Blevens

Hi John,

Thank you for your message.

Given the date of their marriage you will have to look in church records for information on Mary and Robert and their ancestors. Unfortunately, Catholic records for Clonfeacle parish do not begin until 1814:

http://www.irishtimes.com/ancestor/fuses/rcparishmaps/index.cfm?fuseaction=showidrecords&CityCounty=Armagh&parish=Clonfeacle&churchid=199

and 1834 in Loughall:

http://www.irishtimes.com/ancestor/fuses/rcparishmaps/index.cfm?fuseaction=showidrecords&CityCounty=Armagh&parish=Loughgall&churchid=227

Church of Ireland records generally tend to have an earlier start date as it was the official church in the country at the time. Most surviving Church of Ireland records are still held by the local clergy, although some are in the National Archives of Ireland and others are in the Representative Church Body Library in Dublin. Here are their websites: http://www.nationalarchives.ie/ and http://ireland.anglican.org/about/42

Lists of these surviving registers can also be found at the National Library of Ireland.

I did do a search of the surnames in the Flax Growers List This was part of a government scheme to encourage the linen trade, free spinning wheels or looms were granted to individuals planting a certain area of land with flax. The lists of those entitled to the awards, covering almost 60,000 individuals, were published in 1796, and record only the names of the individuals and the civil parish in which they lived. I did find a John Blevan form Clonfeacle parish and a John Gillespie form Loughgall parish. It is possible that these are related to your ancestors:

http://www.failteromhat.com/flax/armagh.htm

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

Familysearch: www.familysearch.org

You could also try contacting Armagh Ancestry for some assistance, however a fee may apply. Here is their email address: researcher@armagh.gov.uk

Kind regards,

Genealogy Support