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Stirlingshire / Re: Parkburn House Kilsyth
« on: Monday 09 June 25 18:45 BST (UK) »
Riddell Graham: Coming a little late to the party, on the heels of my relative Pam Chetland. I am the great grand-daughter of Eliza Ann Taggart who lived 10 miles from my Northern Ireland home in her youth. She had brothers George James and John, sisters Kate (Pam's ancestor), Sarah Jane, who went to Canada, and Mary, who stayed at home until her parents and maternal aunt all passed away, and married a Mr Millar and went to Scotland, taking her two daughters who would have been teenagers, plus a nephew that she had raised with them, and afterwards having her third daughter. My great grandmother was the only girl to marry locally - to the grandson of the neighbour at the tiny family farm which was at a location called Glengad, in the district of Vow, on a scenic portion of the River Bann. If you follow a NI map it flows through Lough Neagh, our extremely large lake, into the sea between the small towns of Portstewart and Castlerock. Glegad is about two thirds of the way along the river flowing north on the east bank. One known Taggart relative remains just off what was the Taggart farm, in a bungalow on a small development. George was also given the prefix of Mc, and McEn from time to time. He married May Wallace and I suspect this could have been a mixed religion marriage as Wallace is largely a Presbyterian name, and she took on George's Roman Catholic faith, as her sister Matilda may have done per census 1901. There was a lack of registration of births and baptisms, so we can but guess at the date of the births of all but Sarah Jane who is on Rasharkin Parish Catholic registers. About six years after Sarah Jane was born a new Roman Catholic Church opened at the nearer location of The Plains and I suspect the younger children were baptised there, but without a register having been set up. All the girls became Presbyterian on marriage apparently and James George married a Protestant neighbour, but she converted to RC. I am in touch with several relatives, and had the pleasure of spending time with Sarah Jane's great grand-daughter on a recent visit here, and a knowledgeable local farmer showed us the very spot where our family had lived. Hope this is of interest!