Caldwells from Magilligan

[kingskerswell]

Hi,
   My understanding is that the old ruin in the grounds of St.Aidans is the church initially taken from the Catholics and used by Cof I and Presbyeterians until the Earl Bishop organised the building of the current CofI when St Aidans was given back to the Catholics and the Earl Bishop assisted in building the current St.Aidans. There are certainly Protestant graves in the burial ground, especially near the old ruin.

Regards

[E Caldwell]

Thanks everyone for the input.  I wish that I had read this when you first posted it because my father was back in Dublin at Prioni and also at a B & B in Castlerock performing more research to try to unearth further clues.  We now know that our Caldwells were in Magilligan, Tircrevan & Ballyleighery for we believe over 100 years.  The big mystery/hope is that many of them are buried in some yet unidentified graves.  They were tenants so it is possible that they did not have the money for stones but we have tied them to several large tracts of land, multiple structures and even notes of servants in the 1800s so we think it is more likely that they are buried with stones somewhere but we have not yet found them. 

I am intrigued by stmccmagilligan's referencing a hidden graveyard up a limestone road.  Can you let me know where that is so we can look into that further?  Thanks so much for all of your help. 

[stmccmagilligan]

you have the coi church and grave yard on the left of the limestone rd as you go up the hill. on the other side is a hidden very old yard. it is hard to get to as a streem and big hedge sre in the way. but if tou go to the top of the limestone road and park at the coi lane you can easilly walk over to the other side of the limestone road and go into the field. all denominations were burried there. the field belongs to the mcdivits who own the bunglow on the right. they will point help u out if you get a bit lost   

[E Caldwell]

stmcmagillgan, if that is right, then that is potentially very, very interesting.  Our family farm is literally a couple of hundred hards from the COI church and we have our family for over 100 years in that part of Magilligan.  From the parking area at the COI, where is it in relation to where Limestone Rd and Duncrun Road  meet?

[stmccmagilligan]

park at the church then go back up to the duncrun road. walk down the hill to the top of the limestone road. then keep going up the duncrun road till you find a way into the field on the right hand side. the site is in that field. there is gravestones partially covered over by earth. tircrevan road is on up the duncrun road. where was your traced caudwell house as my uncle farms on the tircrevan road and i could ask around. i farm in magilligan only a mile form the limestone road i a was told that that is where everyone was burried before the presbyterian church, presbyterians would also have gone to 1st dunboe church in articlave and ballykelly pres to worship. ill look up some marriage records i have got for thoes churches.       

[E Caldwell]

Our family farmed in Tircrevan and most recently (most of the 1800s), off Duncrun Road, near Tircrevan Road.  We have looked at Dunboe in Articlave (been there several times) and Ballykelly (also a couple of times).  No luck.  We have the mother of our Caldwell immigrant (Margaret Caldwell), listed on a tomb in St. Aidens.  No other Caldwells are there.  The brother of the immigrant Caldwell had two spinster daughters and they are buried in Magilligan Presby Church.  Their father, Alexander Caldwell, ran the farm for most of the 1800s and died in 1899 - but even his grave is missing.  At some point in the 1800s he gave or sold the farm to the Brewsters/Browsters.  So we think that all of these Caldwells - all the way through Alexander Caldwell - are buried somewhere that we are not finding them.

I think that the old graveyard you mention is probably a lot older than when we are looking (we know Caldwells were in Magiligan for most of the 1700s until much later and think that they are all related - and hope that finding the missing graveyard will help us solve some puzzles.   

[kingskerswell]

E. Caldwell,
                  I have been doing some checking on names and can find the death of your Alexander Caldwell registered in Limavady registrars office. It gives his birth date as 1818, probably based on his supposed age. However I have found a marriage of an Alexander Caldwell to JANE FLEMING in Magilligan Presbyterian Church on 10 Oct 1850 and in the 1858 Griffith valuation Alexander Caldwell is farming in the townland of Lower Ballyleighery which is slightly closer to the Church of Ireland than Tircreven.
                  I may be on to the wrong Alexander Caldwell but this was the only one(s) I could find with a Magilligan connection.

Regards

[kingskerswell]

E. Caldwell,
                 Looking through a book which gives a short history of the Presbyterian Church in Magilligan I came across a couple of names about which you may already be aware. Elizabeth Caldwell was the wife of the Rev.Thomas Greer of Dunboe and the daughter of Captain A Caldwell of Magilligan. Along with the Rev. Robert Rentoul of Ballykelly the Rev. Greer was instrumental in getting the first Presbyterian Meeting House built in Magilligan in 1803.
                 Also in 1813 Alexander Caldwell of Magilligan asked the Presbytery of The Route, in whose charge the infant church was, for supplies i.e. a permanent minister as up until then the Rev. Greer, the Rev Rentoul and the Rev Dill of Drumachose had taken it in turn to hold services in Magilligan.

Regards

[stmccmagilligan]

the graveyard is pre 1800. have you contacted david brewster he now lets out that land. he could help u as his father was a very keen historian. Maybe the caldwells were burried on there own land, in ballymulholland which is the land on the right of the presbyterian church towards the point. Graves were unearthed there in the 1950s and 60s, towards the shore. My granda told me that these where the graves of the people who farmed there.       also in 1640 there is an account of people at the point being attacked by british royalists who came over from donegal, these graves were found in the sand hills which is now mod ground.