Does anyone know why people in Ireland don't want to speak of the Carew family?

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Bobbi W

Lots of american people have decendants from Ireland and like to look up their heritage.

The Irish are not like that, they dont keep records and often just dont care all about that type of thing.

If an Irish person comes up to me in America and says they have the same last name as me I really dont care at all.

Its the same over there, there is no scandal people just dont want to talk to strangers about things that they see as irrelevant to life.

froggequene

Edit: I'm going to say my last piece on this, your great-grandmother must be close to a century old - no scandal lives that long & there will be nobody left alive who would remember it.

I've done a quick squizz of the interweb - Farraghy/Farahy/Farrahy is mentioned in relation to a family of Carews who emigrated to Ontario in the early part of the nineteenth century, all of them went. An entire family emigrating, even piecemeal, is not unusual & it would explain why there was no one left.

The most important documents you would need to see, censuses from the nineteenth century are not available online, you would need to visit the National Archives or a major library in Cork to view them. The censuses from 1901 & 1911 are incomplete because they were damaged during the 1916 Rising. There is a document called Griffith's Valuation from 1847, some of which is available online and the only Carews it mentions in Cork did not live any where near your relatives.

These are are the links to Cork City Library & Cork County Library Service, they may also be able to put you in contact with the archive service:

http://www.corkcoco.ie/co/web/Cork%20County%20Council/Departments/Community%20%26%20Enterprise/Library%20%26%20Arts%20Service

http://www.corkcitylibraries.ie/

Original Answer: How far back are you looking? It could be nobody knows anything, your family could be so long gone from the community most people didn't realise they'd been there.

Immigration has left holes & question marks all over the Irish countryside, where I grew up entire families abandoned their farms & homes and immigrated in the 50s - there's nobody left who remembers who they are now.

If there are negative associations with your family & you can pinpoint a particular period, it might be worth going to one of the larger libraries, they should have regional histories and the local newspapers should be accessible on microfiche. Researching online won't do you much good, not all the records you want to access are online.

Edit: People have long memories, they won't go back to your great-great grandmother's time, if your family immigrated in your great-grandmother's time there won't be anyone left who remembers your branch of the family.

People may have gone quiet for the simple reason they knew nothing & couldn't help her.

Edit: Why are you so defensive? Nobody has said you don't have the right to trace your family tree but have you considered you're not going the right about it? Irish people are perfectly friendly, they're happy to talk to anyone, they don't like what they consider to nosy questions & we're very reluctant to answer direct questions even if the reasons behind them are perfectly innocent. You should also be aware the make up of even small villages does not remain constant, if your aunt was talking to 'blow ins' they wouldn't know anything.

I would like to point out, just because one branch of the Carew family were of 'noble rank' doesn't mean yours was, it doesn't mean anything significant was recorded about them and a large number of records with meaningful information were destroyed during the 1916 Rising - there are census records lost with invaluable information that can never be recovered.

Most Irish families with the exception of a blip between 1919 and 1923 tend to have very sedate histories with nothing of note recorded - there is a higher then average chance your family is one of them. There's also a chance that your aunt simply didn't ask the right questions or seek information in the right places. It would probably have been more helpful to find the HQ of the county or city library and speak to the reference librarian, as I've pointed out before the library would have copies of local histories that have been published, access to local newspapers on microfiche and more importantly, they would know who the local historians are & put you in contact with them. Many counties also have historical archives alongside the library or the library could put you in touch with them.

I should be doing something else

Actually I have never heard this name before in my life. According to the internet this is a Welsh/Cornish name.

There is no mystery, Cork is a big place and the people your aunt asked probably just didn't know the family. Generally people would find it a bit odd if someone just came up to them in the street and started asking questions about their ancestors.

You know the general area they are from so you would be best doing searches on websites such as the below:
http://www.irishorigins.com/
http://www.nationalarchives.ie/

Like a Fox

Never heard of them. Cork is a big county.. the people that were asked had probably never heard of them either.
Not everyone knows everyone here.

Edit: Calm down there no is saying you aren't entitled.

Megafunk

Well where are you from? As far as I know, this family have never been in the news for anything untoward, so I assume they're just a normal family? If you are only a descendant, and not a close relative in any way, then chances are, the people your relative spoke to about finding out the information, did not want to disclose it. If any of those people knew the Carew's, they were not going to give out lots of information about them to a complete strange who could have had bad intentions! Some communities can be very protective of their inhabitants you know!

ash1

could be they just didnt know...if you feel that the carew family was well-known in the region at the time, maybe speak to a historian or genealogist.

Guillaume D

you seem to feel the need to defend yourself in your answer i notice.are you saying that this carew family is famous? cuz if their not theres no point searching on the net.the name doesnt sound irish.there is an awfull lot of sites for ireland where you can get your family history.try searching for your ancesters there

Mo Fayed

The family has been cursed.

Ever since 'Mad' Carew, took the Green Eye of the Little Yellow God.

Wise_guy

Nobody would have a clue who they are, probably.
It's County Cork, not Cork County

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