Charles and Christopher McGuirk home town and Charles' wife's maiden name ?
Charles McGuirk and family
My Great Grandfather Christopher McGuirk immigrated here in
1850 from Derry, Ireland.
We are trying to learn where his Dad, Charles, lived and what his wife’s
Maiden name was.
We show that his sister Sarah J. McGuirk was born in 1846 and arrived
here in 1854.
We have exhausted all known sources of information here to no avail.
We do know that Christopher returned to Ireland in 1889 and 1900
to address the passing of his Mom and Dad. As passports were not required
back then we are left with few options for information. We did uncover
a press article stating that Christopher returned to Ireland on
a ship of the Anchor Lines on a Saturday in Nov, 1889.
We have uncovered the following census data that seems to
show our Charles and Christopher. We are not sure how to read
the information… is Drumard a town in the county of Derry ???
Ireland census 1931.
No census information appears to be available for 1821
and 1841.
Any suggestions ?
M. McGuirt
Comments
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correction that link is for the 1831 census not 1931
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There is a town in County Londonderry (or Derry) called Dramard.
You must be careful with the 1821-1841 censuses in Ireland. Only a very small percentage (<5%) have survived. You don't know if the 95%+ that was destroyed may contain information that may contradict your conclusions.
This Christopher seems to have been married- his household contained 1 male and 1 female. So if you know that he was not married in 1831, then this cannot be him. (And that would seem likely if his sister wasn't even born until 1846)
Unfortunately, Irish genealogy is difficult because of all the records that have been destroyed, common surnames and religious persecution that made it dangerous for churches to keep records. Tracing back to 1828 (when many Catholic records begin) is as good as many people get.
Without a precise town of origin, it will be very difficult for you to trace Christopher back to Ireland.
Have you read the blog/website of Donna Moughty? https://www.irishfamilyroots.com/ She has a lot of good information about Irish-American genealogy.
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AvH,
Thank you for taking the time to reply, your insights and that link to Donna's blog.
I will study her blog's information carefully.. I wasn't aware of her blog.
Regarding the time line - I agree that the Christopher I reverenced in the census
could not be my great grand father. However, the Christopher referenced could
have been the father of my Christopher's father Charles.
As Charles' daughter Sarah J ,that I referenced, was born in 1848 would a search of
Irish baptisms in that time period be possible? My Christopher was born in 1835.
My understanding is that there are likely no baptism records for that year.
If Dramard is not their home town would the only option be to search all of
the Parishes in Derry ? A tall order to say the least.
Yes..without, as you said, a precise town of origin the tracing of Christopher back
to Ireland may not be possible. :-( Even though he made two trips back home.
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Looking at the National Library of Ireland's parish map, it seems Drumard would either be in Maghera and Killylough Catholic parish (https://registers.nli.ie/parishes/0374) whose records start in 1841, or Magherafelt (https://registers.nli.ie/parishes/0230) whose records start in 1834.
You can either browse the images manually or use the indexes at Ancestry.com or FindMyPast.
It seems the name McGuirk had a reasonable number of name bearers: https://www.johngrenham.com/findasurname.php?surname=McGuirk . There were 246 McGuirk households at the time of the Griffith's Valuation according to that link. Say there were 1000 McGuirks. Back then, the birth rate was about 4%, which means 40 McGuirk children born a year. Sarah being a common name, there was probably at least one Sarah McGuirk born each year. And that's not considering McGurk, McGurke etc. So it's not really possible to find a Sarah McGuirk born 1846 and conclude she must be your relative.
I am sorry to be the bearer of bad news, but Irish genealogy is unfortunately quite difficult.
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AvH,
Thanks for that additional information and your analysis.
Our Sarah has a middle initial J and we believe Charles' wife was named
either Minnie or Elizabeth. The variations to the name seem endless...
We have logged over 20. As you may have noticed my name is McGuirt.
We will kick a few tires and see if we get lucky.
Regarding that 1931 census link in my first post, are we reading it correctly ?
That it is the town of Dramard and shows house numbers but no street ?
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The 1831 census link for Drumard shows house numbers but no street names. I have no idea if there's a map or index somewhere showing where each house number is located.
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Many thanks for all of your input.
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