My great grandfather, Thomas Farrell and wife Ellen Shay came from Ireland. Where in Ireland ??? 1880 ish.?

Question

youngest daughter born in New York 1893. Brothers; Patrick, Thomas, Edward, James and twins Frank and Morgan and sister Elizabeth. We don't know if any of sibling were born in Ireland. We don't know if Thomas and Ellen were married before they arrived in New York. THey lived at 84 Roosevelt Ave. New York.

I would like to know where in Ireland they came from ????

Answer 1

Via ancestry.com,  I located them in the 1910 U.S. Census.  According to the entry, Thomas was from Ireland, but Ellen seems to have been born in Mass.  Her parents were born in Ireland, however. In 1910 it states Thomas arrived in the U.S. in 1860, but in the 1900 U.S. Census the year listed is 1870.

Those earlier ship manifests may not give you the town in Ireland, so, finding naturalization information may be the route to go.  His death certificate or maybe local New York church records would have the key for you?

Household Members: 1910 U.S. Census

Thomas J Farrell 66  - own income

Ellen A Farrell 50  

Thomas J Farrell Jr 36  - liquor dealer/saloon

James J Farrell 24  - secretary/import co.

Edward J Farrell 21  - buyer and floorwalker/dept. store

Morgan V Farrell 19  - law clerk/lawyer's office

Frank L Farrell 19  - bookkeeper/automobile co.

Helen J Farrell 16  

Elizabeth Farrell 14  

Jos F Sullivan 36  - nephew - clerk/candy factory

Answer 2

You have several useful clues here.

- You could look for the birth certificate of the "daughter born in New York 1893" at FamilySearch.com, among other places. The BC may list the town they're from. So does the death certificate.

Look for the siblings as well.

- Try the NYC Vital Records website: http://www.nyc.gov/html/records/html/vit...

- You have an address in NY - do you have a date or a range of possible dates? If so, you can look for them in a city directory, Census, and other sources. This could lead to other clues.

- You can look for their immigration records; these often recorded the town and country from which they came. Naturalization and passport application records often did as well.

Those are good ways to begin. Good luck!