Charles Starrs

Tim,

I don’t know anywhere in Tyrone called Fintenals but there is a fairly well known village called Fintona, in the civil parish of Donacavey. I suspect that’s where the family may have lived.

I assume the family was Roman Catholic. If so, the bad news is that Donacavey parish has no baptism or marriage records before 1857, so too late for this family.

Tyrone Constitution of 22nd September 1882 reported a John Starrs of Fintona who was in court for drunkenness. Case adjourned till next day. Tyrone Courier for 4th July 1896 reported John Starrs of Fintona charged with assault. Remanded in custody for trial at the Assizes later that month.

This was the only Starrs household in Fintona in 1901:

http://www.census.nationalarchives.ie/pages/1901/Tyrone/Fintona/Kilen_Street/1743512/

Possibly DNA testing may be a way of matching with others who have additional information about where the family originate. Family Tree DNA reportedly has more people with Ulster roots than any other company. That obviously increases the chances of finding a match. You might want to try them or, if you have already tested, you can transfer your results to them for no fee.

The North of Ireland Family History Society is running an Ulster DNA project in conjunction with FTDNA and can offer testing kits at a reduced price.  http://www.nifhs.org (Go to DNA project on the website).

Hi Elwyn,

Thank you for taking the time to look at this for me. The name Finentals came from the Boston Pilot publication. I tried looking up the name and I couldn't find anything with that name. I thought there might have been a name change somewhere along the way, and clearly the publication got it wrong. 

You brought up an interesting question about their religion, because I can't say with certainty they were Roman Catholics. Does this change research options? 

Regarding DNA testing, I have 5 sets of 2nd and 3rd great grandparents who came from Ireland. I've done FTDNA along with Ancestry. The FTDNA YDNA testing I did has my paternal line originating in northern Co. Clare. Ancestry has all my Irish ancestors as coming from Munster which I know isn't true as I have another set of ancestors who came from Stamullen Co. Meath. 

I'll look into the North of Ireland Family History Society. 

Thanks again and Best Regards,

Tim

Tim,

My assumption about the family being RC was based on the fact that in the 1901 census of the county (the oldest complete Irish census) there were 105 Starr/Starrs. All but one were RC. So the likelihood is pretty heavily weighted in that direction.

http://www.census.nationalarchives.ie

But yes if they were another denomination there are other records to consult. Donacavey Church of Ireland (ie Episcopalian) has records from 1800 and Fintona Presbyterian church has records from 1836. Neither set is on-line anywhere so far as I am aware. However there are copies of both in PRONI in Belfast.  If you are unable to go yourself, you could employ a researcher. Researchers in the PRONI area: http://sgni.net

In Ireland, Fintona is pronounced quite like Fintenals. (Say Fint-na).  I’d be fairly sure that Fintenals must be Fintona. If it isn’t, I have no idea what it is.  You can see  a list of all the townland and placenames in the county on this link. Decide for yourself.

https://thecore.com/seanruad/

PRONI has the passenger books for J & J Cook, shipping agents at Londonderry. (D2892/1/1 at PRONI).  Their records for the Superior which departed Derry on 18th Feb 1847 for Philadelphia include a passenger named Edward Starrs of Beragh, Co Tyrone. His name is next to Bridget McPike also of Beragh, suggesting they may have been travelling together. Your Edward would have been about 7 or 8, so surely wouldn’t have been travelling alone. Perhaps this was him with someone local to look after him. Or perhaps it’s someone else altogether. No easy way of knowing. Beragh is only about 6 miles from Fintona, so it’s possible.

I have searched the on-line RC baptism records for Tyrone but cannot find Charles & Susan nor any of their children.

Researching Irish ancestors in the first half of the 1800s can be hard going due to the general lack of records. Not sure if that helps or not, but you are not alone in struggling to find your ancestors here.

Hi Elwyn, Thanks for this bit of information regarding Edward and Brigit. I found their arrival document. They arrived to the Port of Phildelphia on 28 Apr 1847. The arrival document states their ages, with Brigit being 18 and Edward being 26. So, this can't be the Edward I'd be looking for of course because he's older.

There is another record for a different Edward Star who departed from Londonderry on the Bark Creole, and arrived to Philadelphia on 8 Mar 1850. This Edward is listed 12 years of age. Is it possible for you to see if this record is available on your end? 

Regarding Charles, William and John Starrs, I was just able to find their names in a naturalization index from Philadelphia, and I've sent for copies of their original declarations. Sometimes the declarations will specifically identify their places of origin. I hope this is the case.

Thanks for your interest and assistance.

Best Regards, Tim 

Tim, 

In general, the authorities in Ireland didn’t keep any records of people leaving. The most comprehensive records are those gathered on arrival by US immigration authorities. There are a few exceptions. In Londonderry, J & J Cooke kept passenger records (for their own commercial purposes) and those for around 1847 – 1866 have survived, and are now in PRONI in Belfast. Plus they are on-line on a number of genealogical sites. But there were many other ships agents and most of them threw their records out when they had no further use for them. Cookes were not the only agents in Derry. I haven’t been able to determine for certain who the Creole’s were but they were probably the McCorkell Line. Only a handful of their records have survived.

Sadly I can find no record of the Edward Star who travelled to PA on the Barque Creole in 1850.

Thanks for all your help and insights, Elwin.