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Probate of the Will of the late Elizabeth Rankin, Maloon, Co. Tyrone, Widow, who died 22 May 1920, granted at Armagh, 27 November 1920 to George Faulkner and John Faulkner, Merchants. Effects: £279.

https://www.irishgenealogy.ie/files/civil/deaths_returns/deaths_1920/05113/4405992.pdf

https://www.census.nationalarchives.ie/pages/1911/Tyrone/Cookstown_Rural/Maloon/858032/

Thanks for this infomation and how did you find it as trying to find more about their parents too

I searched on the irishgenealogy site. It contains non RC marriages from 1st April 1845 onwards and RC from 1st Jan 1864 onwards. I searched a year or two either side to be on the safe side.

I looked up Griffiths Valuation for Drumgiven (1863). There are no Gibsons listed in the townland then, so suspect the family had died out or moved away by that year

A John Gibson of Drumgiven appears to have died c 1857. There is mention of his will:

https://freepages.rootsweb.com/~rosdavies/genealogy/SURNAMES/G/GibsonAJ.htm

There are several Ferguson properties in Ballymacarn North in Griffiths but I do not see a Samuel. He was a labourer rather than a farmer so might easily have moved away from the area.

The relationship between the UK and Ireland has always been complex and I think it’s simplistic to assume that just because someone supported an Independent Ireland they were therefore necessarily totally anti-British. Why move to England for work if you felt so strongly about it? If your ancestor joined up as an Officer he must have been pretty well motivated towards the UK. He wouldn’t have done that otherwise.

But a good example of the complex relationship between the two countries comes from the 2013 amnesty for Irish Army deserters. In 1939, when Ireland had only been an independent country for 17 years and had a small army, WW2 started. Ireland remained neutral and so their army had no involvement. About one third of that Irish army deserted and joined the British armed forces, to fight against the Germans. So, although they had been fighting for an independent Ireland for hundreds of years, these men were still willing to fight for Britain against the Germans. That’s how they felt.

On their return to Ireland from war in 1945 they were treated as deserters (which they were) and denied Irish pensions and jobs. Many had a difficult time, even though they had shown great bravery. It was 2013 before the Irish Government had a re-think and gave the dwindling numbers of survivors an amnesty and a military pension.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-22425684

To this day some Irish citizens join the British army (as opposed to the Irish Defence Forces). Two I saw interviewed a year or two back said they did so “to get a bit of action” because the Irish Defence Forces normally only ever do peace keeping work.

If you can find the 2 households in the 1911 census you should get fathers occupations from that, but I cannot immediately locate either.

The 1871 Selkirk marriage certificate says Phelin was a labourer. In general, the folk listed in the tithes were farmers. The tithes were in effect a tax based on the amount of land you held, excluding anything less than about an acre. So labourers generally weren’t listed in the tithes.  I wouldn’t rush to assume the Phelin in those records must be your family. It probably isn’t.

Griffiths did list many labourers, as well as farmers and so can be more helpful. Farmers will have a bit of land (measured in acres, roods & perches), labourers generally just a house and a few perches, if that.