John Martin, born 1 July 1823

Gordon:

Do you know the religious denomination? If they were Catholic, records for that Donaghadee parish do not start until 1864. Other denominations have records going back much earlier.

Roger mcDonnell

Roger,

Once in Scotland, the family is recorded as Church of Scotland. So I imagine that they would have been Church of Ireland or Presbyterian before leaving Ireland.

Gordon

Roger,

Once in Scotland, the family is recorded as Church of Scotland. So I imagine that they would have been Church of Ireland or Presbyterian before leaving Ireland.

Gordon

Gordon:

Roots Ireland www.rootsireland.ie has the C of I records for Donaghadee parish starting in the 1770s. I don't think they have Presbyterian records for that parish.

I looked for a John Martin baptized in 1823 with a father James but could not find a record. 

The Tithe Applotment listings are not online for Co. Down as far as I can tell. You would have to visit PRONI in Belfast to view the records. Likely James Martin would be listed.

http://www.proni.gov.uk/

Roger

Very many thanks, indeed. 

May I ask another question, unrelated to Donaghadee? How do I make progress when I do not have the parish name? Specifically, many years ago (early 1990s) I found the 1843 marriage of Daniel Rankin and Mary Church listed in Index to Marriage Licence Bonds for the Church of Ireland Diocese of Down, Connor and Dromore. No parish name was provided against the entry. This couple emigrated to the United States in about 1848 and they seem also to have connections with family in Scotland. The relevant surnames here are

Rankin

Church

McKinny/McKenney/McKechnie

Logan

Moore

Simpson

Anderson 

Hanson

and possibly, Lynn.

They may (but not definitely) have all come from the same parish.

I have not been able to progress this line in Ireland at all, though I've done quite well with Scottish and American records.

Gordon:

I sent a message to our Northern Ireland expert to see if we can get an answer to your question. It may be that you would have to visit PRONI.

Roger

My understanding is that the original Marriage Bonds were amongst the documents lost in the 1922 fire in Dublin. All that remains now are indexes which evidently include this 1843 marriage. You can have a look at those indexes on microfilm at PRONI but I suspect that there may be no more information there than you already have.

They are not on-line anywhere so far as I am aware and therefore a visit to PRONI would be required to view them. Or you could e-mail PRONI and ask them to look it up but there will be a fee for that.

You mention that your family were Church of Scotland in Scotland. That?s Presbyterian, so that could be a hint as to their denomination in Ireland. It doesn?t preclude some records there being in the Church of Ireland though, as tradition was to marry in the bride?s church, so if she was Episcopalian (Anglican) then you?d expect to find her marriage and baptism in the Church of Ireland.

Many thanks to both of you for looking at this for me.

It's difficult to find a route forward without the parishes of origin.

Maybe one day!