Has anyone heard of the place CARAFF, County Clare??

[RubyRoux]

Hello,

I am hoping someone can help me solve a mystery!

My great grandmother Annie Morrissey emigrated to Sydney, Australia in 1879 or 1880 on board the Blair Athol aged 19. Her parents were farmers, John and Margaret Morrissey and she was sponsored by her uncle, John Morrissey in Sydney.

Her death certificate states that she was born in Caraff, County Clare and I cannot find any reference to it anywhere. I am wondering if it was a tiny village that died out during those difficult years.

Any help would be most appreciated!

Ruby

[Paddy Casey]

Her death certificate states that she was born in Caraff, County Clare and I cannot find any reference to it anywhere. Ruby

Hi Ruby,

Was the death certificate typed or handwritten ? If the latter, you might scan it (or the "born in" bit) and attach the image to your posting so that we can have a guess at any possible misspellings.

Paddy

P.S. My blind guess is that "Caraff" is Scariff. A combination of mumbling informant and semi-deaf registrar of deaths could have "deleted" the "S" in transit from mouth to ear. Or your g-grandmother couldn't pronounce the letter 's' so the family in AUS always thought it was Caraff. And so on.

P.P.S. Note also the John Morrissy (sic) listed in the Griffiths Valuation in Moynoe ca. 1855 at http://www.clarelibrary.ie/eolas/coclar ... ithm11.htm

[RubyRoux]

Thanks for the information, I really appreciate your help.

My task is made more tricky as there isn't anyone on that side of the family left to ask questions.

I only found my great grandmother recently after having to obtain documents for a family member who was applying for a passport. I began uncovering the story of a marriage between a Catholic girl and a Protestant boy, an unofficial baby adoption - lots of secrets for me to uncover... It has given me lots to research and think about.


Ruby