Seeking a birth record for Michael McChrystal (b. c.1857)

[M_ONeill]

Hey all, I'm wondering if anyone can help me track down a birth record for my 2x great grandfather Michael McChrystal.

The earliest record I have of him is in the 1871 England census (born c.1857) return for Heath Charnock, Lancashire, where he's listed as living with his parents, Michael (b. c.1820) and Susan McChrystal (b. c.1826), as well as his brothers Arthur (b. c.1859) and John (b. c.1861).

The whole family is listed as being born in Ireland, and they seem to return there sometime prior to 1885 when Arthur marries an Ellen Henry in Keenaght, Desertmartin, they later return to England, living in various places but eventually settling in Wigan. Michael the Younger marries for the first time with an Ellen Carmichael in 1896 in Lavey, also Desertmartin, and marries again in 1905 to an Isabella Walls. John may marry a Jane Boyle in Belfast in 1899 and also return to England, but I'm not 100% sure on that one.

Following Arthur's family through the census gets me to the 1911 census, where he is listed as having been born in Lisbellaw, Fermanagh. I've done a search of the Irish Catholic Registers and the only two children of a Michael and Susan McChrystal (I think the surname is Owens) I can find is a Cath McChrystal in 1854 and an unknown McChrystal (1853 first name lost to damage), both in Tempo Fermanagh. I can't find a marriage for Michael and Susan, nor any other children.

At the moment it seems to be a brick wall, does anyone have any ideas?

[hallmark]

https://www.rootschat.com/forum/index.php?topic=816316.msg6778222#msg6778222

[BallyaltikilliganG]

you need to search for bmds on https://www.irishgenealogy.ie/en/ bothe church and state

I started with 1823-1837 Tithes Applotment Books based upon the index work of the Irish Genealogy Hub’ see http://www.irishgenealogyhub.com/derry/tithe-applotments/desertmartin-parish.php   The relevant original books are in the Public Record Office of Northern Ireland (PRONI) Belfast
re arranging by townland my guess is Anagh is for later spelling Annagh
McCristal, Arthur   Townland: Anagh Year: 1827
McCristal, Michl.   Townland: Anagh Year: 1827
McCristal, Daniel   Townland: Cranny Year: 1827
McCristal, Widow    Townland: Cranny Year: 1827
McCristal, Bryan   Townland: Luney Year: 1827
McCristal, Jas.      Townland: Luney Year: 1827
McCristal, Thos., Jr.   Townland: Tirgan Year: 1827
McCristal, Thos., Sr.   Townland: Tirgan Year: 1827

using one spelling only and arranging by civil parish I start with
1859 Griffiths valuation three sources
1. https://www.failteromhat.com for quick index.   

Mc Crystal   James   Curr         Desertmartin   Derry
Mc Crystal   James   Desertmartin      Desertmartin   Derry
Mc Crystal   Michael Annagh and Moneysterlin   Desertmartin   Derry

Mc Crystal   Henry   Brackaghlislea   Kilcronaghan   Derry
Mc Crystal   Anne   Drumsamney      Kilcronaghan   Derry

Mc Crystal   Philip   Drummuck      Maghera   Derry

2. http://www.askaboutireland.ie/griffith-valuation/ for detail and map ref ..  3. https://www.nidirect.gov.uk/information-and-services/search-archives-online/valuation-revision-books since 1859
Mc Crystal   James   Curr         Desertmartin   Derry
map ref 3 A,B
Mc Crystal   James   Desertmartin      Desertmartin   Derry
map ref 22 18
Mc Crystal   Michael Annagh and Moneysterlin   Desertmartin   Derry
map ref 21 10 acres and house valued at 5 shillings pa
with patience you should be able to look this homestead up plot 21 runs SW to NE divided up by roads part of one exists today
switching to google modern map the lane , is the second lane branching off eastwards from the A 29 tobermore Rd , north of  Knocknagin school the first lane sweeps around to nearly join up with the first.  roughly the address is 77 Tobermore road, desertmartin BT45 5LF
switching to satellite view its currently redeveloped you can judge where the Mccrystal home was or is.
3. https://www.nidirect.gov.uk/information-and-services/search-archives-online/valuation-revision-books since 1859, wil alllow you to find when that Michael left the property after 1859


hoping some of this is new to you
ps when useingbmd search as at top, use all spellings possible woops see  how many https://www.johngrenham.com/findasurname.php?surname=mccristal

[M_ONeill]

Thanks for doing all that searching, BallyaltikilliganG!

