Patrick and Ellen Moss

You mention finding the name Patrick Moss in Griffiths Valuation. Griffiths, for Co Tyrone, was compiled in 1859. Since your family was in the US by 1851, none of the entries there can be your immediate family, though they might be relations.

I searched Ancestry’s Roman Catholic baptism and marriage records for Patrick & Ellen’s marriage and for baptisms of their 3 or 4 children born in Ireland. I did not find them. That may because the events took place in a parish that does not have records for the 1840s (Many don’t).

Returning to Griffiths Valuation, though your immediate family can’t be in it, it nevertheless gives an indication of where in Tyrone the surname was to be found. I noticed there was a Patrick Moss in Garvagh townland, in Termonamongan parish and another Freughmore, in Drumragh.  The one in Garvagh is in 4 times because he appears to have more than 1 piece of land in Garvagh.  Irish families often use the same names, over and over again.  John & Ellen are fairly common in Ireland but Alice slightly less so, especially in Catholic families. So I was interested to note that an Alice Moss from Garvagh got married in 1879 (father was Edward). See below.

https://civilrecords.irishgenealogy.ie/churchrecords/images/marriage_returns/marriages_1879/11056/8044617.pdf

This might be a total coincidence and completely unconnected with your family but the existence of a Patrick & Alice Moss in Garvagh makes me wonder if there might be a connection. No McGinty households in Griffiths in Termonamongan at all. However there was a McGlinchy family in Garvagh. Could that be Ellen's maiden name, which got garbled by whoever was the informant for the death certificate?  There were several Moss households in Garvagh in Griffiths, probably all related.

Alice Moss from Garvagh married Francis Curran from Carndreen. Here they are in the 1901 census:

http://www.census.nationalarchives.ie/pages/1901/Tyrone/Maghernageeragh/Carndreen/1723745/

Garvagh is a rural area a few miles north of Killeter. Today it’s on the modern Carn Rd, half a mile or so before the border with Co. Donegal. Population in 1901 was 170 people (nearly all engaged in agriculture in one form or another). There were 25 homes including 6 Moss households. One of which included another Alice. (There were only 2 people named Alice Moss in the county in that census so it's not a common name).

http://www.census.nationalarchives.ie/pages/1901/Tyrone/Maghernageeragh/Garvagh/

Termonamongan’s RC parish records don’t start till 1863 so if your family came from that parish, it would explain why they can’t be found in any on-line records.

Several trees on Ancestry show your family as coming from Garvagh, and so others seem to have come to the same conclusion.

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).

Thank You Elwyn for all the information you gave to me about my Moss ancestors. I will look into everything you have suggested. I did know that the Griffiths evaulation was after my Moss family left Ireland but i still thought that perhaps the Moss families listed might be relatives of them since Moss is not a common name and I knew they were from County Tyrone. I did have my DNA done through Ancestry and I had a 4th cousin come up who had the surname Moss in their tree and they were from Killeter which is a town that you mentioned. I did send a mesage to her through Ancestry but she never replied, that was a few years ago. So perhaps since there is a DNA match to that ares that is where my Great Great grandparetns are from, i would like to believe that I have located where they lived . I never knew Alice ,my great grandmother but I feel a connection to her and admire her immensly. She came to a new country and was left an orphan a few years after she arrived. She survived ,married a civil war veteren and had 11 children ,buried 4 of them and lived to be about 91. Thank you again for your help,                                                                                                                                                                 

                                                                                                     Patricia Lynch (mommom 20)