County Antrim - What Roman Catholic Parishes?

Virginia:

Welcome to Ireland Reaching Out!

Many RC parishes in Ireland (and Co. Antrim) do not have records back to 1816 or earlier. Let me know which Crilley baptismal records you are looking for (and it would help if you have the parents names) and I will check Roots Ireland to see if records are available. Combing thru parish registers is unproductive unless you know the parish.

Roger McDonnell

Virginia:

I saw your earlier message where you were looking for Matthew Crilley with father Robert. I searched Roots Ireland for all of Ireland and did not find a record.Likely he was baptized in a parish that no longer has records back to pre-1820.

Have you considered autosomal DNA testing?

Roger

Roger, thank you so much for your help.   Seems like tracing this family back to Ireland is almost impossible!  I have joined Roots Ireland for one month, and am trying to see if I can find any connecting Crilly family.  Even in the USA, though there aren't that many with the Crilly surname, we've not found many connecting links.   This is actually my husband's family, and yes he has done a DNA on Ancestry, so maybe something will show up there!  You were very kind to help me.

Roger,  another question.   Does the occupation "cotton weaver" give any clue as to what county or parish Robert Crilly may have lived in?  Would this have been in a 'factory' type setting or in his private home around the 1837 period (the date Robert's son, Matthew, married in St. Helens, Lancashire?

Thank you for your insights.

Hi Virginia!

Cotton weavers were very common in Ulster and they could have worked in a factory or at home. So the occupation itself does not give us a clue related to parish or county.

This link http://www.swilson.info/sdist.php   shows you where the surname Crilley was found around 1860 based on Griffiths Valuation data. Co. Derry, Co. Louth and Co. Armagh were the most common counties for Crilleys.

Regarding your husband's Ancestry DNA test, you may want to look into Gedmatch. Gedmatch www.gedmatch.com is a volunteer run site where you can load raw DNA data and see if you match people who tested with another company (and also loaded their data to Gedmatch). It widens your matching pool.

Roger

Thank you for looking this up in Griffiths.   I will concentrate on those other counties as well.  You've been so much help.   From what little I've been able to get on the Crilleys living in England, I don't think they really had much.   I doubt if they actually owned or even rented property to appear on Griffiths (but maybe some of their kin).  I understand there were quite a few Irish living in St. Helen's during those years, and mostly in one area.    Since the marriages took place in England, (except for the 2nd mariage Mary McCarthy), it is hard to figure out if they even would have known these families back in Ireland, or just met them in England years.

I do have him registered in Gedmatch, and keep hoping we'll find some connections back that far!  Genealogy has come a long way, so I'm not giving up!!   It's fun learning about Ireland, and we are planning to visit there in the summer, although not really to attempt any family history -- just enjoy the culture and scenery.

Thanks again.

Virginia:

Great that your husband is included on Gedmatch. DNA testing takes patience and eventually a match shows up that can break down a brick wall. Glad to hear you are coming to Ireland this summer. My wife and I go over once a year usually in the Fall. (We live in the States). Rent a car and stay for about ten days. The last three years we have started off in London or Edinburgh.

Roger

Roger, I have always wondered about the male first names in my family.  They didn't seem very 'Irish' to me.

The father, Robert, named his son, Matthwe. Matthew then named his 1st born, Robert (probably for his father)  Then the son, William Francis, and another son, James Patrick.    At least Francis and Patrick do seem Roman Catholic Irish.

Have you observed if Ulster naming patterns reflected the Scottish-English population even if the family were R.C.?

Since Matthew's marriage was 1837 in Lancashire, I'm guessing he must have moved there by about 1835 at least.  I've not found any records for passengers coming from Ireland at that time.

Thanks for sharing your ideas with me.

Virginia:

My great-grandfather was a Robert and he was born in Co. Donegal which is part of Ulster although in the Republic. I think Robert, William and James were used by all families in Ulster regardless of religion. Matthew is not that common anywjhere in Ireland in my experience/

Roger

Virginia,

There are no pasenger records for journeys from Ireland to England. It was just a short domestic journey (still is, from Co. Antrim) and no records have ever been kept for that type of travel.

Thank you both for your help.   Should I be posting my Matthew Crilly information on the specific counties of Louth and Armagh, etc.  ?  I did look at some Louth posts yesterday that had some wonderful links with many Crilly surnames (none that seems to match mine though)

Virginia:

I don't think you need to post in Co. Louth and Co. Armagh pages. All of the messages posted end up on the main board and volunteers like Elwyn and I try to assist. 

Roger