McGlarry and Lynn

Here’s John McGlarry’s birth on 20.8.1873 at Ballyreagh. Father was noted as residing in Glasgow at that date.

https://civilrecords.irishgenealogy.ie/churchrecords/images/birth_returns/births_1873/03188/2168847.pdf

Informant was Maryanne Lynn, also of Ballyreagh, presumably a relative. Possibly Ballyreagh is where Margaret’s family lived.

The couple married in May 1873 at Culfeightrin RC chapel, at which time William’s address was Ballycastle and Margaret’s Barnish (just beside Ballyreagh):

https://civilrecords.irishgenealogy.ie/churchrecords/images/marriage_returns/marriages_1873/11269/8132609.pdf

Their fathers names are on the marriage certificate.  There are a number of Lynn families around that area. Most are RC though there are some Presbyterians too. This is the only Lynn in Ballyreagh in the 1901 census. She was RC:

http://www.census.nationalarchives.ie/pages/1901/Antrim/The_Fair_Head/Ballyreagh_Lower/922072/

Here’s the death for a Mary Ann Lynn in Ballyreagh in 1901, who might be the informant at the 1873 birth:

https://civilrecords.irishgenealogy.ie/churchrecords/images/deaths_returns/deaths_1901/05739/4620151.pdf

Did Margaret die in Port Glasgow in 1926? If so, her death certificate should give you her mother’s name.  If you give me that information I’ll look for her in Irish records. Likewise for William.

Birth registration only started in Ireland in 1864. Both William & Margaret were born before that so you won’t find birth certificates for them. You might find their baptisms in the church baptism records. Culfeightrin’s records start in 1825 and they are on the nli site: http://www.nli.ie

If they are not there try surrounding parishes. I agree McGlarry is not a common name in that area. McGarry is more common, so perhaps the name got changed slightly or mis-spelled at times.

Hi, thanks so much Elwyn. 
i've did a check on Scotlands People and Margaret McGlarry nee Lynn did indeed die in 1926 in Port Glasgow. Says her parents were Robert Lynn and Mary Ann Lynn nee Cassidy? Trying to attach the PDF document of the death certificate for you to see it but its only allowing a link to be added which i dont have? 
this is fantastic though as we didnt know when she died, or her parents names. We are keen to find out about them in Northern Ireland. So now we have William McGlarry's father as William also - do not know who his mother was and Margarets parents as Robert Lynn and Mary Anne Cassidy. 
 

thanks again for your help. 
josie 
 

Josie,

It looks as though the Mary Ann Lynn who died in Ballyreagh in 1901 will have been Margaret’s mother. So you know her husband had pre-deceased her. I can’t find a death for him though 1864 – 1901. Mary Ann’s age on her death certificate is way out, probably by 20 years (not uncommon in those times as folk often didn’t know their ages). Informants for deaths just guessed.

Griffiths Valuation for 1861 lists just 1 Lynn property in Ballyreagh Upper, so I suspect it will be connected to your family. The occupant was Patrick Lynn. He had plot 6f which was a labourer’s cottage. Next door in 6e was Hugh McGlarry. That can’t be a coincidence. So I would say your William married the girl next door.  The cottages they lived in were on what is now the Torr Rd, though they are demolished now judging by Google Earth.

I found the marriage for Robert Lynn to Mary Ann Cassidy in Culfeightrin on 6th Jan 1842:

https://registers.nli.ie/registers/vtls000633142#page/62/mode/1up

So if Mary Ann was married in 1842, she was probably born about 1822.

The 1803 agricultural census lists an Archibald Linn and a Hugh Linn in Ballyreagh. So these may be relations.

Margaret’s death certificate in 1926 should tell you whether her husband was still alive.  Have you found his death?

