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« on: Wednesday 20 November 13 23:13 GMT (UK) »
Hi Peter,
> The other family changed their name from McJunkin to Jenkins - known as Jenkins-Joneses.
My granny's name was Jenkins - but her father's name was McJenkins. I've no idea why they changed the surname. However, my mother says that occasionally some neighbours would refer to the Jenkins family as Jones - she doesn't know why.
Here's what's in the Inver Church Baptismal records - it shows that my great grandparents moved from Ballybrollagan to Drumatumpher between 1899 and 1900:
Baptisms 1881-1899 - "McJenkins William James and Martha of Ballybrollagan
Thomas 94, Maggie 95, Elizabeth 97, Catherine 98, Mary 99"
Baptisms 1900 -2006 - "McJenkins William James and Martha of Drumatumpher
Martha (my granny Jenkins), William James, Margaret, John Robert, Joseph, William James, Matthew"
So that's 12 kids (and they're not even Catholic...). I believe that half of them went to the USA - I'm in touch with my Jenkins/McJenkins relatives (e.g, cousin Dot lives in Rhode Island - I've stayed with them there). I remember one of my relatives saying that one of my granny's USA sisters would never talk about Ireland as she was so upset at having to leave.
The marriage records show granny now as "Martha Jenkins" marrying my grandad David Kirk in 1924 (my mother was then born in 1926).
My mother's Uncle Joe and Uncle Matt lived in the Drumatumpher house - then Uncle Matt married Auntie Anne and moved to Belfast. We used to visit Uncle Joe when I was a kid in the 1960's. I've a B&W photo of Uncle Joe standing outside it.
Also, in the Baptisms 1881-1899 are:
"McJenkin Edward and Ellen Jane of Drumacullen
Robert 81, Thomas 82, Eliza 97, William Edward 86, Matthew 88"
They don't appear in the Baptisms 1900 -2006 so maybe they had no more kids or moved away.
I've always imagined that the McJenkins, McJenkin, McJunkin and McJinkin families are all probably from the same original family line.
> and still own their property, but use it as a holiday home, but live near Belfast.
That's right. My mother's Auntie Anne owns it now and cousin Helen goes up and down from Belfast to maintain it. My Uncle Wesley built a caravan site and toilet block for his caravan on the other side of the road many years ago (the caravan eventually disintegrated and got taken away).
Helen hid the key there a couple of years ago and I camped on the site - if you send me your email I can send photos of the house, etc., when I was there. My email is mkirksmith@gmail,com (btw, my granny married David Kirk - another Inver family - my father joined his name (Smith) and my mother's (Kirk) when they married).
> We think they changed the name about the time of the Ulster Covenant - you can see some of the records at PRONI if you haven't already.
That's interesting. My mother doesn't know about this. My mother is just off the phone to my Auntie Evelyn and she has just told my mother that there was another family called McJunkin near the Cassidy's house (my mother didn't know this) - this house was further along the main road to Killybegs past the Eany river bridge and then up a small road to the right. She says my granny used to take her children to visit the Cassidy family regularly.
> There were also McJunkin near Stewartstown in County Antrim. They all came from Scotland, possibly several locations.
OK. There's no McJunkins, etc., left here now, but there's a lot in the USA - I seem to remember finding a McJunkin cemetary in the Southern States and one of them being some sort of military type.
> There is a claim on several online sites that one of the sons from Stewartstown moved to Inver Donegal around (1830's from memory) haven't seen where the record came from.
Interesting. I don't know much about my granny's McJenkin side of the family - I mostly have info on the my grandad's Kirk side - and that's because various USA Kirks have dug out the family tree. You'll have seen the Kirks and McJunkins/McJenkens/McJinkins gravestones at the Old Inver Graveyard on the web.
> But if correct it links the Donegal and Antrim families, which then effectively links to the US (and probably Canadian emigrants) - and to my family who went from Drumadart via Mauritius off Africa to Australia (with a short time in New Zealand).
OK. I see that Drumadart is a townland near Dunkineely. It looks like your family might be the McJunkins that my Auntie Evelyn mentioned to my mother a few minutes ago on the phone. Then we have "McJenkin Edward and Ellen Jane of Drumacullen" - but I've no idea where Drumacullen is.
BTW, I live in Belfast, though I'm at my mother's in Saintfield, Co.Down, at the moment as she's recuperating from a hip replacement operation a few weeks ago.
> have a photo of one of the homes in Inver- memory can't recall which townland that is - I can dig it up from my files though.
Thanks - please send and I'll send you mine when I get your email address.
> There seems to be other Jenkins who weren't originally McJunkin and there are still families named Junkin (s) in Ireland - but no McJunkin (s).
OK. You probably know that Jenkins is Welsh name. That always puzzled me until I saw that granny's name was originally McJunkins from the Baptismal records.
Regards,
Michael
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