Irish Genealogy Help Please

[violet]

Hi

I have been looking for my relatives for some time and keep hitting the "brickwall".So I am seeking a help.     

 I have a Joseph McClay living in Trumman Easton the 1858 GV.  I know he is mine and can trace the family forward from that date.  I have obtained paper records to support my findings.   I cannot find a birth cert for Robert, Josephs son, born c1844.   This date is worked out from Roberts death cert in 1881. 

My other family are Harrons of Ballynakillew Co. Donegal.  Checking the GV for Ballynakillew there seems a lack of them on the GV in Ballynakillew but a flurry of then in Shannagh/Lisnapaste.  I understand that all three townlands are close to each other

The two families are joined by marriage in my tree.

QUESTION:

The McClays live in the townland of Trumman East, Co. Donegal.   Would you consider that all the McClays in that townland are related to each other. 

Should I be trying to find the fathers of the other McClays living inTrumman/Trumman East.

The Harrons appear to live in Shannaghnot Ballynakillew even my own GGrandmotheer claims she came from Ballynakillew but when her husband (Robert McClay) died in 1881 her father (Robert Harron) registered the death.  He gives his address as Shannagh.   Should I try and find fathers of the other Harrons living in Shannagh.  Would they all be related?

OR is that just wishful thinking.

I see lots of Harrons from Ballynakillew in other Trees am I missing a site or where am I going wrong. 

My families seem to disappear due to having "girls" no boys to carry on the name.   

Any suggestions and help would be much appreciated.

Many Thanks
Pat

[taramcdsmall]

Hi Pat,

my only suggestion to you is re the Griffiths Valuation.

Please bear in mind that the Griffiths is a list of the people that were responsible for paying the rents on certain plots of land. That doesn't mean that the person actually lived on that piece of land but may just have farmed it.

For example you may see 3 Thomas Harron's in close proximity in your search area in Donegal and at first glance you may think there were 3 (and yes this may be the case) BUT there may have been just one Thomas who was leasing 3 different plots of land.

Also, never trust 100% what is written on certs. When you are going back that far and dealing with a lot of illiteracy, it can sometimes be 'pot luck' as to what was filled in. People sometimes guessed the age of the person that they were registering a death for. They could also make the mistake of giving their own address as opposed to the person's address.

Maybe, if you retrace your steps with just one branch of your family (it can be all to easy to do too many branches at one time and get confused).

Maybe if you restart with your grandmother who states that she was from Ballynakillew. If you wish to post what details you have for her and then we can help you work backwards.

Hope this is of some use !

Tara

[aghadowey]

Tara is absolutely correct- there's no way to tell from Griffith's Valuation is you are looking at separate indiduals or one person or indeed what teh relationship might be between people with the same surname in the same area.

The townland my great-grandmother came from had 17 families with the same surname at one point. Years ago a relative in N.Z. got a family tree from PRONI for one of them and sent it to me asking where does our branch fit as they weren't on the tree. Seventeen families and 16 of them probably all related to us but too far back to trace in existing records. Remaining family (that of the tree) came from another parish and is well-documented!

[violet]

Thank yo for coming back to me.

My g grandmother Fanny Harron from Ballynakillew marries Robert McClay from Trumman East in March 1876.   Robert dies October 1881 and Fanny remarries in 1883.

On Fanny's marriage cert to Robert she claims to come from Ballynakillew and her father is Robert Harron.  No age given but working from her death cert its c1853.  No birth cert can be found.

When Robert dies 3 October 1881 on the death cert the person reporting the death is Robert Harron from Shannagh.  This could of course be her father or her brother.  Fanny had just given birth to her son Joseph 1 October 1881 he dies in 1882.  Fanny is living in Trumman East on what had been Roberts fathers farm.  This farm is still in the family.

Any help would be appreciated

Pat

[taramcdsmall]

There's a Robert Harron on this marrying in 1846 !

http://www.tomstrong.org/gen/ie_m.html

Tara

[Elwyn Soutter]

Hi

I have been looking for my relatives for some time and keep hitting the "brickwall".So I am seeking a help.     

   I cannot find a birth cert for Robert, Josephs son, born c1844.   This date is worked out from Roberts death cert in 1881. 

Birth registration only started in Ireland in 1864 so you won’t get a birth cert for Robert in 1844. The best you might get is his baptism. You don’t say what denomination the families were but I see from the 1901 census that there were some McClays in Trumman East who were Methodists and Harrons who were Church of Ireland. PRONI in Belfast have copies of both the COI and Methodist records from the parish of Drumhome, so you could check those both to find Robert’s birth and to build up a picture of which families were in the area at the time.

[violet]

Hi

I understood both families to be C of I.  Roberts father Joseph married Elizabeth Harron of Carrig in 1845 according to the Drumhome Church records.  There is no record of a baptism for Robert but could be c1844 according to death cert.

There are five Mcclays living in Trumman East but can't get a handle on my Robert.

Cannot find a birth cert for Fanny closes I can get is an Isabella born 1859 to a Robert Harron and a Ann Watson  Fanny called her eldest daughter Isabella Ann. and her second Mary Ann.

Any help or suggestion much appreciated