There are numerous trees on Ancestry which list Robert Lynn & Mary Ann Cassidy. They detail around 5 or 6 children. Their son Robert died in Glasgow in 1908, son Archie in Iowa in 1924 and daughter Jane in Iowa in 1914. Robert senior looks to have worked in the shipyards in Glasgow as a riveter, and is reportedly on the 1851 census for Paisley. No death details for Robert Lynn senior but since I can’t find him in Ireland he may have died in Scotland.

Ancestry also has several trees for William McGlarry & Margaret Lynn but several are private and the others don’t have much more information than you appear to have. They had a son William born in Port Glasgow in 1889 who died in 1934 in New York.

Brilliant thanks Elwyn. I am looking at the marriage record you sent, trying to find their names the writing is tricky, wonder does it mention their parents as that would give us a whole other line we knew nothing about. This is exciting! 
 

re Margaret Lynns death in 1926 it notes she was widowed and i know from her daughter Jane's marriage certificate in 1900 that he was also deceased then. So we know William and Margaret had their son William in 1889 therefore William was very much alive, but he was deceased some time in the next 11 years. Have checked scottish records and there is no death for him at all here. Wondering if he was back in NI visiting family and died there? Or whether he left Margaret and the kids and went abroad or something after 1889. Its a mystery..... 

Best wishes

Re Robert Lynn, you were right... found a death for him here in Scotland, he found work here. Died aged 45 yrs. Mary Ann obviously went back home to Ballyreagh after this. Roberts death cert has his parents as Archibald Linn and Ellen McFawl - i've never seen it spelt this way. Great that we have those names now, can try looking into them. I am meant to be over in Ballycastle this April as i wanted to explore more of the ancestry but may not get over with the covid situation. Fingers crossed! 

Josie,

I assume you found the marriage ok. If you didn’t, it doesn’t show parents names. The records didn’t record that information at that period. All you normally get is the couple’s names, the date and their 2 witnesses.

Regarding the surname McFawl, it’s a variant of McFaul. That name is very common around Ballycastle and on Rathlin Island.  The skipper of the Rathlin ferry and the owner of the pub on Rathlin are both McFauls. (In Scotland today it’d be McPhail). I read they came from the Western isles at some distant point in the past. Presumably from somewhere like Islay or Jura. MacLysaght’s Irish surnames says they are a branch of the Scottish Mackintosh family.

You may find Bill MacAfee’s website helpful. It contains a lot of records for the north Antrim area, including for example the 1803 agricultural census. If you check that you will find an Archibald Lynn in Ballyreagh, so that’s presumably Robert’s father.

http://billmacafee.com

Death registration didn’t start in Ireland till 1864. Few Catholic churches kept burial records so tracing ancestors who died pre 1864 can be hard going. You may find gravestones but not everyone could afford a grave and so many were buried in un-marked graves.

I have no idea if this is of interest but I’ll throw it in for information. Your ancestors were back and forth to Scotland all the time. That was very common in that area. There was a regular cargo and passenger service from Ballycastle to Glasgow. Once a week I think.  On census night in 1901 the SS Glentour happened to be in Ballycastle so the 5 crew and 22 passengers were included.  Your ancestors must have travelled on it and the census gives you a snapshot of typical passengers at that time.  All the passengers were born in Ireland. The crew were a mix of Scots & Irish.

http://www.census.nationalarchives.ie/pages/1901/Antrim/Ballycastle/SS_…

I’d say April would be a wee bit too early for a visit. The current lockdown in Northern Ireland is in force till 1st April. At the moment all libraries, museums, churches and public buildings like PRONI are closed.  No pubs are open, restaurants only do takeaway food (if they are open at all), there’s no cafes no B & Bs, and hotels are only taking business people. You are only supposed to go out for essential reasons and for exercise. It’s not being policed heavily but in short there’s nowhere to go and nothing much to see, except for open air things like the Giant’s Causeway.  Hopefully that will change as the summer comes along. They are very well on with Covid vaccinations here (I am due my 2nd in a couple of weeks) and I’d say there’s cautious optimism now. They reckon more or less every adult in NI will be vaccinated by the end of June and that life can start to pick up again then.