Visitors to Ardaganny & Glenoughty (Forsyth & McNutt Family)

Hello:

We have a Clondavaddog volunteer who will be able to assist you and I will forward this post to him.  

Kind regards,

Jane

Fantastic......thank you so much.

Hi there and welcome to Ireland Reaching out.
Thank you for submitting the query about Catherine McNutt, I will have a look to see what I can find out from a local McNutt family i might know and get back to
as soon as possible.
Have you by any chance been in contact with McNutt families in Fanad before this.
Kind regards Seamus callaghan (Kerrykeel)
Clondavaddog Donegal

Hello Seamus

Thank you for your generous offer of assistance.  I have not made contact with any McNutt families in Donegal at all, despite doing as much online research as I have been able to find, and a visit to Downings in 2016 when all McNutt businesses were sadly closed.

Any clues you could share would be very much appreciated.  We will be in the area from 17-22 August.

Kind regards

Lyndall Hill

Hi Lyndall,
A question was put to me when I was doing my enquiries. I happen to have come across your family tree on ancestry and I have been asked do you or anyone that you know researching Catherine McNutt and her husband happen to have any
Record of Birth or Marriage Certificate or better again DNA that confirms the connection of her directly to the Parish of Clondavaddog/Fanad (the Parish of Leck in Letterkenny is a good distance away).
If there is evidence , that is great, but it has been pointed out to me Catherine McNutt could potentially be from another Parish or townland within Donegal.
Kind regards
Seamus

Hi Seamus

We are working from the information in the attachment below - but do not have any birth certificate to confirm.  Her death certificate does not indicate where she was born. With only 2 Catherine McNutt born 1807 in and around that area, we are hoping to verify that one is the corect one.

Many thanks

Lyndall

Hi Lyndall, 

I was looking up Birth throughout Donegal in the early 1800’s and here is only a handful Births registered for the name McNutt. This is not uncommon as very little Births or Marriage are recorded when you go back before the 1850’s and the few that are would be Church of Ireland and Presbyterian which show up on http://www.rootsireland.ie/ . As you can see there is no Catherine or Mary McNutts recorded as it is unfortunatly just too far back. The nearest I have come across is a Marriage Record (Clondavaddog/Fanad) for a Mary McNutt married in 1833. It is possible that this Mary McNutt could have been born about 1807 however she married John Borland which means she is not the McNutt family you seek. 

The reason I am referencing a Mary McNutt instead of Catherine McNutt as you refer to her in this query is, I see both from your family tree up on ancestry the name Catherine (Mary), and this would the name (and not Catherines) registered with the children's birth records which is attached.  

Birth Record - William Forsythe b.25July1841, Glenaughty Parish of Conwall, John Forsythe & Mary McNutt. 

Birth Record - Francis Forsythe b.08Mar1845, Glenoughty, Parish of Conwall, John Forsythe & Masy McNutt. 

Regarding the Forsyth Family living in and around Ardaganny, I was wondering did you get the chance to visit that area near Letterkenny in 2016 when you were in north Donegal, and if you did I am curious to know was there any buildings still standing. 

Hi Seamus

Thanks for the info.  The baptism records would match for William, though we have 1847 for Francis.  This could of course have been 1845.  I will need to verify via his death certificate, though vague dates of birth were common I know.  I will now try to explore Glenoughty on the ground.

There were no Forsyth or McNutt names in the Old Leck cemetery when we explored last time, and we didn't really know where to look for any buildings.  I am hoping to locate the approximate area at Ardaganny this time.  Thanks for the location map.  Is there anything I can look at to match the Griffiths Valuation entry for Catherine Forsyth to an actual plot on the ground?

The oldest son of Catherine (Mary?) and John Forsyth was Samuel (naming tradition would be to the father's side?) Born 1828.  Am assuming the marriage was about then.

Which church would the family have attended do you believe?  And are there parish records to check?  There have been suggsstions that 2 girls were also born in to the family, but I have not been able to find evidence of this.

We leave tomorrow night on our 21 hour flights via Dubai to Dublin, so will have to rely on occasional wifi to keep track from here on in.

Thank you so much for your help thus far.  We will be in the area from 15-19th and would love any more of your wisdom and local advice and even the chance of a cuppa with you if possible.

