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Looking for information on the Porter family who lived on the Isle of Inch, which is situated in Lough Swilly Co. Donegal.

James Porter married Elizabeth Ramsay abt. 1820 possibly in the Burt Presbyterian Church as the Inch Church was not built until 1830. From this marriage there were eight known children born, James b1824, Elizabeth b1825, Ann b1826, Crawford b1828, Martha b1831, Robert b1832, Samuel b1833 & Isabella b1836. The last two immigrated to Australia in 1854 & the remaining children immigrated to Philadelphia in 1849-51. The only child to remain on Inch was Robert Porter who married Jane Fleming in 1851. One of their children, Thomas stayed on Inch & his family settled there.

Other Porter names found to be living on Inch were - Alexander 1766 religious census & John Griffiths valuation. All the above lived in the town land of Carrickanee.

Any information or help would be appreciated.

 

darylp123

Friday 29th Mar 2013, 01:35AM

Message Board Replies

  •  

    Hi,

    Thank you for your message.

    Have you tried looking in church records for more information?

    Presbyterian registers are held in three main locations:

    PRONI has microfilm copies of almost all registers in Northern Ireland and also lists of records held by the Presbyterian Historical Society.

    You could also check for record of the family in the land acts pertaining to Ireland in the 19th century. There are two:

    The Tithe Applotment Books (1823-1838) found at http://titheapplotmentbooks.nationalarchives.ie/search/tab/home.jsp

    and Griffith?s Valuation (1848-1864) found at http://www.askaboutireland.ie/griffith-valuation/

    Civil registration began in 1864, so you should be able to find any births, deaths, marriages that occurred in Thomas? family in these records. Civil records are available from the General Register?s Office in Dublin. Here is their website:

    http://www.groireland.ie/research.htm

    You can search the indexes to these records online at:

    https://familysearch.org/search/collection/1408347

    Have you tried looking in the 1901/1911 census records to see if you can find any information on family still in the area at the time? These are available here:

    http://www.census.nationalarchives.ie/search/

    Some other websites that you may find useful are:

    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

    Genealogy Links: http://www.genealogylinks.net/uk/ireland/donegal/index.html

    Family Search: www.familysearch.org

    Alternatively you could try contacting the Donegal Ancestry Centre however a fee may apply. Here is their email: info@donegalancestry.com

    Please be patient - as our programme has only begun to rollout across the island of Ireland and volunteers in some areas may not yet be organized.

    Kind regards,

    Genealogy Support

    Thursday 16th May 2013, 10:54AM

  • Hello,

    Your message is intriguing. In 1866, my great-great grandfather John Porter left the Isle of Inch as a young man with his wife Rebecca and young son James (age 5 at the time). They immigrated to the United States. My great-great grandmother's maiden name was Cresswell. They settled first in Philadelphia, and then three years later they left for Iowa. After working as a field hand and renting land, John eventually bought some land of his own in 1873. 

    Your message does not mention John, regardless, the time frame and mention of Philadelphia caused me to wonder if there is any connection (perhaps cousins?). Perhaps records of John are incomplete too.

    Best of luck to you in your search. Please respond to this message if you need any more information...perhaps there is a connection.

    Sincerely,

    Clark Porter

     

     

    Thursday 10th Apr 2014, 06:06PM

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