Halpin, McArdle, McGuire, Matthews, Lovelle (Leval, Lovelle?)

Dear MK,

I will see can I gie you some assistance and start at the end, and I can only offer my own insight based on research that I have done on other families, which showed evidence of chain migration, within families and neighbours to certain places and yes the famine was the catalyst for those years, so that is perhaps the best answer I can give you.  

You have included the link to Griffiths Valuation and the townland for Halpin's is Carrickleck and further down the page is a John Matthews and his townland is also Carrickleck, as James Halpin married Margaret Matthews on February 15, 1843 in Kingscourt, it is reasonable to assume that they got married in the bride's church and that she is local to Kingscourt and Carrickleck is just on the outskirts of the town.  The problem is trying to get information from after civil registration.  I have looked at Margaret Halpin's death in 1888 and it states that she is married, which means that her husband was still living, I noted also that her townland is Carrickleck, so it looks like they have continued to live there.  Yes there was a high mortality rate for women and she could be a second wife and unless you can track the birth records for all the children and the second marriage, you are unsure and both wives may have been Margarets...  The other issue is that we do not know the relationship of Thomas, I looked down the list of deaths on that page and none of them noted the relationship of the informant, this may be peculiar to this registrar as I have found many records that states the relationship, so Thomas may be her husband and if you look for a marriage for Thomas & Margaret, this may solve your question and pose another.  The other issue is that in death records the informant is guessing the age of the deceased.  

I looked up on Roots Ireland and William's baptism is there, as is the marriage of James & Margaret, I could not find a second marriage, but it could have taken place in another parish and there are records missing what is available for Kingscourt is Baptisms from 1838 - 1916 Marriages from 1816 - 1920 and burials from 1844 - 1858 and note that burial records are scarce.  The other problem can be in transcriptions, which means you may have to read through the original transcripts as some that were illegible though few were not transcribed.   If you can find their younger siblings, it may help you find their parents.   Note that Kingscourt is in the county of Cavan and in the religious diocese of Meath, also include the County of Meath in your searches.

Old burial records are hard to find as they are recorded mainly from headstones (if they still exist) by volunteers and not all graveyards are transcribed.  Note too that sometimes people travelled over 10 miles to bury in their traditional family plot.  Women were often buried with their own parents, if they died before their husbands.  You may find mentions of their deaths in the newspapers particularly if they belonged to organisations, they may have passed motions of sympathy at their meetings.  You can look these up at https://www.irishnewsarchive.com/, it is a subscription site.  Old Enniskeen graveyard is recorded, you will find their list here at http://kingscourtparish.ie/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/Graveyard-Headsto…;  Keep watching http://www.from-ireland.net and http://historicgraves.com as new transcriptions are added all time. 

I am unsure as to which records you have consulted, however, I will give you a list of sources that are available, some may or may not be of use to you in your research.  When searching use all the variant spellings as not all sites take account of the variations.

I don't know if you have looked at the following free records, though while all the images are not available online you can order copies and you will find them at www.irishgenealogy.ie this is what is held at the General Register Office (GRO) and includes all official records of Irish births, deaths and marriages from 1864 and of non-Catholic marriages from 1845, the historic indexes of which can be viewed and in these cases you are trying to bring your family within civl registration.

Elsewhere:
1. www.rootsireland.ie: This paying site has transcripts (without record-images) of most of the Roman Catholic records on the island of Ireland for areas other than those listed above. The major exceptions, where only small proportions of the records are transcribed, are counties Donegal, Monaghan and Wexford. None of the transcribed records for Clare are online. Each geographical area on the site has a "sources list" and it is essential to consult this in order to ascertain precisely what records are being searched. The site also includes transcripts of Church of Ireland, Methodist and Presbyterian registers, complete for some counties, completely absent for others.
2. www.familysearch.org: This free site run by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS) has transcripts, without record-images, of approximately thirty Roman Catholic parishes, mostly in counties Kerry, Cork and Roscommon.
3. www.ancestry.co.uk: This subscription site has transcripts, without record-images, of the registers of the diocese of Meath up to 1880, approximately forty parishes, as well as a copy of the LDS transcripts.
 

CHURCH RECORDS ARE AVAILABLE FOR RESEARCH OFFLINE

1. The National Library of Ireland has microfilm copies of almost all pre-1880 Roman Catholic parish registers on the island of Ireland. Access is free and print-outs of the records are allowed. See www.nli.ie.
2. The LDS Family History Library has microfilm copies of c. 40% of Irish Roman Catholic parish registers, some copies of National Library of Ireland films, others filmed by the LDS themselves. See https://familysearch.org/catalog-search. These films can be ordered via the Family History Centers attached to most Mormon temples. 
3. Most local Roman Catholic parishes do not permit research on their original records. Callers will normally be referred to the heritage centres whose records are now almost all on www.rootsireland.ie. If necessary, contact details for local parishes can be found via www.catholicireland.net.
4. The Representative Church Body Library is the official archive of record for Church of Ireland records that survived the burning of the Public Record Office in 1922. A full list of its holdings is at http://ireland.anglican.org. All are freely searchable if they are not too fragile to be handled.
5. The Public Record Office of Northern Ireland (www.proni.gov.uk) has freely available microfilm copies of almost all surviving records of all denominations for areas now in Northern Ireland, as well as a good number for areas in the border counties of Donegal, Cavan, Leitrim, Monaghan and Louth. A full list is at http://www.proni.gov.uk/index/search_the_archives/online_indexes/church_of_ireland_index.htm.
6. Quaker records are very comprehensive back to the 17th century, with microfilm copies in NLI and PRONI. See www.quakers-in-ireland.ie.
7. Some Presbyterian records are only available locally or in the Presbyterian Historical Society. See www.presbyterianhistoryireland.com.

Also available for free at http://www.genealogy.nationalarchives.ie/

• Census of Ireland, 1901 and 1911, and pre-1901 survivals
• Census Search Forms, 1841 – 51
• Tithe Applotment Books, 1823 – 37
• Soldiers’ Wills, 1914 – 1918
• Calendars of Wills and Administrations, 1858 – 1922
• Prerogative and diocesan copies of some wills and indexes to others, 1596 – 1858
• Diocesan and Prerogative Marriage Licence Bonds Indexes, 1623 – 1866
• Catholic qualification & convert rolls, 1700 – 1845
• Valuation Office house, field, tenure and quarto books 1824 – 1856
• Shipping agreements and crew lists, 1863 – 1921
• Will Registers 1858 – 1900

If you have not got a tree online, perhaps start by adding names and their families together.  Myheritage will allow you a tree for 250 people for free without any add ons and perhaps you might find a pattern or a link with names.

You could also write to the Editor at the Anglo-Celt, it is the local paper, it is not read as widespread as it used to but you never know your story may hit a note with someone you can reach them at   linda@ anglocelt.ie  give them as much detail as you have and if you have photos or a particular story it has a better chance of getting published.  I gather they do not send acknowledgements when they have published the story.  Due to cutbacks in journalism, write it as you want it published, they do not appear to edit anymore.  The Meath Chronicle also covers that area, their editor's contact details are gavan.becton@meathchronicle.ie

You can also contact cavangenealogy@eircom.net they charge for their service.  

I am sorry I have not been able to answer your questions directly and instead I hope I have given you some new pointers for your research.  

Best Wishes and if you need a second set of eyes on anything, please let me know.  Regards Carmel

Thank you so much for the reply! I will look into this!