RootsChat.Com
Ireland (Historical Counties) => Ireland => Derry (Londonderry) => Topic started by: owenc on Monday 27 September 10 16:12 BST (UK)
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Hi i'm trying to do my mothers family tree now.
I want to find the birth of patrick mcwilliams the father of james mcwilliams my g,g,g grandfather born in 1st july 1878 in owenreagh county londonderry where ever that is lol.
Please tell me if any of this information is wrong and ask for any more information if you need any as i really want to get this familytree further back and i'm trying to get back to the 1700s to see if anything interesting happened..
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Hi,
Owenreagh is in the Parish of Ballynascreen where Patrick married Bridget McVey/Veigh in Castledawson R.C. Church in 1873. Patrick was born about 1856, before civil registration so I would look at the records for that church.
Regards
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Hi,
Owenreagh is in the Parish of Ballynascreen where Patrick married Bridget McVey/Veigh in Castledawson R.C. Church in 1873. Patrick was born about 1856, before civil registration so I would look at the records for that church.
Regards
OK do you have any idea of his parents. Do you know anything about the history of mcwilliams in that area, my mum works in a job where she has to go around all businesses in county antrim and eastern county londonderry and she was down there and some boy said that name was common down there. We don't know much about the family as my mum dosn't know her cousins or anything and other relatives as she lives here and we don't know my much about that area either i don't even know where it is lol. Should i expect converstions aswel , is catledawson a protestant/plantation area, as the name is supposed to be plantation but they are catholic.
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Sorry, I have no further information on the family. I would suggest that you try Griffiths for the townland of Owenreagh.
Regards
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Sorry, I have no further information on the family. I would suggest that you try Griffiths for the townland of Owenreagh.
Regards
Ok i have no experience of catholic research as most of my ancestors are presbyterian, so what would i do next as normally i could get much further than this? When should i expect converstions, as that name is plantation?
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EDIT: nvm! i got it.
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I assume that you have found Felix. Felix McWilliams married Susan Hagan in Draperstown R. C. Church on 6 Jan 1857. As you found he farmed 13 Acres in Owenreagh. However when I do a Parent Search on the IGI a couple with these names are having children in Scotland.
Regards
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I assume that you have found Felix. Felix McWilliams married Susan Hagan in Draperstown R. C. Church on 6 Jan 1857. As you found he farmed 13 Acres in Owenreagh. However when I do a Parent Search on the IGI a couple with these names are having children in Scotland.
Regards
How is felix is that his father? I'm going to look out for him now.
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Unfortunately I have no idea but he is the only McWilliams in Owenreagh in Griffiths ( a non-sectarian reference document for the whole of Ireland between about 1848 and 1864). However note my comments about children in Scotland.
Regards
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Unfortunately I have no idea but he is the only McWilliams in Owenreagh in Griffiths ( a non-sectarian reference document for the whole of Ireland between about 1848 and 1864). However note my comments about children in Scotland.
Regards
Ok maybe he is the brother of his father or something.. hmm Is there anyway of getting back further online?
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I suggested earlier that you look at the records of Castledawson R. C. Church. This is a source document and there is a good chance that Coleraine Library has them on microfilm.
Regards
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I suggested earlier that you look at the records of Castledawson R. C. Church. This is a source document and there is a good chance that Coleraine Library has them on microfilm.
Regards
Right ok i'll have to try that, How do i work out a conversion if i find one again i forget and how long do these records go back if its 1840 or something its not worth while
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Being in Coleraine and having made extensive use of the library you are more au fait with Coleraine records than I am.
Regards
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McWilliams is a common surname in south Derry and predates the Plantation in Loughinsholin/Glenconkeyne. Y DNA is descended from Kenel Ferry
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McWilliams is a common surname in south Derry and predates the Plantation in Loughinsholin/Glenconkeyne. Y DNA is descended from Kenel Ferry
Hi John,
I did some investigating of my own on the McWilliams surname in this county and came to a similar conclusion (based on Y-DNA studies being R1b-M222 and clustering of the surname - as plantation surnames are usually scattered geographically).
Could you clarify where Kenel Ferry is? Would also be interested to know if you have a theory of the origin of the surname itself, what would the original name have been and why did they adopt this name?
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Not a planter name. Local to the Ballinascreen region and pre-plantation
Kenel Farry is Cenel Fearadhaigh. McCawell/Campbell
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I would imagine the origin is from someone named William who split off from the McCathmhaoil or a branch thereof. Who knows when they came to the area from Clogher. Some have speculated it was around the time the church was headquartered in Maghers in the 1200s but that is a guess.