Sarah Cunningham/Thomas Kilcullen

I don’t see Thomas and Sarah’s marriage in the statutory marriage records which start in April 1845. So presumably they married before that. In which case you would need to search the local church records for it. Birth registration didn’t start in Ireland till 1864 so again you would be reliant on baptism records for their son. To do that you would need to know what denomination he was.  Kilcullen’s not a common name in Co. Antrim. There was no-one of the name in the 1901 census of Co Antrim nor in the 1851 census of Larne. I wonder if the name may have been mistranscribed?

Copy of the parish records for Larne in PRONI (the public record office) in Belfast. A personal visit is required to view them.

Hi Elwyn,

Sorry for this very late reply. I had forgotten I had posted on this site.

I took the information from John's marriage certificate in Queensland, in 1882, age 31, and his death certificate in Victoria in 1916, age 67 or 69.

I previously written to the Genealogical society in Larne asking for assisstance but did not recieve a reply.

He was a Roman Catholic.

I have always felt that his father at least, probably came from Sligo.

Maybe his wife's parents were from Larne. Her father was Thomas Cunningham.

I would be happy to pay someone to do a search for me.

Regards Margot Kilcullen in Melbourne.

Margot,

I had a look at the 1851 census for Thomas Cunningham in Larne. (Most of the 1851 Irish census was destroyed in the 1922 fire in Dublin but fortunately a small bit survived including that for Larne and some other parishes in Co. Antrim).

The only Thomas Cunningham listed was 26 and single:

http://www.census.nationalarchives.ie/pages/1851/Antrim/Upper_Glenarm/Larne/Larne/15/

He was still alive in 1901 and from that census I know he was Presbyterian and never married.

The Catholic parish records for Larne start in 1821 and fortunately they are on-line. I checked the set on Ancestry but did not see any marriage for Thomas & Sarah (anywhere in Ireland, not just Larne). Likewise there were no baptisms for John or any other children to Thomas & Sarah either. I agree with you that Kilcullen is a common name in Sligo. There were plenty of Kilcullen baptisms & marriages there. What was Thomas Kilcullen’s occupation, that apparently took him from Sligo to Larne? Was he a sailor?

I looked at the 1901 census for Larne. There were 5 people named Cunningham. 4 were Protestant (3 Presbyterians and 1 Church of Ireland) and 1 RC.  A very small number statistically but the majority were Protestant. (Larne is largely a Protestant town because most of the population are descendants of Scots settlers, most of whom tend to be Presbyterian). So could this be a mixed marriage? For a mixed marriage pre 1845 they probably married in the Church of Ireland. There are marriage records for the Church of Ireland in Larne in PRONI. They cover the years 1817-20 and 1826-45.

PRONI is closed at the moment due to Covid but I could probably check those records once it re-opens.  If you want me to do that E-mail me on Ahoghill@irelandxo.com

Hi Elwyn,

How lovely to hear from you so soon. Thankyou very much.

I belong to a genealogical society here in Melbourne and over the years have looked at a lot of films. I've never been confident that I have found the right Kilcullen's or Cunninghams. I do remember seeing on the IGI many years ago a record for  a Sarah and Margaret Cunningham. I have the hard copy at home, but am away for a few days.

I think the Kilcullen/Cunningham connection is a lost cause, but if you could look at Proni I am happy to reimberse you for your time.

On John's death cert, Thomas's occupation is farmer. John bcame an outback Queensland station manager before moving to Victoria in about 1890 and becoming a farmer.

I cannot find any record of him arriving in Australia. I have looked at all the states, using many variations of spelling for Kilcullen. He is first recorded in Qld. in 1877 on the electoral roll. I did here from an elderly family member, since deceased, that he had been in the navy, but I haven't found proof of that. There were a lot of John Kilcullen's in America at about the right time.

I think this is one of those dead ends but you may find something.

Cheers Margot