Connections to Duncan McElheran (~1747 - 1810) and Mary Hamilton (1736 - 1832)

I have come across this family before. Perhaps a couple of years ago. I vaguely recall taking a couple of ladies from Canada to Layd Old graveyard to look for the grave, as well as to the house in Tavnaghoney where Mary died in 1903. This is her in the 1901 census (married name McAllister).

http://www.census.nationalarchives.ie/pages/1901/Antrim/Cushendall/Taunaghoney/923305/

Her husband’s death in 1891:

https://civilrecords.irishgenealogy.ie/churchrecords/images/deaths_returns/deaths_1891/06057/4726497.pdf

The tithe applotment records for 1826 list a Duncan (Dunkin/Dunken) McIlherin in Tavanahan and also in Tavanagh/Brack/One/Norkat.  The name Duncan is not very common there. That’s got to be connected to your family.

http://www.irishgenealogyhub.com/antrim/tithe-applotments/layd-parish.php

It’s quite confusing. There’s Tavnaghoney, Tavnaghbrack and Tavnaghowen (spelling varies for all) and they are all very close to each other. Tavnaghbrack will be the Tavanagh/Brack in the tithes.  I recall looking at Tavnaghbrack with the 2 ladies for the likely location of the farm there, just off the modern Tavnaghan Lane. Whilst we were there a local farmer named McDonnell appeared and chatted to us but could add nothing to our knowledge. It was all too long ago.

You mention Layd Church of Ireland graveyard in Ballymena. Layd is nowhere near Ballymena. It’s about 20 miles away from Ballymena, on the coast overlooking the Irish Sea. There are several graveyards in Layd. My recollection is that your family are in the Old graveyard, halfway up the hill road towards Cushendun. It’s steep and slippery in the graveyard at times. Take care if visiting.

Incidentally, according to MacLysaght’s “The Surnames of Ireland” McIlheron/McElheron is a sept of the Scottish McDonnell/MacDonald clan.  So your ancestors probably originated in Islay, Gigha or Kintyre or one of the other MacDonald lands in that part of Scotland.  They likely moved to Ireland in the 1500s or 1600s when the MacDonalds established themselves in that part of Antrim. (Half the population of the Glens have the same broad origins). In 1654 a Dutch traveller in Scotland commented: “Today in the Irish language, which is in use over this whole area, it is called Kintyre, that is Head of Land. It is inhabited by the family of Mac-Conell, which has lordship here but at the pleasure of the Earl of Argyll; they regularly go off to Ireland for booty in their light ships, and have occupied the small provinces called Glen and An Rara/The Route[1].” (Source Joan Blaeu “Cantire in Atlas” Amsterdam 1654 page 58).

The MacAllisters also originate in Scotland. They arrived in the Glens of Antrim in the 1600s after some unpleasantness with the Campbell clan at the bottom end of Kintyre (which is about 11 miles away). A few severed heads. That sort of thing.

Hello Elwyn,

Thank you for the detailed reply! It's very much appreciated.

Quite a few of my McAllister/McAlister relatives have visited the farm in Tavnaghoney where James McAlister & Mary McElheron lived and died.  The house is still there - renovated and modified of course. 

Oops, I did have the wrong cemetery listed for Duncan McElheran (b~1747 - d 22 Feb 1810) and Mary Hamilton (b~1736 - d 20 Sept 1832). You are absolutely correct that they are buried in the Layd Old Church Cemetery (not the Layde Church of Ireland Parish Churchyard in Ballymena as I incorrectly stated).  I will be sure to take care when visiting the Layd Old Church Cemetery. I've heard it is quite scenic in that area.

As you noted, Tavnaghoney is very close to Tavanahan & Tavanagh where Duncan McElheran/McIllherin/McIllheron was located in 1826. It's not a stretch to assume James' wife Mary McElheron was connected to Duncan. There are quite a few family trees that show Mary was the daughter of one of Duncan's sons (Felix).  I haven't come across any source docs yet that establish that connection.     

I hadn't seen the MacLysaght information regarding the connection between McIlheron/McElheron and the McDonnell/MacDonald clan.  I'll read more about that, and the Joan Blaeu “Cantire in Atlas” reference, thank you. By the way, I've seen at least 14 different spellings of the McElheron name. It can make searching tricky if the search engine doesn't support a soundex/sounds like option. I was aware of the McAlister/McAllister Scottish heritage.  I'm told we carry the DNA signature of Somerled. 

Kind regards,

Kyle

Kyle,

As far as spelling is concerned, it varied all the time in Ireland. The idea of a single “correct” version is a 20^thcentury phenomenon.  In the 1700s and 1800s most of our ancestors were illiterate and neither knew nor cared how their name was spelled. When written down it was therefore usually a priest or other official’s best guess. And you were Anglicizing Irish names where the spelling varied anyway according to grammatical rules eg if using the genitive case an extra “I” was normally inserted. And so on.

You might find “Family Names in the Glens of Antrim” by Brian Turner helpful.  (Copy of the cover attached). McAllister is the second most common surname in the Glens, so you’ll have years of fun trying to trace them. But the book also explains the origins of the names and of many of the families.

Hi Elwyn,  

I am fascinated by the evolution of Irish and Scottish family names.  I recently purchased the book you mentioned, “Family Names in the Glens of Antrim” by Brian Turner. My cousin Mimi Stevens was one of the subscribers and I had been meaning to buy a copy, which I finally did. In this book I read the name Sharpe was formerly common in Bute where it was used by people whose name was MacElheron, Mac Giolla Chiarain. "The probable explanation of this is a fancied resemblance between 'heron' and 'gearan', diminutive of gear, "sharp'."   

Yes, tracing my McAllister family is very challenging. Fortunately several cousins have done a lot of the hard work already. I also have my hands full tracing my Gayton line in Tipperary, Brien line in Wexford, Connor line in Kerry, Walsh line in Cork, Welsh line, and so on!  So much work and so little time. :-)    

Regards,

Kyle

I came upon some information about Duncan McElheran and Mary Hamilton several years ago on a website - The community research project of Delaware, Linn, Jones & Buchanan counties of Iowa, USA.  A John Kidd, whose mother's maiden name was Boyle, was born 3 June 1863 in Killyharn, Co Antrim, Ireland and died 23 October 1939 in Buchanan County, Iowa, U.S.A. Their website included his genealogy, including Hamilton connections.  Unfortunately this website is no longer available.

It included a daughter Rose McElheron (1782 – 1873) married Robert Crawford (c1770 – 1855) and their descendants lived in the Braid area before emigrating to the USA.

I am interested in the Hamiltons, but Mary is earlier that any that I can find in my family.

Regards,

Hugh