James MacDonald (MacDonnell) b. circa 1789

James birth and marriage are long before the start of statutory birth & marriage registration in Ireland (1864) and so we have to rely on church records, not all of which are on-line, and not all of which cover the dates in question.

I have searched the rootsireland site but there is no Macdonald – David marriage recorded. I also searched for James Macdonald born c 1789. There are 10 in Ireland but none in Co. Armagh. I searched for the birth of Mary to parents James M & Mary D but there is no record of her baptism, or of any siblings.

You have put the query under Clonfeacle. You haven’t said what denomination James was. If he was RC and came from that parish then their records only start in 1814 so there may not be any church record of his baptism or of his parents names. (Few RC parishes in Ulster have records before the 1820s). 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 and can offer FTDNA testing kits at a reduced price.  http://www.nifhs.org (Go to DNA project on the website).