Help with a place in Ireland
I had listed my 3rd great grandparents from County Donegal but in the 1871 Census in Scotland it says "Donegal Rae." Should I put Donegal Rae Ireland? FamilySearch doesn't recognize that. What does the "Rae" mean? Is it part of Donegal?
Thank you for your help.
Lisa Shaw Leavitt
Answers
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Are you certain that that's what the Scottish census says?
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Fairly certain. I'm attaching the image. My ancestor is William McCall and his wife is Catherine.
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Two other placenames seem to be towns within a county:
"Falkirk is a town in the Central Lowlands of Scotland, historically within the county of Stirlingshire. "
"Kirkintilloch is a town and former barony burgh in East Dunbartonshire, Scotland."
Btw, I read it as "Rai" rather than "Rae" for whatever that is worth.
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The placenames are listed in order from larger to smaller. The County is Donegal - there is no "Rae" or "Rai" ending on the name of the county. It's a place within the county, and you'll need to work out what it may have been, phonetically.
The census taker was likely Scottish and your ancestor had an Irish accent. They truly were not speaking the same language.
There are several townlands (the smallest land designation in Ireland) with the name "Ray." John Grenham's website is an excellent place to learn more about places and names in Ireland: https://www.johngrenham.com/places/simple_results.php?place=RA%3F&county=Donegal&submit=Submit
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Thank you all!
Lisa
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