Moore Family of Newtownhamilton

Dear Tonnagh1832

Welcome to Ireland Reaching Out and thanks for your query.

In relation to your search you could try www.familysearch.org or www.rootsireland.ie (a subscription site) for information on your ancestors. As you probably know, baptism and other church records vary in start date depending on the parish. Newtownhamilton, Co. Donegal is in the Civil Parish of Killea, Roman Catholic Parish of All Saints. As you can see from the link blow, the RC records begin in 1843:

http://www.irishtimes.com/ancestor/fuses/rcparishmaps/index.cfm?fuseaction=showidrecords&CityCounty=Donegal&parish=All-Saints&churchid=1003

You say that you believe that John Parker Moore was born c. 1846, so you may be lucky enough to find a baptism record for him along with a marriage record for his parents, depending on the dates involved.

Best of luck with your search

Clare Doyle

Genealogy Support

Still looking for info on John Parker Moore born May 27, 1847. I have a marriage record for his sister Sarah Moore and John Gordon in Newtownhamilton, county Armagh in 1857 and his cousin on the mothers side, Lockhart, was born in Newtownhamilton also in 1843. John Parker, his mother and siblings left Ireland in 1857 for the U.S. I have felt this was strong evidence that they lived in the newtownhamilton vicinity. Haven't found them. Is this a bad assumption, or should I keep looking.

What denomination were the family?

They were Protestant, not Methodist, perhaps Church of Ireland.

The children’s births are all before the start of statutory birth registration in Ireland (1864) so you won’t find a birth certificate for John Parker Moore. You might find his baptism. You say he was possibly Church of Ireland. (That would seem to be confirmed by the fact that his sister Sarah married in St Johns Church of Ireland. Tradition was to marry in the bride’s church). If so, the bad news is that the Newtownhamilton Church of Ireland records pre 1871 were destroyed in the 1922 fire in Dublin, during the civil war. Baptisms for 1823 to 1826 only have survived and there’s a copy in PRONI (the public record office) in Belfast. 

If the family were Presbyterian, then there are numerous Presbyterian churches in the area. Clarkesbridge Presbyterian has the following records: Baptisms, 1822-50; marriages, 1840-45; lists of communicants, 1822-62. Again there is a copy of these records in PRONI.

Newtownhamilton 1st Presbyterian church has baptisms and marriages from 1833 onwards but the only copy is still held by the Minister, so you would need to write to him to have them checked. PRONI do hold the following information from that church:

Register book containing list of session members, 1833, details of families by townland, 1833, accounts, 1832-36, stipend accounts with names, 1832-35, deaths, 1833-c.1836, and lists of poor people supported, c.1833.

Newtownhamilton 2nd Presbyterian church has the following records: Baptisms, 1823-1915; marriages, 1823-44 and 1862- 1936; new communicants, 1823-61; communion roll, c.1870-1938; session minutes, 1827-9, with censures, 1824-9; lists of membership certificates received and given, 1823-41; census of the congregation, 1826. There is a copy in PRONI.

There was also a Presbyterian church in Tullyvallen where your family appears to have lived. They don’t appear to have any records for the 1800s, but you would need to double check that with the church.

Griffiths Valuation suggests there was also seceder Presbyterian congregation in the townland too. I have no knowledge of any records for that. The Presbyterian Historical Society in Belfast might know if you want to contact them.

Griffiths lists a William Moore farming in Tullyvallen in 1864. A possible relation to John & Agnes/Nancy perhaps? William had plot 39 which was a 22 acre farm. There are also 3 Gordon households, headed by Anne, William & James.

http://www.askaboutireland.ie/griffith-valuation/index.xml?action=nameSearch

Probate abstract: The Will of William Moore late of Tullyvallen County Armagh Farmer deceased who died 28 September 1880 at same place was proved at Armagh by John Carrol of Tullyvallen aforesaid Farmer one of the Executors.

The above will is on-line and can be read on the PRONI site. He left most of his estate to nephews and nieces:

http://apps.proni.gov.uk/DCAL_PRONI_WillsCalendar_IE/WillsSearch.aspx

According to the GRONI indexes he was 70 when he died.

Regarding the Griffith's listing a William Moore in Tullyvallen, I may not be reading Griffith's correctly. Is there a Parish for that?

Yes, Newtownhamilton. There are only 2 William Moore entries for that parish. The other is in Cortamlat which is an adjacent townland to Tullyvallan. William’s will reveals he owned the Cortamlat farm too.

Still looking for my family in Tullyvallan. Have checked out all of your suggestions. I have a question. The sources I have for Tullyvallan as their home are a US obit for a cousin, marriage for a sister and a family Bible. They all list Tullyvallan as home. There are several places called Tullyvallan. Tullyvallan East, Tullyvallan West, Tullyvallan Muculach and Tullyvallan Tipping. Should I look at the others as "Tullyvallan"? Thank you!

I am not quite sure what it is you are hoping to find. Your family left Ireland in 1857. There aren’t many records prior to that, especially for weavers and labourers, and that’s your main stumbling block. The Newtownhamilton Church of Ireland baptism records are destroyed and statutory birth registration hadn’t started. So that’s about it, in terms of finding evidence of a birth. Griffiths wasn’t compiled till 1864 and so your immediate Moore family won’t be in it. The Tullyvallan William Moore I mentioned previously might be a relative who remained in Ireland. But with it being a fairly common name, he might not be connected to them at all.

To answer your question, the other townlands are all near each other, and near Tullyvallan itself. They are all in the same parish. The family may have moved around a bit, but in general, Ministers and officials would put the specific townland name on certificates. We know Sarah Moore’s marriage cert says Tullyvallan as her address. You can conclude from that that she lived there, rather than one of the other Tullyvallans, in 1857 at least.

Sarah married John Gordon, also of Tullyvallan. His father James was weaver. I do see a James Gordon listed in Griffiths in 1864, in Tullyvallan, in Dundalk St, Newtownhamilton.  He had a house, outbuildings and a small garden. Fairly typical for a weaver. So that might be the Gordon family home. But I can’t trace the Moore family home because they had left 7 years before Griffiths was compiled.

Thank you for all of the help you have given me. Using the Will of William Moore and looking at the land on Griffith's Valuation and the follow valuation, I have made contact with the current owners. The land has been in the family since inheriting in the Will from William Moore. They are sending me pictures, etc. We will be doing dna but I think we have found it.

Thank you!