Robert McKeag married Margaret Kincaid 8 July 1804 Presbyteriam Church Killinchy and Kilmud - Verify please?

Shez,

Killinchy Presbyterian church only has marriage records from 1813 onwards. (The church was there before and has accounts and a pew rent book from the 1780s, bot no baptisms or marriage before 1812). So it won’t be possible to verify the marriage from that source.

However I think you have the wrong date for the marriage. According to the Ros Davies site, the couple married on 8^th July 1824 in Killinchy Presbyterian.

http://freepages.rootsweb.com/~rosdavies/genealogy/SURNAMES/Mc/McKaMcKel.htm

There’s a copy of the original records in PRONI (the public record office) in Belfast.

I looked at the tithe applotment records for Killinchy parish (1833) but did not see any McKeag or Kincaid farms in the parish then. The tithes only list those with land so if your ancestors were labourers or tradesmen they wouldn’t be listed.http://www.irishgenealogyhub.com/down/tithe-applotment-books/killinchy-parish.php

Griffiths Valuation of Killinchy in 1860 had no Kincaids. I McKeag who was Samuel McKeag. He had a labourers cottage and small garden (plot 1g) in Ballybredagh.  Link to map:

http://freepages.rootsweb.com/~rosdavies/genealogy/MAPS/KillinchyTownlands.htm

So the names don’t appear to have been very common in that area by the mid 1800s.

There are very few records for Killinchy for the period you are interested in and tracing the families may be challenging.

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).

Elwyn

Thank you so very much for spending the time to research my query. It is very kind of you. I will amend my info and follow up the sources you suggest. In gratitude,      Shirley Wells