McCullough Drogheda to New York

Hello Mark and welcome, no immediate good news. Drogheda is primarily divided into 2 parishes, St Marys south of river Boyne in the diocese of Meath (part in Meath and part in Louth) and St Peters north of the Boyne in Louth in the diocese of Armagh. I cannot locate the birth of Thomas, a number of Thomas McCullough born in Louth and Meath but parents wrong. Also the marriage could not be located on Roots Ireland, this may not be unusual as St Marys parish marriage records are not available for the period. Both names are still in the Drogheda area.

There are 3 Facebook pages that might interest you if looking for living relatives, Louth Genealogy; Drogheda Down Memory Lane - Lost family and Drogheda Down memory Lane, all are private groups which you must apply to, answers can be varied. If you have 10 minutes to enjoy there is a video on You tube called Ghosts of Drogheda, a montage of old still photos to music. Enjoyable.

Assuming the marriage was in St Marys parish is it possible that Thomas was born in the UK, Drogheda was the 2nd largest migrant port around this time after Queenstown now Cobh. The Drogheda service was to Liverpool. Only see an 1848 birth of a Thomas McCullough in Manchester.

The RC registers are here but can only be searched by year and month so difficult. https://registers.nli.ie/ and an interessting website on Louth here http://jbhall.clahs.ie/ there are no certs on it but other records. 

Regards

Pat

Thank very much for the help and information! On the census in Brooklyn Thomas is noted as born in Ireland and the oral history points to the family leaving from Drogheda but no reference to marriage or birth in Louth.

there have been references to County Down in the family as a place of origin but I have no documentation to validate this. My DNA results  show origins in North Leinster & East Connacht. But not sure if this is maternal or paternal. I will look through the links you shared and thank you again for your help and kindness 

Wanted to follow up and cast a wider net asking the question that if my ancestors left Ireland from Drogheda how far or areas would thay have travelled from to leave from Drogheda? Could they have been from Couty Down or is that too far away in 1857 to travel that that seaport in Louth? Just want to narrow the scope or widen to continue my search. Thanks in advance fo the help!

Hello Mark, the train arrived in Drogheda in 1844, the viaduct was completed in 1852 and the line from Belfast via Newry was also completed to the best of my knowledge, people travelled long distances to Drogheda, assume the attraction was to get a larger ship from Liverpool, there were some sailings from Drogheda to the states but not a lot. 

I have had a look at Griffiths Valuation circa 1854 in Louth and there is a Thomas living in Shanlis, Ardee, Co. Louth, this is about 12 miles from Drogheda, Ardee is a town in its own right but not as big as Drogheda, you can see where it is here, https://www.townlands.ie/louth/ardee/shanlis/ardee-rural/shanlis/ Grifiths is here http://www.askaboutireland.ie/griffith-valuation/ however the site was open a minute ago but is now down, it is available elsewhere too.McLysaghts Surnames of Ireland pinpoints Tyrone as the homeplace of the name with McCulla and Cully being synomyns of it. There are a lot of Martin hits on Griffiths in Louth with about a dozen in the Ardee area.

There are a lot of them in Down and you can check a lot of them here http://www.rosdavies.com/ 

You mention you have DNA done, there are a lot of Facebook pages doing Gedmatch comparions based on area, often counties, none for Louth I am aware of, some are now even using smaller areas, people are often in your boat and often know very little, there are two larger pages, The Irish DNA Registry, largest membership and the Irish Surname Registry, which is newer on the block. They are well moderated and helpful.

Good Luck

Pat

Thank you so very much Pat! This information is very helpful. I will explore all the resources you outlined and come back to you for help if needed.

We need more peopple in the world like you!

All the best,

Mark

Hello All,

I saw this entry in Meath and it aligns with the birth date of Thomas McCullough with his parents being Eliabeth (Betty) Martin and John McCullough.

The name is noted as McCall but the proximity to Drogheda the port of departure and the alignment of dates/names is interesting.

Name:Thomas McCallBaptism Age:0Event Type:BaptismBirth Date:1849Baptism Date:1 Apr 1849Baptism Place:Kilbeg, Meath, IrelandParish Variants:Carolanstown, StaholmockDiocese:MeathFather:John McCall Mother:Betty Martin

Same parish marriage of John and Betty two years before the birth of their first son:

Name:Mc CallGender:MaleEvent Type:MarriageMarriage Date:Jan 1847Marriage Place:Kilbeg, Ireland, IrelandParish Variants:Carolanstown, StaholmockDiocese:MeathSpouse:Betty Martin

The oral history is the family left from Drogheda in 1857 and settled in Brookly New York which I can trace all family members to from 1860 to present day.

I have confirmed the deaths and burial places of my my family ancestors in Brooklyn.

