Finding My Irish Ancestors
- This discussion was moved to the discussion page. Please refer to @Kurt Cowling when answering his question and not me. Thank you/
- Kurt Cowling ✭
- February 7 147.219.222.243
- I also received a nice welcome message. My name is Kurt Cowling. I have been doing genealogy research since the early 1990s. I've had success and learned a lot doing English, Scottish, Norwegian, German and Luxembourgish research, but have had very little luck in my Irish searching. In fact, In all that time I have only personally found one Irish record for any of my ancestors!
- Here's a rundown of my various Irish ancestors:
- John McCool and Jane Gilmore, m. 21 May 1846, 2nd Presbyterian, Kilrea, Derry, Ireland (my only actual Irish record). His second marriage (first wife/marriage unknown but probably before 1837) and her first. He had two sons from his first marriage. They came to Massachusetts around 1847-50. I'm mostly interested in the McCool line as some Irish researchers have posted info about the Gilmore line in Boveedy, Tamlaght O'Crilly, Derry. John McCool's parents were William and Margaret McCool. William and Margaret's children were: John (my direct) b. about 1807-14, Isabella b. about 1810, Martha b. about 1813, William b. about Nov 1815, Thomas b. about 1818 and Margaret b. about 1823. I would like to determine where this family lived and hopefully find baptism records for the children.
- Margaret Gibson, 1 Apr 1828, Londonderry, Ireland. Her parents were William and Christina Gibson. Not sure how reliable the birth date might be. Her first husband (not my direct) was John Armstrong of Londonderry. He was supposedly a British soldier who died in India or the East Indies. Margaret was pregnant and came to America, giving birth in NY. She later married my direct ancestor, John Westley Lord (or Lloyd) in Wisconsin. William and Christina's children were: Margaret (my direct) b. 1 Apr 1828, Joseph b. about 1831-32, Rebecca b. unknown, William Allen, Jr. b, 15 May 1838. All born in Ireland.
- William Lord (or Lloyd) and Mary Jones. m. about 1822-23 probably in Ireland. He was supposedly a British soldier serving in Ireland. This couple immigrated to NYC on 11 July 1823 on the ship "Francis and Henrietta". Their first son, John Westley Lord/Lloyd (noted in #2 above), was born in NYC in 1824.
- Margaret Rice b. 26 May 1833 or 1835. Her biography gives a birth place of Lord, Kilarney, Ireland, but no such place exists. I believe "Lord" was a mishearing of Louth, If this is true, then Kilarney might be Kilcurly/Kilkerley in the vicinity of Dundalk. Her parents were James Rice and Margaret Mary Marmoin. James and Margaret's children were: Margaret (my direct) b. 26 May 1833/1835. John W. b. about 1838, Mary Ann b. about 1840, Cecilia b. about 1842, James b. about 1845, Katie b. about 1853 (Wisconsin), and Thomas b. about 1855 (Wisconsin).
- Thanks for welcoming me into the group!
- --Kurt Cowling
- Hayter David mod
- February 8 edited February 8 IPv6
- @Kurt Cowling Welcome to the group. Here's a few ideas to help with the Kilrea search. Go to the PRONI website & download the Guide to Church records. Its free and it will tell you what church records are available & where they are.
Second Kilrea Presbyterian Church Gravestones Transcribed | One Irish Rover - Northern Ireland, bringing history to life
- https://www.oneirishrover.com/second-kilrea/#:~:text=James%20McCammon%2C%20the%20first%20preacher,on%20the%2018th%20June%201833.&text=The%20church%2C%20in%20New%20Row,the%20following%20year%2C%20in%201839.
- Second Kilrea Presbyterian Church, located on New Row in the village, was built in 1838. Here is a short history, along with it's gravestones transcribed.
- There might be something here although no McCool family that I saw with a brief look.
- Search the Griffiths valuation. Its a record of all properties and the amount of tax levied against them. It shows who was the head of each home (no others like children sadly). Search County Londonderry for McCool family & see what you find. Again there could be something worth looking at more closely - that's assuming you haven't already used these resources.
Griffith's Valuation
- https://www.askaboutireland.ie/griffith-valuation/#
- A word of caution on Griffiths - it is a bit of an art form to use. But it can be well worth the search. Heres a link to using it- there are a few presentations on youtube.
- Finally on the Kilrea side of things. If you have never been but get to Kilrea there's a great ice cream shop in the Diamond- Mullins ice cream. A stop here will add to your trip immensely. https://www.facebook.com/mullinsicecreamshop/
- I'll have a look at the rest of your query later
- Have a good day
- David
- Hayter David mod
- February 8 IPv6
- Options
- @Kurt Cowling Re my previous post - there's a few vagaries in the post but it seems FamilySearch is being ........temperamental and wont allow me to edit to add/change.
- David
- Shannon Potter Wilcox mod
- February 8 50.37.223.63
- @Kurt Cowling We are so happy that you are a part of our community and hope that you will hop on and ask questions and answer some too. David Hayter has given you some good places to search and perhaps you will turn up more than just one record this time. 😊
- Again, Welcome!
- Shannon
- Kurt Cowling ✭
- February 9 147.219.222.243
- Thanks for all the info and encouragement! I have checked out many Irish resources but have just never managed to find much that was solid. I will keep looking and ask for help when I need it. I have managed to contribute with my first post to the group regarding this site:
Irish Ancestors
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There are some church records from the Kilrea Presbyterian (2nd Succession) on RootsIreland: https://www.rootsireland.ie/derry-genealogy/londonderry-presbyterian-church-registers/
I note the civil copy of the 1846 marriage between John McCool and Jane Gilmore says they were married by License. There may be additional paperwork as a result of this. If it survives it will be at PRONI or a church archive.
More generally, for the time periods you are interested in you are mostly reliant on church records. RootsIreland is a good site for non-Catholic records. Be aware that many church records have not survived, are offline or in local ownership, or were simply never kept. Civil registration of births, deaths and Catholic marriages began in 1864, and in 1845 for non-Catholic marriages.
The Registry of Deeds is sometimes useful if your ancestors were wealthy or were involved in transactions involving land: https://irishdeedsindex.net/ This site has transcribed/indexed perhaps 5% of the Deeds, but there are alphabetical indexes that can be browsed manually.
The British Newspaper Archive has a number of Irish newspapers.
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I had a brief look at deaths on Irish genealogy. You'll need to look at the Ballymoney registrations for McCool. There's a fairly substantial amount and each entry is worth looking at to "build" your picture of the McCool families of kilrea etc.
Ballymoney registration area although east of the natural dividing line of the river bann (look on Google maps and it'll become obvious) included for a time kilrea which is west of this dividing line. Each death should have a townland or street number /name attached which will be a great help in deciding who belonged to who.
Use one of the online townland finding sites and you should be able to build a good picture of the extended McCool family from 1800 onwards (ie death in 1880 of a person who was aged 80 gives you the approx birth date of 1800). And don't forget the griffiths valuation to see who was on that and where they fit in..
Keep searching
David
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