Tracing Gamble Family.

Here’s William & Martha in 1911 with 1 child in Altnamackan. They had had another child but it had died by 1911.

http://www.census.nationalarchives.ie/pages/1911/Armagh/Lisleitrim/Altnamackan/334420/

Note that parents and Anna Louise were born in Co Armagh. I can also see William born 16.6.1911, Martha 23.8.1914, George 5.4.1917 & Elizabeth 21.5.1919. Here’s George’s birth in Altnamackan:

https://civilrecords.irishgenealogy.ie/churchrecords/images/birth_returns/births_1917/01315/1543485.pdf

Also Elizabeth in Altnamackin:

https://civilrecords.irishgenealogy.ie/churchrecords/images/birth_returns/births_1919/01250/1519705.pdf

Family were still in Co Armagh up to 1919 anyway. I don’t see Margaret’s birth in 1921 on the GRONI website, so suspect it was in Co. Monaghan. Births 1921 onwards in Monaghan are not on-line. You need to order them from GRO Roscommon. However it appears the family’s move to Castleblaney may have been 1919 – 1921. According to the Valuation revision records, David McKee took the Gamble farm over some time between 1916 and 1921 when the farm was divided between him and William Mills.

Hi, thank you very much for getting back to me so quickly and for all the detailed information. We were unsure when they moved to Castleblayney so it is nice to know when that occurred. I have found via the GRO in Roscommon that the three last of the Gamble children were registered in Monaghan. Could I bother you again to ask you if you have any information(or where I would be able to find info) about where my grandmother lived in Castleblayney and also to ask if you have any information about Pollocks pub as my grandmother would have talked about it but we were never able to locate it. It would have been in the 1930/40s Any information or guidance would be very much appreciated. Many thanks

What townlands or addresses in or near Castleblaney do the 3 birth certificates give for the family? And what was William’s occupation?

Here’s a pub owned by a Thomas Pollock in Longfield:

http://www.census.nationalarchives.ie/pages/1911/Monaghan/Church_Hill/Longfield/803441/

That would be on the modern L3700 Longfield about 2 miles outside Castleblaney on the east side of Lough Muckno. The Drogheda Argus and Leinster Journal  of 30th November 1979 mentions a Bob Pollock of Longfield. So family still there then.

K.W.

Further to the above, I see from their death certificates that both William & Martha died in Drumacon, in 1938 & 1945 respectively.

https://civilrecords.irishgenealogy.ie/churchrecords/images/deaths_returns/deaths_1945/04623/4226979.pdf

Is that the townland on the childrens birth certificates? Drumacon is immediately to the west of Longfield and shares a common boundary with it so the Gambles probably lived within a few hundred yards of the Pollock pub (and farm). If you are looking for it today, “Pampered Pups Dog Grooming” is right in the middle of Drumacon. 

https://www.facebook.com/pamperedpupsdoggrooming/

Hi,
Thank you once again for getting back to me and for all the information. We are hoping to take a trip down to Castleblayney in the summer so it's great to have some idea where to go. And it's great to know about the pollocks as my grandmother would have talked about them and we believe may have stayed with them for a while when she was young.

Their father Williams occupation was a farmer.
On two of the Birth certificates, Margaret and Hugh Samuel's (1921 and 1924) it states Sherrymore and on my grandmothers in 1928 it states Tullycolline(not sure if I spelt it right).
is this anywhere near Drumacon?

thank you again, all your help is very much appreciated.

K.W.

Sherrymore is probably Skerrymore, and Tullycolline is probably Tullycollive.

Skerrymore isn’t all that close to Longfield. It’s on the R 182 road from Castleblayney to Newtownhamilton.  (A25 Blaney Rd in NI). When you cross the border into Co. Monaghan at county bridge, on that road, go about a quarter of a mile and Skerrymore is on the left hand side. A dead end lane leads south into the townland. At the other end of the townland there’s another dead end road leading north into it off the Mullaghduff Rd (which is in Armagh). At the time of Griffiths Valuation, there were 15 farms in the townland. I’d say they have been consolidated into two or three today, each accessed by the 2 lanes I have mentioned.

Tullycollive is closer to Longfield. Again right on the border, it’s about half a mile from Longfield.

You can see where the various townlands are, using this link:

http://www.logainm.ie

By William’s death in 1938, he was a labourer rather than a farmer, so their last house may not have been a farm, just a labourer’s cottage.

https://civilrecords.irishgenealogy.ie/churchrecords/images/deaths_returns/deaths_1938/04760/4275541.pdf

If you want to try and locate the various properties today, there’s a set of records called the Valuation Revision records, that run from the time of Griffiths Valuation in the mid 1800s up to about 1930.  The records for Northern Ireland are on-line on the PRONI site but those for Co Monaghan and the Republic of Ireland generally are not on-line yet. However they are open to the public at the Valuation Office in Dublin. So it would be a question of looking each of these 3 townlands up in the 1920s, and if the family is listed, note the plot number. Then go to the maps attached to Griffiths Valuation and you should see where each plot was. Farms tend to stay put as you might expect, but if farms are combined some buildings may fall into disuse, so I can't guarantee the Gamble farm buildings are still standing. Many labourers cottages have been lost to progress over the years as few farmers need labourers these days and the buildings tended to either collapse or be swept away to create space.

https://www.valoff.ie/en/archive-research/

The Pollock pub may not be there any more, but I suspect their farm is. Since the family were still around in the 1970s, someone may know them.  I knew a pub at Killead in Co Antrim in the 1980s that was a farm as well. It wasn’t very obvious that it was a pub.  I am not sure it even had a sign. And when you went inside there was no bar. Just a room where folk met and drank. Your drink was brought to you mysteriously from behind the scenes.  The Pollock pub might have been something like that.