I am trying to find records of my grandfather, Edward Valentine O'Farrell (sometimes Farrell), my grandmother Clara Bearman O'Farrell, and my father Robert Maurice O'Farrell. My grandfather was probably born in the 1880s, my grandmother (from Wales) was born in 1894, and my father on February 3, 1915. There is some connection to a House with a river behind it called Liffeyvale. I think it is the birthplace of my grandfather, but may be the birthplace of my father.
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My last name is Farrell, and I've always been told it used to be O'Farrell until my ancestors came to the United States from Ireland then they dropped the O. My great great grandfather's name was Charles Valentine Farrell and I cannot find either one of his parents' names. He was born and lived in Alabama his whole life. Perhaps Edward Valentine was his father being that Valentine is not a very common name. Do you know if he had a son named Charles?
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I agree that Valentine is an uncommon name. However, I doubt that in this case there is a family connection. My grandfather Edward Valentine Farrell went to live in London after WW1, and died there in 1936. His estranged wife, my grandmother Clara, immigrated to the USA in 1919 and supposedly changed the family name from Farrell to O'Farrell, the opposite of what most folks were doing. I have learned that she did this to "appear more Irish," and also been told that she wanted to "avoid an unwanted suitor."
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Well shoot! I was hoping there would be a connection! But thanks for your reply!
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Hi Michael, just saw your post and chuckled over your grandmother doing the same thing mine did, changed the Farell to O'Farrell once over here. I don't know why mine did it tho. I also wanted to mention, I have a Maurice in my line. Don't think we are related, wondered if Maurice was a common Irish name? Sheila
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Sheila, Thanks for your note. My sister and I started looking into our mysterious Irish ancestry back in 2006, and ran into all kinds of problems because we had the name wrong...O'Farrell instead of Farrell. When we discovered the correct name we were intrigued about how the "O'" got added. I got the reason from an old friend of my grandmother's (he was 90 years old.) So far, everything he has told us has been correct. I am not sure about Maurice being a popular name....I know in my father's case it was pronounced in the French way. Do you have an connection to a Dublin family named "Eager?" Mike O'Farrell msofarrell06@hotmail.com
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we have a Valentine O'Farrell in Australian family tree which matches this timeframe. Search the Burness & Kemp, O'Farrell tree on ancestory
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Thank you so much for your message. We have petty much nailed him down since 2006 when we began this quest. Based on what we know now, he would not be related to the Australian O'Farrells, at least in the time frame that I am searching. We found out that the family name was Farrell, not O'Farrell, and that the O' was added in 1919 by my grandmother on a whim, to avoid an unwanted suitor.
Mike O'Farrell
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Hi Mike, I saw your messages from 2009 and I do think we may have a connection. I have recently started looking into my Irish roots - My great grandmother is Lillian Elizabeth Eager, daughter of John Eager. She had 2 brothers...Robert/Robin and not sure of the other one. She came to the U.S. in 1919 and is a relative of Clara O'Farrell..not sure of her connection yet but my mother said that she was known as Aunt Clara. I can be reached through ancestry or my email at westcott.susan@gmail.com I do have my great grandmother's photo albumn which is full of photos taken in Ireland. I do have a nice photo of her father John Eager.
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Susan, My name is Mike O'Farrell and I share this site with June Pina. I got your post from August of 2013 and responded to your at the email address you listed. We definitely have a connection. Your great grandmother was the sister of my great uncle-by-marriage. Clara is my grandmother. Check out my emails at your westcott.susan@gmail.com address and get back to me.
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