John McCullough 1809-1869 Letters, System: CEM, Section: LETT, Row: C, Plot: 11 Great Great Grandfather - Wife Elizabeth Martin McCullough
Elizabeth McCullough 1835-1898 (Madien name Martin) Letters, System: CEM, Section: LETT, Row: C, Plot: 11 Great Great Grandmother

Thomas McCullough 1849-1906St. James, System: CEM, Section: JAME, Row: A, Plot: 50 Great Uncle born in Ireland his Wife Rose Gallagher born in Ireland 
Philip McCullough 1852-1897Vernon Square, System: CEM, Section: VERN, Row: D, Plot: 388 Great Grandfather born in US - Wife Catherine McAuliffe born in US

James McCullough 1854-1904 Letters, System: CEM, Section: LETT, Row: C, Plot: 11 Great Uncle 

Catherine McAulliffe McCullough b.1859 d.19252rd Letters, System: CEM, Section: LESE, Row: A, Plot: 27 Great Grandmother Wife of Philip McCullough

John E. McCullough 1884-1940St. Raymond, System: CEM, Section: RAYM, Row: 1, Plot: 105 Grandfather

Christine Ambrose McCullough 1889-1971St. Raymond, System: CEM, Section: RAYM, Row: 1, Plot: 105 Grandmother

Please let me know your thoughts on the Kilbeg baptism/marriage and names. 

Thanks in advance for all your help!

Mark McCullough

Hi Mark, we are in the area of conjecture and leaps of faith, I could find no McCall in Meath in Griffiths Valuation or in the Tithe Applottments, it is an ususual name, not a lot of hits nationwide in Griffiths.157, majority in what is now Northern Ireland but not all. On the other hand it is possible the wife went home to her mother for the birth especially the first child, but I am doubtful as it was a journey back then about about 30 miles. 

I looked in Griffiths for Louth and Meath and see McCullen in St Mary's parish, one a Thomas, other McCullens in St Peters, wonder if these are spelling errors or variants, there are McCullough's in the area now. Both names are in the St Mary's Parish in Meath in the Irish census of 1911, more McCullen's.

I would be inclined to go with the family story and that the records do not exist, hopefully more records will be located. I looked at the marriage in the registers but cannot see anything to assist you. 

As there are no McCall in Meath in Griffiths it indicates all the family left prior to 1854, oddly there is only the one birth recorded in Roots for the area, and few nationally. I see a number of McCulloughs born in Drogheda including a Thomas but the father is a James McCullough and the mother is Margaret Martin on all the records, last child born in 1853, one record shows mother Mary Martin and I see an illegimate birth so called, in 1838 of a Pat McCullough to a Cath Martin, father Jas, in Darver parish, this is in Louth but in Darver Parish about 20 miles north of Drogheda.

As I say Mark with current records it is a leap of faith, finding one does not preclude the possibility of a lost one, however it is disappointing the mother in Drogheda is a Margaret Martin.

Regards

Pat

Thank you so much Pat! A needle in a haystay to say the least! I am going to move towards death certificates in the States to see if I can uncover at least the Martin side since Eliabeth died in 1898 and the mother and father with their surnames are noted (if known). Two years ago I did not know who my great garandfather was so I am making good progress,

If my GG-Grandfather was born in 1809 in IRE what is the best source records to look into given we know the McCullough name is most liklley from Ulster or Louth, marriage around 1845 and first born son 1849 and departure around 1857? Just want to narrow my search and make that haystack a bit smaller! :)

Thanks again for the help!

Mark

Hi Mark, all the subscription sites have the Irish BMDs that are available, however Roots Ireland while not complete they have records not found elsewhere, I have checked it. There is a site here which is subscription but which has a few free goes giving surname distribution based on Griffiths Valuation https://www.johngrenham.com/surnames/ 

I mentioned previously that Facebook has pages usually private, request to join, in each county, some with more than one per county and others doing DNA, smaller areas are also starting to emerge, I have used these myself but will warn you that while you may find cousins most everyone is in the dark as to how the DNA match is created, and if you have not done that it is not the be all and end all of everything but can in my case lead to interesting findings but no big breakthroughs, there is also an Irish Surname Registry page on FB which recently commenced doing DNA but the database is small but the surname part is still active and you do not have to have done DNA to join as with the DNA pages. 

The other thing in your favour is the family were RC and a lot of the McCulloughs appear to be Church of Ireland (Protestant). 

I understand there may be a revisit on the pre 1864 church records to see what may have been missed on the first sweep which was done a long time ago but it is not imminent so no breath holding.

By the way in case you have not twigged I live in St Mary's parish in Drogheda, on the Louth / Meath border.

Good Luck,

Pat