My maternal great grandparents were Charles Dowd & Anne (McGonigle) Dowd. He was borne in Ballymena in 1834 and she was borne in Drumderg in 1846. They were married in the RC Chapel of Moneyglass, Toomebridge in 1866. They left Randallstown with their 3 children, Rodger, William, & Grace in 1884 for the USA with their oldest daughter, Mary preceeding them. I am looking for any info on Charles' parents besides the fact that his father, Rodger Dowd, died in Antrim in 1869. Anne McGongle's parents, John McGonigle & Mary Anne (McAleese) McGonigle married in Antrim in 1852 and imigrated to the USA in 1859. All settled here in Pittsburgh PA USA. Any info on any ancestors left in the old sod would be appreciated.
Friday 1st Mar 2013, 07:12AM
Message Board Replies
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Hi,
Thank you very much for your message.
It may be an idea to also post this message on either the Co. Antrim page or the relevant civil parish pages.
Ballymena is both a townland and a town in Co. Antrim, so I am not sure which one you are referring to. (a townland is the smallest division of land in Ireland, sometimes comprising just a field or two!)
Ballymena the town is part of Ballyclug parish and Ballymena the townland is part of Skerry parish.
Toomebridge is part of the civil parish of Duneane.
A useful website in terms of Irish place names is http://www.logainm.ie/
As civil registration did not begin in Ireland until 1864, for information prior to this date you are going to have to look at Church records. Most Catholic records are held locally so you may need to write to the local parish priest for possible assistance. One website that you may find useful is the Irish Times where they give an overview of what records are available in specific parishes.
Skerry civil parish and Ballyclug civil parish are actually both a part of Braid Roman Catholic parish. To see what is available there go to:
(Irish land divisions can sometimes be confusing, here is a link to a website that explains them: http://www.irish-genealogy-toolkit.com/Irish-land-divisions.html )
There are also some places online where you can search for church records:
www.familysearch.org have a huge collection of genealogical records available, including some Irish marriage and birth records.
www.rootsireland.ie have a vast collection of Irish church records available however please note that you haev to pay to use this website.
You could also try looking for information in civil records for events that happened after 1864, such as deaths. Civil are available from the General REgister?s Office in Dublin, here is their website:
http://www.groireland.ie/research.htm
You can search the indexes to these records online at:
https://familysearch.org/search/collection/1408347
You could also check for record of the family in the land acts pertaining to Ireland in the 19th century. There are two:
The Tithe Applotment Books (1823-1838) found at http://titheapplotmentbooks.nationalarchives.ie/search/tab/home.jsp
and Griffith?s Valuation (1848-1864) found at http://www.askaboutireland.ie/griffith-valuation/
Have you tried searching in the 1901/1911 census records to see if you can find a record of any family that may have remained in the area? You can search these online here:
http://www.census.nationalarchives.ie/search/
Some other websites that you may find useful are:
The National Archives of Ireland http://www.nationalarchives.ie/genealogy1/genealogy-records/introduction/
The National Library of Ireland http://www.nli.ie/en/family-history-introduction.aspx
The National Archives UK ? genealogy search: http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/records/looking-for-person/
The Public Records Office of Northern Ireland http://www.proni.gov.uk/index/family_history.htm
The US National Archives: http://www.archives.gov/
Genealogy Links: http://www.genealogylinks.net/uk/ireland/antrim/index.html
I hope that some of these links are helpful.
Kind regards,
Genealogy Support
Monday 29th Apr 2013, 09:44AM