Irish Ancestry Help

So I have been researching my ancestry. I live in Central New York, which had a large influx of Irish immigrants in the 1800's and 1900's. So on one of my great great uncle's draft card from the U.S. he listed his place of birth as Bordenville Ireland. I am having a hard time finding any info on this. He was born in 1885 and came to the U.S in 1906. I realize town names can change over the years, but was just wondering if anyone over there in Ireland may enlighten me a bit. Is this a town or village or is it a county perhaps??? Also too the spelling could be off a bit. I have found that our census and immigration files were not always correct with spelling. I would much appreciate any help!

 

I am afraid, 'Bordenville', does not sound Irish. 'Ville' is a French', description of a townland. Perhaps your ancestor might have been trying to avoid anyone, such as the British tracing him?

 

I am aware of '-ville' being added to the names of some townlands in Ireland despite this suffix NEVER being in common usage, in fact the village I live in appears on many modern maps with this suffix even though it is never called that. I'm guessing this was a British add-on when place names were translated from the Irish language to English. So you could try just looking for Borden? But there are also places that end in '-ville', such as Charleville in Co Cork, so Bordenville might indeed be the correct name.

My guess, though, is that the place name was originally in Irish and got translated to an English approximation on your uncle's draft card for the sake of simplicity. This was a common occurrence with Irish names during times of mass emigration. I will ask a relative who is an Irish speaker whether he can shed any light on what such a place name might be derived from.

 

I have also been told from family members, that when an Irish accent (accent to those of us in the U.S.) was heavy, the person taking the information sometimes would just use a phonetic spelling from what it sounded like the immigrant was saying. So it might not necessarily be Borden ville. Could even be like Borden Hill. I appreciate the help.

 

I was thinking the same thing. With a certain Irish accent, names like Bourne or Mourne would sound like Borden or Morden, so something like that could easily have happened. I'm afraid it will not be easy to figure it out, though.

 

You should also take into consideration your great great uncle's surname. Some surnames are more common in certain counties, for example, Moriarty in Kerry,
O'Sullivan, Barry , O'Driscoll in Cork or Gallagher, Doherty in Donegal.

 

Good to know, I didn't realize that, his surname was Murphy. Any ideas??? Also too, did the Irish during the late 1800's register their births thru the church or at a local government?

 

Unfortunately, Murphy is the most common surname in Ireland and found in every county. I think the government registered births during that period.

 

Searching for a list of Irish townlands, I came across this website: http://www.swilson.info/db/townlanddbs.php I don't know anything about the website.
A search for ends with "ville" produced no Bordenville. The two closest are Beardiville in Antrim and Bondville in Armagh.

Have you tried searching the Ellis Island passenger lists? Since you have his year of birth and year of arrival in the US, you might get some more information about him there. Also, many emigrants stayed with relatives or friends when they arrived in the US. If you can find out where he stayed on arrival in the US, you might get a breakthrough.

Good luck with your search.

 

Thank you Dolours I will look into this!

 

If you can find an Irish genealogical society in NY they can probably help you. The Gaelic League in Detroit helped me, we did it through email. My great grandfather came to the US in 1847 and on his civil war discharge papers he said he was born in Chreever, Co. Kerry. Well when I couldn't find that the society said it was Cahirciveen.

 

Thanks for the info Katfalls, I will certainly look into this.

 

Hello, I hope this finds you well. There was a Borderville weir in England, (Lincolnshire), and many Irish moved there prior to and after the famine. Familysearch.org, is probably a good place to start the ball rolling and completely free. From 1850 to 1900, the population of England, Scotland and Wales doubled through Irish people emigrating, and could be the best place to start your search.

 

I’ve decided to research my Irish ancestry since I can’t go anywhere right? I remember that someone posted a link to Irish records. I tried to search but couldn’t find it. Any help would be appreciated. Thanks!

 

Hi Cincygirl
I have done mine through a number of different websites
Find my past .ie is brilliant you will get most records online and is reasonably priced unlike some I have been on
Good luck

 

Thank you everyone. I have one family branch from Birr I think