John Irwin 1867 Ballykelly, Co Derry

[joemc]

Does anyone have any hints/ tips or clues as to how to pad out Robert and who he was. What he was doing there, and I would guess the Planters records might not be too bad. Can we locate a place for him back in Mainland Britain?

The name Irwin can be found from some of the earliest 'Planter' documents of the early 17C, one of the best early documents for finding out which areas an ancestor may have settled in are the Muster rolls, these contain the names of adult males bearing or capable of bearing arms. From the Muster Rolls of County Londonderry (1630) I can see 11 Irwin's, 4 in the City and Liberities of Coleraine,2 in the N. W. Liberties of Londonderry, 4 in the Barony of Loughinsholin, also1 in the Barony of Keenaght, any or none of these could be a potential ancestor.

This from the Ulster Ancestry website: IRWIN "Origins in Ulster : Scottish Plantaion

Irwin in Ulster is very often confused with Irvine especially in Fermanagh.

This may be due to the fact that both the Irwins and the Irvines arrived in Ulster about the same time (1630) from the same part of Dumfriesshire with both settling in Fermanagh, South Tyrone

The name can sometimes be found as Erwin but this is mainly in Antrim."

So you can see the name had quite a large spread, through various other documents, Hearth Money Rolls, Religious Census records from the 18C, etc. it may be possible to narrow down the area where your ancestors lived prior to the 19C but it would be almost impossible to trace a direct line back to the Plantation as so few documents survive, unless you happened to be related to one of the landed gentry.

Regards

Joe

[kingskerswell]

Hi,
    Have looked through several old sources. The Hearth Tax Rolls, 1663,  have no Irwins in the parish of Tamlaght Finlagan (Ballykelly). The 1740 census of Protestant Householders has a John Irwin in the parish in the townland of Calheam. However this townland is not recognised. In the 1766 Religious Census there are again no Irwins listed in Ballykelly.
     The 1796 Flax Growers Register has two, Joseph and Thomas in Ballykelly but townland is not listed in this register.

Regards

[aghadowey]

There's a Caulhame townland but it's in Desertoghill Parish near Garvagh. Caulhame/Calhame is also a part of Aghadowey townland but again it's not close to Ballykelly.

[shanreagh]

There are some Irwins (Benjamin Irwin) at Shanreagh parish of Tamlaght Finlagan, in Griffith's Valuation.

Shanreagh is just down the road from Ballykelly. There is a back road that joins Ballykelly  with the road that the Shanreagh area is near.
On the Limavady map of 1904 there are several Irwin's mentioned.
Henry Irwin a woollen draper Main street
Miss Irwin, miller at Drummond (again near Ballykelly)
The Misses Irwin Drumrane cottage and Joseph Irwin miller of Roe Mill and Glen Mill.
 
from Shanreagh

[McKeown]

Thanks to all who have replied.

This has made interesting reading for myself. I thought that the Planters would have been better recorded, but it seems not.

It must only happen like this in "Who do you think you are?"..

ha ha

Thanks again.

MM.

[McKeown]

Heading over this summer to Donegal, so a wee stop off in Ballykelly might be in order.

Thanks for the info folks.

MM.

[Julie in Ohio]

Over the past few days I discovered a John Irwin B 31/10/1867 to Robert Irwin & Catherine McKane in Ballykelly County Derry. John is My Grandmothers Grandfather.
Can anyone help me pad this out?
I had a look at Ballykelly online and it was a "Plantation Village" built in the 1830's. I would not think

I have been reading PRONI wills of Olivers who died in the Londonderry Registration District, looking for connections to Irwin / Irvine. There are four male Olivers who died in the 1870s who seem to be interrelated with Irwins, and one mentions relatives named Kane: Look at James Irwin d. 1878.

I have just established an autosomal DNA connection between my Irwin / Irvine family and descendants of Olivers of Lislane, which is what caused me to go back and read those wills. I suspect these families intermarried over the generations, as they are quite tricky to sort out. The Irwins in particular seemed to be more mobile, perhaps because of some were millers.

I could not look at birth records today on Family Search for some reason, so do not know whether you have a civil or church record, or both, for Ballykelly. Some of my family attended the Presbyterian church at Ballykelly but lived in other areas.

[McKeown]

Joe, thank you. Yes, this does look like my family. Sorry for the late reply. Been busy elsewhere.

I think I see this couple still living in the Ballykelly area in the 1901 Census

http://www.census.nationalarchives.ie/pages/1901/Londonderry/Faughanvale/Tullymain/1522512/

[McKeown]

Hi Julie,
I will try to get back into this in the next few weeks. Thanks for the reply.

Over the past few days I discovered a John Irwin B 31/10/1867 to Robert Irwin & Catherine McKane in Ballykelly County Derry. John is My Grandmothers Grandfather.
Can anyone help me pad this out?
I had a look at Ballykelly online and it was a "Plantation Village" built in the 1830's. I would not think

I have been reading PRONI wills of Olivers who died in the Londonderry Registration District, looking for connections to Irwin / Irvine. There are four male Olivers who died in the 1870s who seem to be interrelated with Irwins, and one mentions relatives named Kane: Look at James Irwin d. 1878.

I have just established an autosomal DNA connection between my Irwin / Irvine family and descendants of Olivers of Lislane, which is what caused me to go back and read those wills. I suspect these families intermarried over the generations, as they are quite tricky to sort out. The Irwins in particular seemed to be more mobile, perhaps because of some were millers.

I could not look at birth records today on Family Search for some reason, so do not know whether you have a civil or church record, or both, for Ballykelly. Some of my family attended the Presbyterian church at Ballykelly but lived in other areas.