Cullen/ Murphy Roots

Trying to trace my family history. Of course, they seem to have very common names and I've read there are variations of the spellings. My 3rd GG John Cullen married Anne Murphy somewhere in Ireland around the 1840's, then they migrated to Massachusetts. If anyone can help, I would greatly appreciate it. Looks like a daughter, Mary, my 2nd GG,  was born in Ireland. I believe Mary was born around 1848. She married a William Sheridan when she came to Massachusetts. They had a daughter, Annie..my great grandmother. 
There may be variations of spellings of Cullen, not sure.
Any help would be great

Hi Anna

If you hold no clues from your end as to county/parish of origin of your Cullen and Murphy ancestors your best option is to examine RootsIreland.ie database.

For example I see that this database records the marriage of a John Cullen to Anne Murphy in County Wexford in 1832 and the birth of a child John to parents John Cullen and Anne Murphy in 1835 in County Wexford.

Hi Anne, 

It's great that you're trying to find out more about your Irish roots! 

Brian has already given you some helpful tips and suggestions, and I hope it leads to more information about your Cullen and Murphy ancestors. 

Researching the Roots Ireland database is a great idea to start off with. Once you have found out more about what county or area your ancestors were from, you can reach out to the right archive. Keep in mind that before 1864, records were kept in the form of church and parish records, and all of the surviving records are in the care of county based genealogical centres. 

Keep us posted on your findings, and we're always here if you have any questions! :) 

Wishing you the best of luck on your research,

Melin