Looking for family

According to MacLysaght’s “The Surnames of Ireland,” Law(e) is “an English name found mainly in North East Ulster.” So your ancestors probably originated in England.

I had a look at the Muster Rolls for Ulster c 1630. The name Law was found then but mainly in Down and and Antrim. There were no Laws in Tyrone at that point.  So your ancestors probably arrived in the county after 1630.

I looked at the 1901 census for Tyrone. There were 32 Laws then, and of those who were born in the county, the vast majority were Church of Ireland with a handful of Presbyterians. Those denominations also indicate incomer origins. 

The problem you face in researching people born in the 1600s and 1700s is that very few records exist for that period.  For births, deaths & marriages you have to rely on church records and many parishes don’t have any for the 1600s at all. You mention that the family may have lived in Clogher at one time. The Church of Ireland (which seems the most likely denomination for your family) has records starting in 1763. No other denomination has any records till the 1800s. If you think any of your family might have been born, married or buried after 1763, then you might want to check the Clogher records. There is a copy in PRONI (the public record office) in Belfast. I don’t think they are on-line anywhere, so a personal visit is required to view them. If you are unable to go yourself, you could employ a researcher. Researchers in the PRONI area: http://sgni.net

I searched the PRONI e-catalogue for any papers relating to Law + Clogher in the 1600s and early 1700s but without success.

Thank you for this information!