I do use the search on irishgenealogy, but I often find it very difficult to use - it's something I need to keep practicing with.

In looking through the results you've provided, the Michael McChrystal living in Annagh in 1859 would seem to be a match for my 3x great grandfather, though I'm slightly confused beyond that point. This Michael McChrystal seems to be fairly settled in Annagh, and I think this is the same Michael McChrystal who dies on the 28th of July 1894 in Annagh, with his son Michael (who I believe is my 2x great grandfather) as informant.

But then I'm wondering if this family that moves briefly to England are actually the same family at all. Because the parents Michael and Susan (sometimes Susannah) seem very far from settled. They are having children in Fermanagh in the 1850s and at least one child in Antrim in the 1860s.

I'll need some time at home to do a deep dive myself, as I'm currently very confused at the moment!

[M_ONeill]

Okay, so I've had a look at the Griffiths evaluations and the house and land listed in Annagh seems to be continuously inhabited by the McChrystals all the way through.

The name of the head of household remains Michael McChrystal throughout, but my 2x great grandfather presumably inherited on his father's death; in the book for 1899 - 1915 the name Michael is crossed out and 'Bella' is inserted. This would be the Isabella walls listed in the original post.

So I now need to figure out what, if any, relation the family in Lancashire has to this one. I've heard from other family members that some relatives *did* move across to somewhere near Wigan, so it's not a link pulled completely out of the blue. But at least looking at the Griffiths valuations, it seems to me like my ancestors stayed in Annagh. Unless of course I'm skipping a generation and there are actually three Michael McChrystals represented in the record.

[KellyMcChrystal]

Hi there!  My name is Kelly McChrystal, I stumbled onto this post doing my own research, trying to figure out if I'm related to a famous 4-star general here in the United States, who shares my last name, so, I thought I would chime in and share what I know!  My great grandfather is Arthur McChrystal, born on December 18, 1888 in Desertmartin Co. Derry Ireland.   He married Elizabeth (born Flannery) circa 1895. They had 3 children, my grandfather John "Jack" McChrystal, Elizabeth "Betty" Neforos (born McChrystal) and Arthur Jr.-all deceased.  The big family secret that we only learned when Art died (when he was 104 years old) I believe in 1991, was that my grandpa Jack, was his adopted son!  Jack's wife, my  grandma Helen (born Noonan) never wanted us to know, she believed it would somehow "invalidate" our Irish heritage, as Art McChrystal was one of the founding members of the West Side Irish American Club, and considered Irish royalty in Cleveland when he settled here in 1917. The story we eventually got from her was Elizabeth was Irish, got pregnant when she was 16 yrs. old, but the baby's father was English both living in Ireland at the time.  Her family sent her packing when they found out she was pregnant so she emigrated to the US where her sisters were already living and working as maids.   So Elizabeth's son, my grandfather who she named John "Jack" was born here in Cleveland, Ohio.  She had him in an orphanage because she couldn't afford to keep him.  At some point when Jack was still a baby, she met Art, they got married in 1921, she retrieved Jack from the orphanage and he adopted him.  So my grandparents are adopted Jack McChrystal and Helen, they had 7 children, one of them is my father, he's the 3rd in line.  All his siblings are alive with the exception of Terrence "Terry" who died last year.  Based on some of the research in the post below, it looks like this might be the same lineage since Michael was living with his siblings, one of which is Arthur J. born in 1859, that would be my great, great grandfather!

[heywood]

Hi Kelly and welcome to Rootschat.
I am sure that M_ONeill will be pleased to read your post and hopefully find connections.

May I just point out that Rootschat’s policy is to not name living persons so it would be best to remove those names. You can do this by clicking on the ‘modify’ button in your post.

Good luck
Heywood

[M_ONeill]

Hi, Kelly!

So, the Arthur McChrystal who was born c.1859 that I have pencilled in my tree did have a son Arthur M born at roughly the right time - but not in Desertmartin. Arthur the elder seems to have moved back to England at some point after his 1885 marriage to Ellen Henry. The family bounces around a number of places, various places in Essex, a couple of places in London, at least one stop in Wales and then finally settling in Wigan. His son, Arthur M is listed in every census return as being born in Hutton, Essex in 1889. However, I have not found a paper record for his birth, so perhaps this is wrong. Do you have a record for your Arthur M’s birth in 1888?

[hallmark]

There are only
   Births 85
   Death 49
   Marriage 32


registered for McChrystal

If you go to  https://civilrecords.irishgenealogy.ie/churchrecords/civil-search.jsp  and just enter the following you might find something new for them.. just enter Surname!!