John McGrath (c.1798-1869) and Bridget Walsh (c.1800-1858)

Our great-great-great grandparents

John McGrath was born around 1798 in or near Skeheenarinky, the son of Maurice and Margaret McGrath. Bridget Walsh was born around 1800 in the Coolagarranroe townland, the daughter of Michael Walsh and Honora Betson.1

John and Bridget married at Ballyporeen on 17 March 1829, and in the register were noted as being from Skeheenarinky. After their marriage they moved to the village of Ballyporeen, which is shown as John’s native place in his death notice, as well as being the documented birth place of two of his children. John and Bridget had five children:

  1. Michael (b.1829) – he was baptised along with his twin, Peter, at Ballyporeen on 22 December 1829, with godparents David Lyons and Nora Walsh. He presumably died before 1832 when another son was named Michael.
  2. Peter (b.1829) – he was baptised along with his twin, Michael, at Ballyporeen on 22 December 1829, with godparents Patrick and Maria Walsh. He was not named on his mother’s death record, so it is likely that he died before 1854 when the family left Ireland.
  3. Michael (our great great grandfather, 1832-1888)
  4. Margaret (1835-1865) – she came to Victoria with her parents in 1854 aged 19 years. Margaret married John Quin in 1857 and they had four children: Mary (b.1858), Maurice (b.1860), and Catherine and Margaret (b.1862; presumably twins since the birth extracts have consecutive numbers). Margaret died in 1865, aged only 30 years and is buried in the Melbourne General Cemetery, in the same grave as her parents and her husband.
  5. Catherine (1837-1919) – born in Ballyporeen, she came to Victoria with her parents in 1854 aged 17 years. She married James Pollard Hurren (1838-1910) in 1858 and they are believed to have had twelve children:  Charles Henry (1859-1917), Bridget (1861-1874), Peter (1863-1919), James Joseph (1865-1925), Richard Michael (1867-1930), George Francis (1870-1938), Mary Agnes (1872-1945), Louise (1874-1874), William George (1874-1874), Catherine Theresa Imelda ((1876-1953), Joseph (1878-1881) and Margaret (1881-1891). A thirteenth child was stillborn in 1887. Catherine died at South Yarra, Victoria on 26 September 1919.

The Tithe Applotment Books 1823-37 lists several John McGraths in Templetenny parish, including a John “Magrath” at Skeheenarinky, but none at Ballyporeen. Griffith’s Valuation lists a John McGrath leasing a house and garden, and a separate garden block in the main street of Ballyporeen. This amounted to 2,600 square meters of land, with the house and land valued at £2 4s. John also leased another house and small garden nearby which he sub-let to Denis Bryson.

Other McGraths are also listed in Griffith’s Valuation renting property in the main street of Ballyporeen: William McGrath rented a house and common yard, while Thomas McGrath rented a house, office and garden. These individuals’ connection to John can only be guessed, but it may be significant that John’s son Michael McCraith, who seemed to have largely followed Irish naming conventions for his children,2 had sons named William and Thomas.

On 9 November 1853, John, Bridget and their two daughters sailed from Plymouth as assisted immigrants aboard the Prince Alfred, a ship of 921 tons commanded by Captain P. Smith, bound for Melbourne. The Prince Alfred and its 350 government-sponsored immigrants arrived in Melbourne on 17 February 1854. Five days later, John and his family left the ship to work as an agricultural labourer for Mr. Grey of Salt Water (Maribyrnong) River, to whom John was bound for 12 months. John probably moved his family to Victoria to have a better life than they were living in post-Famine Tipperary.

There is an account of a voyage on the Prince Alfred, written by a passenger named Thomas Henry Severn, describing the daily routine on the voyage from London to Melbourne in 1852, just two years before the McCraiths' voyage. There is also a letter to his father back home, describing his first days in Melbourne. His quote "Oh it is a wretched place destitute of every comfort is this Australia" pretty much sums up the tone of the letter. He tells his father "Do not advise anyone to come". This sentiment was not uncommon - see the Romsey Australia web site. The State Library of South Australia has a page devoted to the appalling conditions on many emigrant ships of the time.

According to the immigration records John, Bridget and their daughters could all read and write. At the time of his death John’s occupation was given as shoemaker, which may have been his original occupation in Ballyporeen.
Bridget died of “English cholera and exhaustion” at Richmond on 16 January 1858 and was buried at the Melbourne General Cemetery two days later. John died of “Pulmonary Consumption and asthenia” at Brighton Road, St. Kilda (according to his death record) on 3 December 1869. He was buried two days later at the Melbourne General Cemetery in the same plot3 as his wife and his daughter Margaret. His death notice was published in The Advocate of 11 December 1869:

MCGRATH. – On the 3rd inst., at Richmond, after a lingering illness, John McGrath, late of Ballyporeen, Ireland, aged 71 years. – May he rest in peace.

We also have:


1 According to his tombstone and death notice, John was 71 years of age when he died in December 1869, giving 1798 as his year of birth (his death record says that he was 70 years of age, giving a birth year of 1799). His 1854 immigration record, however, shows his age at that time as 43, giving a birth year of 1811. According to her death record, Bridget was born around 1800, but her immigration record shows her as aged 41 in 1854, so born in 1813. They most likely understated their ages in order to obtain assisted passage to Victoria (age restrictions being applied in some cases) or to reduce the cost of passage (costs increased with age).

2 See http://homepages.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~cregan/patterns.htm

3 Section C, grave 112.

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