Cheers for now

Lyndall

Hi Lyndall, 

Sorry about the delay, i am small bit busy  but i will get time to reply properly soon. I would like to see if i can help you find the family locations, however I am afraid i happen to be married and living down in co. Limerick which is six hours away and this will unfortunatly hinder me getting to meet for a coffee and show you around personally. I am confident that i should be able to put together a detailed map that will direct you straight to these locations of Ardaganny and Glenoughty that you see on the 1850s map. 

Finding the family plots i feel is going to be very difficult though. What i see when i compare the old plot maps of 1850s to present day google maps is that they are situated in what now is a large Forest, and this means locating the remains of what was a building over 100years ago will be a challange. I have never been any closer than letterkenny to these townlands but i know i can direct you to them without too much bother and with luck hopefully pinpoint using google co-ordinates where exactly you family ancestrial home would have been back in 1850s.

I will look into the marriage record again, and see if i can find a connection to the McNutts of Fanad but this too could be difficult due to it being so long ago and records somply not available back then, I will find out about possible churches also. It will be no more than a week to have this ready.

Kind regards Seamus

You are very kind, but I understand about constraints on time and family.  Please do not worry about the maps.  I will potter along in and around the area and see what surfaces.  Yes, the time so long ago makes pinpointing actual places on the ground very hard.  You have been more than generous already.Thank you so much for your help to date, Seamus.

I enjoyed a couple of hours at the EPIC EMIGRATION MUSEUM today in Dublin and appreciated the hardahips of the times a bit more I believe.  It's like doing a jigsaw with no straight edges.   

We will head to Glasgow tomorrow and from there up the WAW.  Getting ready to explore.

Cheers

Lyndall 

Hi Lyndall, 

It sounds like you are really enjoying you Holiday travels, which is always nice to hear. I managed to finish the directions to the Forsythe family plot locations. Would you believe both Catherine and Samuel Forsythe lived next door neighbours to each other, although by looking at the records you would think they might be miles away with them being recorded in different townlands. This has made it a lot easier. 

The slides I have done up have google map location links within it, which if you happen to be using a smart phone or GPS in a rental car it should take you directly there without fault. If the phone GPS fails to help theres always a back up,  if you can make your way to the townland Glenoughy, find a local person that might know where this house might be, take a left turn at that house driving down a narrow country road for about one or two Km until you come across a gated entrance to the forest on your right hand side.  

This is a forest walk so don’t be worried, it should be about 600m or more walk down this path to perhaps reach a forest path junction. This is the location where the Forseythe lived back in the early to mid 1800’s. Nothing left but ooking around for any demolished walls or buildings. 

 Have a look and play about with the links on the phone to see if they are working ok. Fingers crossed it will work out ok. Kind regards Seamus 

Wow Seamus.  This is beyond my wildest expectations.  I am itching to get there now and explore thanks to your detailed directions.  You are a treasure!

Am walking (struggling a bit and sunburnt in this glorious summery weather) on Innis Mor today and tomorrow, but when I get back to Galway and collect the hire car on Saturday we can get that gps humming.  We will be in the Letterkenny area from 15-19th, so have plenty of time to chase any leads.  Would the Donegal Historical Centre or anywhere else be worth a visit for historical materials about the areas of those early to mid 1800s?

Thank you very sincerely.  I think you have solved one of the missing jigsaw pieces and all the descendants of the Forsyth brothers will soon be sharing this as well.

Is there a way to thank you for your time and efforts and materials?  Or to Irelandxo?

Most gratefully

Lyndall

Hi Lyndall,

No need to worry about thanking us at all, it is honestly our pleasure. If you were to take a few photos and let us know how you got on in your family adventure that is all we could ever ask for. Fingers crossed you will have a great result. Checking out the  Donegal County Museum  in Letterkenny, you might be able to shine a light on why a lot of the homes in that area disappeared to be replaced with a wooded area called Corravaddy Woodland Walk. 

Trinity Presbyterian Church may also be very worthwhile visiting to see if the Forsyth family were noted as being parishioners in attendance back in the day. 

Kind regards Seamus

Will do Seamus.  Thanks again.

Lyndall

My late mothers cousins are mcnutts. If you are on ancestry.com. my dna is listed.

Thank you Yvonne for taking the interest and offering your dna assistance.

Kind Regards, Seamus

Hi Lyndall,

I am just checking back with you, I was wondering if you had any luck with family research when you were visting Ardaganny, Glenoughty and Letterkenny.

I do hope the maps were of some use to you.

Seamus