I live in Canada and am looking for birth information for my great-great-grandmother, Margert McKay. Based on family lore, she was born November 1829 in Ballymoney. We have no information as to her parents or siblings (if any). She emigrated to Canada from Ireland sometime between her birth in 1829 and 1851, when she appears in the 1851 Census of Canada East with a brother or uncle, John McKay, and his wife, Jane.
In August 1853, Margaret McKay married John Lunan in Canada East (Quebec) and they went on to have nine children. They moved to Canada West (Ontario) in 1863.
Margaret was widowed in November 1869 when a tree fell on her husband, John, at which time their youngest child was approx. 6 months old. Margaret is believed to have died in April 1873 in Minden, Ontario, Canada, however no civil or church death or burial records exist for either of them due to the remoteness of their location. After Margaret's death, the Lunan children scattered and most ended up in the western provinces of Canada.
Tuesday 30th Apr 2013, 10:54PM
Message Board Replies
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Hi,
Thank you for your message.
Civil registration did not become mandatory in Ireland until 1864, sp prior to this all records were kept by the local parish church so this is where you will have to look to find Margaret?s birth information.
Do you know what religious denomination she was?
Most Catholic records are held locally so you may need to write to the local parish priest for possible assistance. One website that you may find useful is the Irish Times where they give an overview of what records are available in specific parishes. It also shows you where copies of the records are available. For Ballymoney parish, follow this link:
Unfortunately, as you can see from the above link records for the parish do not begin until c. 1853. However, in the19th century new Catholic parishes were created so starting dates can sometimes be misleading. Many parishes changed their geographical spread so you may find earlier records relating to your family in the records of adjoining parishes:
http://www.irishtimes.com/ancestor/browse/counties/rcmaps/antrimrc.htm
It may be an idea to contact the Ulster Historical Foundation for assistance, however a fee may apply. Here is their email:
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.
There are also some places online where you can search for records, however not all of them have complete collections or are free:
www.familysearch.org has a huge database of genealogical records including some church records for Ireland.
www.rootsireland.ie have a large collection of Irish Church records, however you have to pay to use this site.
Here is another link that you may find useful: http://www.irish-genealogy-toolkit.com/trace-family-history.html
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
Wednesday 5th Jun 2013, 02:18PM