James Toy bn 1784 and John Toy born abt 1765, Donegal

Cheryl:

Welcome to Ireland Reaching Out!

I found two possible civil birth records for a John Toy in Co. Donegal. I found  these records at the free site www.irishgenealogy.ie  See below. I was unable to find a marriage record for John to an Alice and also did not find a birth record around 1884 for James Toy.

Is it possible that these events occurred in England?

Roger McDonnell

https://civilrecords.irishgenealogy.ie/churchrecords/images/birth_retur…

https://civilrecords.irishgenealogy.ie/churchrecords/images/birth_retur…

Could there be a mixup with the dates - 1884 and 1865 ?

The only James Toy / Sarah Rutledge marriage that I was able to locate took place in Newcastle upon Tyne, Northumberland England in 1823. There also a possible sign of this James & Sarah on the 1861 English Census in Hetton Le Hole, Durham. Place of birth for both is given as "Donagale, Ireland".

Hi Roger, I'm so sorry, I've just realised it should have read 1784 and 1765! Thank you so much for looking for me. The marriage in 1823 is right, though on one census they write a child as having being born in Ireland and at one point James changes his place of birth to 'at sea'.... thanks again, kind regards, Cheryl 

Hi, have you considered that the name TOY might be FOY? I have lots of FOY family who lived in Co Mayo & Sligo, the name was transcribed incorrectly numerous times, even written as FARY in US Census which gave our research a challenge! FAHEY may be the same Clan/Family way back, also MCAFFEE, CAFFEE, CUFFEE, COFFEE, I have lots of dna matches to those names as well. Most of the FOYs left, went to England, Scotland, US, Canada, NSW...primarily to England. My family lived in Carramore, sw of Ballina, also in Sligo before they emigrated in 1848 to Waukegan IL.

If you have had a dna test, try searching your matches for FOY and see what you find. Happy Hunting!

Also, some of the FOYs married MANLEY/MUNNELLY, COSGREAVE & COSGRIF (COSGROVE), KENNEDY, FORD, MCLACHLAN, PENDERGAST/PRENDERGAST, CUFFE and more.

My earliest known FOY is Thomas Edward FOY b 1804, lived Carramore & Rathkip. He m Catherine MANLEY MUNNELLY (1808-1860). 

Thanks so much for that, I'll have another's search and try Foy as well. Hopefully I'll have more luck! 

Another thing about the FOYs...The British brought in a group of weavers and farmers familiar with growing/working w flax, from Co Donegal. early 1700's.  By mid 1800's that system had fallen apart due to famine and many decided to leave, to anywhere they were able to go. I have always believed my FOY family to be part of that group but have never tried to prove it. IBy 1830 they lived in Carramore & Tullysleva (Mayo) where most families were digging turf with only very small farms.  Flax growers also used the bogland to soften the flax to make it easier to work with. The 1796 list of Flax Growers for Mayo shows both FOY & TOY on the list. TOY just north of Ballina. Note BLUETT, CURREEN, DUFFY, ETKINS , FLEMING, GAUGHAN, HEALY, KELLY, LANDRUM, MCDERMOTT, OWEN, MATHEWS, NEWCOMEN, ORME, REILLY, some of those  or varied spelling may be related to yours.            https://www.failteromhat.com/flax/mayo.php

In USA my group lived in Illinois, outside of and in Chicago.. My g'g'grandfather Pat FOY was a farmer in Waukegan, but there is a pattern of family members who worked with fabric, 2 dressmakers, an upholsterer, 1 milliner, and clerk in a furniture store. There were other FOYs who lived south of them, from southern Mayo, but although we connect to some in PA and England, so far we have not found a family connection to that group. I imagine they were distantly related.. I don't know if this helps you or not. One FOY still in Sligo told me her family "has always gone back & forth to Scotland", in fact her brother was currently working in Scotland. My family were definitely not Presbyterian Scots, all were Roman Catholic., but some Scots became Irish after they were evicted from Scotland and moved over to Northern Ireland.  DNA is a really good way to find cousins, and I am happy to help you with that, just ask.

That's brilliant thanks ever so much. I'm going to have a search and I'll let you know if I have ay luck,

Thanks again,

Cheryl