender_1908 came to Montana ~1888, native of Cork. Strong candidate alignment. - 8 of 15 siblings emigrating together to a single American city (Butte) is a textbook Beara-to-Butte chain-migration pattern. - The "Dwyer cousins in the Kilcatherine district" of the 1918 drowning clipping fit naturally as descendants of one of Tady's Beara-resident daughters (probably Kit or Julia) who married a Dwyer. This letter, written 80 years after Pat Murphy died in Butte and 57 years after Ellen Murphy died at the Fox Hotel, supplies the Irish-side root of the family arc that the previous newspaper evidence could only suggest. It is the closest thing in the archive to a genealogical source-of-truth for the Murphy line. CRITICAL: the genealogy BOOK referenced is NOT in this archive but is held by Donald V. Murphy (or whoever continued the work). Locating and ingesting that book — or recreating its core family-tree data from primary sources — is the obvious next step for the project.

Narrative

Donald V. Murphy of Godfrey, Illinois writes to report a compiled Murphy genealogy tracing the family back to Michael C. Murphy (1788 information1890) of Clounaglaskin, Castletownbere Parish, County Cork. Michael's son Timothy Murphy, known as Tady, born 1825, had fifteen children, eight of whom emigrated to Butte in the late 1800s: Kit, Julia, Michael, Dan, Johney, Pat, Jerry and Cornelius. Readers tracing the same roots are invited to write to him at 3404 Emma Lane, Godfrey, IL 62035.

  • “His son, Timothy Murphy (aka Tady), born in 1825, had 15 children and eight of them emigrated to Butte in the late 1800s”
  • “If anyone is obtaining this report and tracing their family roots, please contact”

AI-generated (claude-opus-5). Verify against the transcription before quoting.

People

  • role: ancestral subject · family confidence: 10 flag

    Born 1788, died 1890 (lived to 102!). Of Clounaglaskin, Castletownbere parish, Co. Cork. Per the Donald V. Murphy genealogy. Held at 50 (Plausible) pending user signal / independent verification from the genealogy book. New ancestral root for the Murphy line if confirmed.

  • role: ancestral subject · family confidence: 10 flag

    Son of Michael C. Murphy. Born 1825. Had 15 children, eight of whom emigrated to Butte in the late 1800s: Kit, Julia, Michael, Dan, Johney, Pat, Jerry, Cornelius. Held at 50.

Also mentioned

  • Donald V. Murphy · letter_writer

    Of 3404 Emma Lane, Godfrey, IL 62035 (1992). Distant cousin / fellow researcher seeking other Murphys descended from Tady. Possible contact point for the user.

  • Kit Murphy · butte_emigrant_child_of_tady

    Child of Timothy 'Tady' Murphy. Emigrated to Butte late 1800s. 'Kit' could be short for Christopher, Katherine, or Christina — gender not given.

  • Julia Murphy · butte_emigrant_child_of_tady

    Daughter. Emigrated to Butte late 1800s.

  • Michael Murphy · butte_emigrant_child_of_tady

    Son. Emigrated to Butte late 1800s. Same first name as his grandfather Michael C.

  • Dan Murphy · butte_emigrant_child_of_tady

    Son. Emigrated to Butte late 1800s. NOT to be confused with person_daniel_l_murphy_son_of_pat_and_ellen (the bartender's son, b. Butte 1894) — this Dan is the bartender's BROTHER, of Tady's generation, born in Beara.

  • Johney Murphy · butte_emigrant_child_of_tady

    Son. Spelling 'Johney' is the letter writer's variant; canonical Johnny / John. Emigrated to Butte late 1800s.

  • Pat Murphy · butte_emigrant_child_of_tady

    Son. Almost certainly the same as person_patrick_j_murphy_bartender_1908 — Cork-native, Butte arrival late 1800s, one of Tady's children. PROVISIONAL identification pending user signal.

  • Jerry Murphy · butte_emigrant_child_of_tady

    Son. Jerry = Jeremiah / Gerald. Could be related to Jere J. Murphy the Butte Chief of Police (1922), but two-records rule applies. Emigrated to Butte late 1800s.

  • Cornelius Murphy · butte_emigrant_child_of_tady

    Son. Emigrated to Butte late 1800s.

Places

Themes

Story threads

Tags

Source type

letter_to_editor

Related sources

Transcription
transcription: complete · confidence high
# Tracing Murphys back to Ireland *The Montana Standard, Friday, May 29, 1992, p. 4. "Our readers speak" letters section.* A Murphy genealogy book has been compiled which traces Murphy family history back to Michael C. Murphy (1788–1890) from Clounaglaskin, Castletownbere Parish, County Cork, Ireland. His son, Timothy Murphy (aka Tady), born in 1825, had 15 children and eight of them emigrated to Butte in the late 1800s. They were: Kit, Julia, Michael, Dan, Johney, Pat, Jerry and Cornelius. If anyone is obtaining this report and tracing their family roots, please contact: — DONALD V. MURPHY, 3404 Emma Lane, Godfrey, IL 62035.

Dotted underlines mark key terms on first mention — hover or tab to one for a reference note. The wording is the source’s own.

Open questions

  • LOCATE THE DONALD V. MURPHY GENEALOGY BOOK. The letter references a compiled book held by Donald V. Murphy of Godfrey, IL. Address may be stale (1992); if Donald is still living or if the book is held by a descendant, that is the single highest-value next step for the family arc.
  • Add `place_clounaglaskin` to vocab (Beara townland in Castletownbere parish; parent place_berehaven).
  • Match Tady's 8 Butte-emigrant children to the existing archive person records. Pat → likely person_patrick_j_murphy_ bartender_1908. Dan (uncle) → distinct from Daniel L. (nephew, b. 1894). Jerry → possibly person_jere_j_murphy_butte_police_ chief_1922. Michael, Johney, Cornelius, Kit, Julia → no archive person records yet; create on user signal.
  • Tady Murphy b. 1825 fits a Famine-survivor cohort — he was 20-27 during the worst Famine years (1845-52). His father Michael C. (b. 1788, d. 1890) survived to 102. Both survived the Famine in Castletownbere parish — extraordinary on a peninsula whose 1846-47 starvation rate was among Ireland's highest. Worth a sidebar in the book on which Beara townlands had better Famine-era survival outcomes.