Hugh McConnell in Armagh County 1800's

Statutory registration of marriages started in Ireland in 1845. Consequently tracing Hugh’s 1st marriage is tricky, and requires knowledge of where the couple married. However tracing the second marriage should be easier. I searched the statutory marriage records for the years 1845 – 1871 for any marriage where the groom was Hugh McConnell, anywhere in Co Armagh. I only found two:

Frances Close 10.5.1847 & Eliza Parker 18.5.1860. Both were registered in Armagh city.

I’d be inclined to view those certificates to see if the Hugh named there was a widower, where he lived and what his occupation was. You could then use that information to narrow the search for the children’s baptisms and perhaps the 1st marriage. (Birth registration didn’t start till 1864 so the church baptism will be the only record of the births).

Tradition was to marry in the bride’s church, so that might not necessarily be the same church for the 2 marriages, nor the church where the 2 sons were baptised (that would normally be the father’s church). You can view the original marriage certificates on-line on the GRONI website, using the “search registrations” option:

https://geni.nidirect.gov.uk

You will need to open an account and buy some credits. It costs £2.50 (sterling) to a view a certificate.

If you find a marriage certificate that seems to fit, post it, or a transcript of the key information on it, on this board and I’ll see if I can advise where to look next.

Hugh McConnell and Frances Close are my 3 x great grandparents.  They were both widowed at the time of their marriage in 1847 - Frances' maiden name was Caghens.  They live in Keadymore, a townland in Co Armagh, and his occupation at time of marriage was flax dresser.

I don't know of any children from Hugh's first marriage, although I'm aware of other McConnells in the area who may or may not be related - haven't been able to confirm either way.

I hope this is of some use in identifying your Hugh.

Hi Ian,

I apologize for the delay in response. Thank you very much for reaching out with the possible match for my family. I really appreciate your help!

I did already have Frances Close on my list of about five possible 2nd wives for him, but I haven’t been able to put enough time in yet to verify if any are the right match. I suppose it is possible that a first marriage and kids would not be mentioned in family history. Also the only oral history I have heard about these two McConnell brothers is that they left while fairly young because they didn’t get along well with their new stepmother. Who knows if there is any truth to that lore?

Hugh McConnell’s son John emmigrated to Canada, but I am actually American. My great grandmother came to the US in 1910. She married a German immigrant in Seattle, Washington and that is where I live with much of my family now. There are others from this branch (who still have the McConnell name) in Montana and I’m sure plenty still in Canada. I think my Mom knows some of these McConnells, but I am not in touch with them.

If I do find any proof of connection to your Frances, I will try to get back in touch with you. I have visited Ireland before I started my family research and I would love to get back sometime.

One question… I have seen locations listed as Keady, Keadymore and Keadybeg.  I know these endings mean big and small, but are they actually separate places?

Thanks again and Best Regards,

Tina Monsaas

Hi Tina.

My Hugh was in his mid-40s when he married Frances so there's a pretty good chance he had children.  I'll keep looking and see what I can find.

Keady is in another part of Co Armagh, about 15 miles from Keadymore and Keadybeg.  These two are right next to each other and my McConnells lived right on the boundary at a place known as the Windy Gap.  For a while I thought that various family members were born in one or other but it turns out they used both names for the same place, simply because they were on the boundary.

As for the brothers not getting on with their step-mother - I can well believe it.

I know DNA testing isn't to everyone's taste but I've had some success with it.  Have you tetsted or thought of doing it?  It hasn't helped me with this particular line yet but I live in hope!

Regards,

Ian

Hi Ian,

Thanks for the additional information. This is all helpful and I hope to devote some more time to the research soon.

I just bought an Ancestry DNA kit for my Dad as a birthday gift, which is a good place to start (although not the McConnell side of my family). I really should do one myself as well. I’ve thought of it more for the purpose of verifying which countries my ancestors are from, but now with the test results databases getting larger I guess it could also link me to cousins. Within my family tree people rarely ever married someone from the same country/ethnicity. As far as I know I have English, Irish, German, Scottish, Dutch and Croatian. Then I married a Norwegian/Swedish/French mix, so our daughter is truly an example of the American “melting pot”. I think that’s why so many Americans like to dabble in genealogy. We are looking for some sort of history or culture to latch onto because we don’t really have a specific one of our own!

I will let you know if I come up with anything through DNA testing.

Regards, Tina

Elwyn,

Thank you so much for replying to my inquiry. I’m not sure if you will even see this since I have taken such a long time to get back to you.

I can eliminate the Eliza Parker marriage you listed above after looking at the enhanced view and seeing that her Hugh was 21 years old at the time of marriage in 1860. My Hugh’s first child was born around 1843 so he would have been much older in 1860. Frances Close is still a possibility and I have a contact through this message board if it turns out that she is the correct wife.  

Besides marriages, I have looked at births to Hugh McConnells to possibly track him through children with his second wife. One way to narrow down the timeframe for this second marriage, would be finding a death record for his first wife – Jane McConnell, but I think she probably died earlier than 1864, so it would be difficult to find anything without a known parish. If I do find any good matches I will post the transcripts as suggested for help with the next step.

Thanks again, Tina Monsaas