There are many branch-names of Murphys. BAWN = fair-haired. CUDEEN comes from an old Gaelic name for Cornelius. MAHEESH comes from a combination of two Gaelic words:- MAITH (silent "t") meaning good, and AOIS meaning age. Obviously the person around whom this branch-name originated lived to a great old age. BAOI originating from Dursey Island. ---- Riobard.

Dear Riobard: Is CUDEEN the phonetic spelling or the Gaeilge spelling? I can't find it in my little Irish dictionary, but if it's older Gaeilge (pre '48) that's probably why. What is the old word for Cornelius? It might help me tracing my Cornelius O'Brien if I know what to look for on the census records here. My g-grandfather Cornelius O'Brien is the lynchpin in our immigrant trace back to Ireland. Aunt Ruth McArdle said he was born in 1850 either in Cork or in the Bronx. My father (Edwin O'Brien) said, his father (Edward O'Brien) told him that they'd come from Clare (either Miltown-Malbay, Ennis, or somewhere around O'Briensbridge), not Cork. The problem was that Edward's father Cornelius died in some kind of a cave-in accident when Edward was very young, and, so, that was why the uncertainty as to more exact origins, or even the name of Cornelius' father and mother. Either that, or the obscurity was part of the assimilation process. If I assume that Con's parents may have caught the boat to emigrate from Cobh, Cork, that means they would have had to have left before 1849, when it was re-named Queenstown. I suppose it is possible that if the re-naming happened at mid-year of 1849, they might have left in 1849 just prior to that event. In any case, he would have had to have been born in port just before they left if indeed he was born there, and not in Westchester after they arrived. Adding to the mystery is the face that the Bronx weren't in 1850 - it was West Farms or Westchester Farms, in Westchester County. However, the work for the new Croton Aqueduct was completed in 1842, but connecting sewers systems were still being built in the 1850's, so an immigrant laborer might get work either on the farms in Westchester or on the sewer projects, which would explain how they located there, and not in Manhattan. It would also explain how Cornelius could have been killed in a cave-in if he was part of a digging crew. Needles in haystacks - that's my middle name :) Best Regards, Kathleen O'Brien Blair McMinnville, Oregon -----Original Message----- From: beara-bounces@rootsweb.com [mailto:beara-bounces@rootsweb.com] On Behalf Of Riobard O'Dwyer Sent: Wednesday, March 11, 2009 4:29 AM To: beara@rootsweb.com Subject: [BEARA] Murphy. There are many branch-names of Murphys. BAWN = fair-haired. CUDEEN comes from an old Gaelic name for Cornelius. MAHEESH comes from a combination of two Gaelic words:- MAITH (silent "t") meaning good, and AOIS meaning age. Obviously the person around whom this branch-name originated lived to a great old age. BAOI originating from Dursey Island. ---- Riobard. ------------------------------- To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to BEARA-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes in the subject and the body of the message