Hi Ed ,,
Its ages since we were last in touch ' iv'e just read this message on your boards and once again i'm intrigued .. After reading various bits and coming to the end of the posting it hit me ,,,, You mentioned that in 1850 in all of Ireland there were only three families with the name of Malarkey and they were from Derry area ...
This is where i come in ,, iv'e found from the census 1911 that my dad's gran Agnes Dunn came from Derry and she married Luke Malarkey ' my grt grandad .. They married in Greenock Rewfewshire Scotland 1864 -- The Northern part of Ireland being where Derry is located was very accessible for migration to Scotland which is where my dad's family landed ' some of them ' ive a feeling not all went to Scotland ..
This brings me to your Malarkey's ' if yours were from Derry and mine were from Derry they were probibly related ie either siblings or cousins etc ..
Once again i' will refresh your memory Luke Malarkey's parents were a Daniel and Bridget Malarkey and they were in attendance at son Luke's wedding Greenock 1864.. After that they seem to dissapear from sight and existance as i cannot trace hide nor hair of them - not even in the Scottish records ..
Now i'm wondering if somewhere we share Malarkey's due to gran coming from Derry and i would think Luke and dad Daniel came from Derry also .. What do you think ? any suggestions ,,,i'm still dragging around in circles trying very hard to find a simple clue to my dad's Malarkey's .
Regards .
Joyce

Ps My dad was a John Malarkey .