Gaynor family from Castle Street Randalstown, County Antrim

Sean,

I live in Randalstown and I don?t know of a Castle St. There is Castle Rd and Castle Ave. However there is a Castle St in Antrim town, and I see from the 1901 census that there were Gaynors living there then. See:

http://www.census.nationalarchives.ie/pages/1901/Antrim/Antrim_Urban/Castle_Street/915459/

Castle St Antrim was/is beside the RC chapel and opposite the grounds of Antrim Castle. That?s about 5 miles from Randalstown. Is there a mix up with the location?

Elwyn

Good afternoon Elwyn,

I may be getting the location a bit mixed up based on your comments, is the Castle otherwise known as Shanes castle? Mum often refers to it. If thats the case I think you might be right

Mum and her brothers went to school at St Comgills and some of my relatives are also buried there (Sarah and Hugh Gaynor).

The family in the census is my grandfathers family, his name is Hugh and was born in 1903 so not shown in the census, however he is in the 1911 census at that address.

My wife and I have been to Randalstown and it is a beautiful area, even went for a swim in the Lough Neagh (in October). My cousin who lives in Antrim advised me that is not the seasaon the locals normally swim.

Thanks for your advice, I really appreciate it.

Best regards,

Sean

Good afternoon Elwyn,

I may be getting the location a bit mixed up based on your comments, is the Castle otherwise known as Shanes castle? Mum often refers to it. If thats the case I think you might be right

Mum and her brothers went to school at St Comgills and some of my relatives are also buried there (Sarah and Hugh Gaynor).

The family in the census is my grandfathers family, his name is Hugh and was born in 1903 so not shown in the census, however he is in the 1911 census at that address.

My wife and I have been to Randalstown and it is a beautiful area, even went for a swim in the Lough Neagh (in October). My cousin who lives in Antrim advised me that is not the seasaon the locals normally swim.

Thanks for your advice, I really appreciate it.

Best regards,

Sean

Sean,

St Comgalls school is in Antrim (not Randalstown). Its address is Ballymena Rd, Antrim.

Re the castle, there used to be a Scottish baronial style castle in Antrim (named Antrim Castle) which was burned down in 1922. Just a fragment of the main buildings remain now (1 tower) but the stables and support buildings survived and are now a caf?, art gallery and tourist venue. The council has also renovated the old formal French gardens and they are used a lot for concerts and for people to picnic and walk their dogs etc. All that complex is just across the Road from Castle St where your family lived. So the Castle being referred to in your family?s Antrim address was Antrim Castle.  Some photos of Antrim Castle on:

http://uk.images.search.yahoo.com/search/images;_ylt=A9mSs2ZyLNJTdQEAFQZLBQx.;_ylu=X3oDMTB1bW1xajNwBHNlYwNzYwRjb2xvA2lyMgR2dGlkA1VJVUtDMDFfMQ--?_adv_prop=image&fr=ush-mail&va=Antrim+Castle

You are quite correct that there is also Shane?s Castle a couple of miles down the road, on the way to Randalstown (and that would be the castle that the Randalstown addresses refer to). Shane?s Castle is where Lord O?Neill lives.  http://www.shanescastle.com

You?d be right about not swimming in Lough Neagh in October. Chilly enough, I?d say. You?d be OK just now as its about 85 degrees here.

If you want to fill gaps in your tree, it?s helpful to try and work out who was living where and when to be sure of using the right records. Until 1873, Randalstown and Antrim were in the same parish (called Drummaul) then they split and a separate RC parish of Antrim was created. So joint records till 1873, and separate records after that.

You?ll probably know that statutory registration of births, deaths & RC marriages started in 1864. Prior to that you need to reply on church records. Drummauls start around 1825. The baptisms, but not the marriages, are on-line on the rootsireland site (pay to view). There is also a copy of both baptisms and marriages in PRONI in Belfast, as well as the National Library in Dublin but they are not on-line and a personal visit is generally required to access them, at either location.

Elwyn

Good evening Elwyn,

thanks for that information, was aware that St Comgills isnt in Randalstown. Will have to talk with Mum to get some more information on where the house was.

I remember she has mentioned the fire at the Castle and I think this is where there were alot of records held?

I really appreciate your advice about the records, I wasnt aware about when birth registrations occurred.

Please feel free to keep in touch.

Best regards,

Sean Burston.

Sean,

I am not sure about the loss of documents as a result of the fire. Presumably some estate papers must have been lost, but PRONI in Belfast have a large deposit of about 26,000 documents from the estate (D207, D562, D1739 & D4084). So I suspect the main documents were held elsewhere, and survived. There?s a bit of history here:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antrim_Castle

And of course it?s well known that Ethel Gilligan?s ghost is still seen regularly in the castle grounds at night. Especially if you have a had a few pints.

Elwyn

Thanks Elwyn and good luck with yor search Sean!

Best wishes

Clare Doyle

Genealogy Support