Ancestors married twice?

[M_ONeill]

So if I’m following correctly, you think that this might be to do with a possible mixed marriage or conversion? I’ve become more and more convinced of that myself, but I was a bit thrown off that track when I saw the catholic marriage record.

Would a mixed marriage couple have been likely to have had two ceremonies? I believe the Catholic Church at the time permitted mixed marriages, provided all children were baptised and raised Catholic, which I have confirmed for all of James and Eliza’s children.

[Maiden Stone]

Did a registrar have to be present at a wedding in a Catholic church in Ireland for the ceremony to be legal?
That was the case in England. I've come across a few Catholic couples in England who had to go to the registry office for a civil ceremony because a registrar was unable to be at the church for the Catholic wedding ceremony.

[barryd]

Albert Edward Acheson married Rosetta Maria Maria Marshall 22 August 1882, Dublin, Ireland, AND same couple married Sheffield, Yorkshire, England 4 July 1883. Possible reasons: a The Groom was in the Royal Navy and filed to get permission to marry from the Navy. b The Bride's father was a Solicitor (Lawyer in the American Language) and objected to them getting married without HIS permission.
c The Bride did not tell her parents she was already married and just went through the second marriage to keep the peace.

[M_ONeill]

Did a registrar have to be present at a wedding in a Catholic church in Ireland for the ceremony to be legal?
That was the case in England. I've come across a few Catholic couples in England who had to go to the registry office for a civil ceremony because a registrar was unable to be at the church for the Catholic wedding ceremony.

I believe this was the case, at least once the laws were reformed. I read that this was the original reason for the registry office weddings being brought in, but I'll need to look up the source again, can't remember where I read it.

[M_ONeill]

I'm still confused as to James' religion. I had suspected that he was originally part of one of the Presbyterian Bell families that lived in the area, but given that he had a catholic wedding I'm not sure about it. He could also have been a convert, of course.

If James was born a Presbyterian, then I would expect to find him a baptismal record for him, as the earliest Coagh Presbyterian baptismal records go back to 1838 (though neither the records nor an index are available online as far as I can see), and I believe he was born around 1840. If he was born a Catholic, then I'm out of luck, as the registration of Catholic births only begins in the 1860s.

[Maiden Stone]

I'm still confused as to James' religion. I had suspected that he was originally part of one of the Presbyterian Bell families that lived in the area, but given that he had a catholic wedding I'm not sure about it. He could also have been a convert, of course.

Was his bride Catholic?  If so, maybe the Catholic wedding was to satisfy her and her family.

[M_ONeill]

She is listed as Roman Catholic in the 1901 census (James isn't in the census, having died in 1883).

That being said, there are also non-catholic Lamonts in the area, so I can't discount her being the convert either.

I still think it's most likely that James was the non-catholic. Looking at where Eliza is living as of the 1901 census, she is living in Drumads, Tyrone on land rented by Arthur Hamilton Bell, a Presbyterian. He is living a few houses away with his brother, a David Miller Bell, and a deaf and dumb sister, Annie Johnston (she's unmarried, so I've yet to figure out the different surname). They have a catholic farm servant James Bell, 14 - just a bit too old to be one of James and Eliza's children.

Eliza's son Hugh, my great-grandfather, is living in nearby Aughaveagh on land rented by the 'Hamiltons of Drumads'. As Arthur's middle name suggests, the Hamiltons were related to this other Bell family through marriage (Arthur and David's father was Hamilton Bell, son of a David Bell Esq and an Eliza Catherine Hamilton).

By 1911, Hugh and family have moved to Drumconvis, neighbouring Drumads. They are living on land rented by an Agnes Witherow Bell -  the widow of David Miller Bell. It's all circumstantial, of course, but I suspect there may be a family link here, however distant.

[Maiden Stone]

https://registers.nli.ie/parishes/0204 are the Church registers

This is so faded I can't see the marriage.  According to the months listed for 1866 there were no marriages in July.  I can see June at top of the page and I can make out A for Aug. but it's unclear whether all weddings in between are for June or if some are for July. Facing page starts November.

[M_ONeill]

I think that link may be incorrect. These are the parish registers for Coagh. That book is luckily far less faded, and the marriage is clearly on the 30th July.

Interestingly, I note that there is no sum of money entered against the marriage as there are for some of the other records.