Hello from Canada... this is my first foray into Irish genealogy!
I am looking for any information into James Donaldson born May 1825 Aughnacloy, Tyrone died June1897 Clogher and his wife Harriet McKean, daughter of Andrew, born Feb 1813 Aughnacloy, Tyrone died 1881 Clogher Tyrone. They were married 4 Nov 1844 in Armagh. Both were CofE.
According to Griffith's Valuation 1847-1864 (Tyrone>Dungannon, Lower>Carnteel) the property that they leased from R.M. Moore is on map 28a ...except I don't know how to bring up a historical map that shows the property.
Any help as to how to proceed (not just with the map but also getting more information on James & his wife) would really be very very much appreciated!
Thx in advance, K
Karin F
Sunday 6th Feb 2022, 05:00PMMessage Board Replies
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Attached FilesMoore St Aughnacloy.png (1.89 MB)
KarinF,
I think one of the 2 deaths you have is wrong. I suspect you may also have the wrong Donaldson property in Golan in Griffiths. There were several James Donaldsons in that area. Need to ensure we have the right one. I have assumed that the information that James Donaldson married Harriet McKean is correct, and therefore researched around her.
The only James Donaldson death in the Clogher area in 1897 is this one who died 1st April 1897 aged 72 in Mullans. He was a farmer. He was still married so that doesn’t tie in with his wife having died in 1881. (I think he married a Jane Macoy).
Here’s that James death certificate:
Here’s Harriet’s death in 1881 in Aughnacloy. Her husband was a whitesmith, not a farmer.
Here’s Harriett’s husband’s death in 1888 aged 78 in Aughnacloy:
Note that the informant was daughter Margaret Girvin, so you know they had at least 1 daughter. Here’s Margaret’s marriage to John Girvan in 1879 in Aughnacloy chapel. Note that the marriage was a Catholic ceremony. Tradition was to marry in the bride’s church, so was she RC at that time? All the other Girvan households in Tyrone were RC, in the 1901 census, so my guess is he was RC too and that she switched to RC when she married John but switched back to Church of Ireland after his death. Not uncommon.
Here’s widowed Margaret in the 1901 census with 3 children. By then she was Church of Ireland.
Margaret in 1911:
http://www.census.nationalarchives.ie/pages/1911/Tyrone/Aughnacloy_Urban/Sydney_Street/854241/
Son John worked as a railway engine cleaner. Given the location in Aughnacloy, he’s likely to have worked for the Clogher Valley Railway, a quaint narrow gauge railway that ran up and down the Clogher Valley till the 1940s. There are various books on it, I believe. And I think one or two leftover bits may be in the railway section of the transport museum in Belfast (at Cultra).
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clogher_Valley_Railway
https://transportsofdelight.smugmug.com/RAILWAYS/IRISH-RAILWAYS/CLOGHER-VALLEY-RAILWAY/i-q7nH4Gz/
James & Harriet’s daughter Susan Donaldson married William Foster 1877 in Carnteel Church of Ireland.
Note: In Ireland C of E is usually called the Church of Ireland. The full title is something like “The United Church of Ireland & England.” Mostly you just see it referred to as Church of Ireland.
James Donaldson who died in 1888, lived in Moore St, Aughnacloy. He appeared in the Valuation revision records (on the PRONI website) as having plot 140. (Copy attached) That was a house, outbuildings, forge and small garden. James’s name was deleted after his death. Plot 140 was the Griffiths clerks own numbering system, and does not relate to any house number today. Until the 1950s, rural houses in Ireland generally didn’t have numbers at all. (And in some places that’s still true today). Your townland or, in a small town like Aughnacloy, street name was sufficient to identify you and get a letter delivered.
Moore St, Aughnacloy still exists (it’s essentially the main street) but identifying the precise property today may be a bit challenging.
Elwyn, IrelandXO Volunteer ☘
Sunday 6th Feb 2022, 05:54PM -
I can add a little more information on Margaret Donaldson’s family. 1901 census shows her having a grand-daughter Harriet. Here’s Harriet Girvan’s birth in 1904 (daughter Annie was her mother):
John Girvan’s marriage to Annie Smith in 1913:
Birth of their son Willie in 1914 by which time John has been promoted from engine cleaner to fireman on the CVR (Clogher Valley Railway).
https://civilrecords.irishgenealogy.ie/churchrecords/images/birth_retur…
Son John born 1919:
I suspect if you are able to pick up any books on the internet about the Clogher Valley railway, you may get photographs of Thomas or John Girvan. It wasn’t a huge company and wouldn’t have had large numbers of staff. John as a fireman shoveled coal on the locomotives and would have done a bit of driving. He’s likely to have been photographed somewhere. Here’s an article and a few pictures:
https://www.impartialreporter.com/news/19829339.80-years-since-closure-clogher-valley-railway/
Elwyn, IrelandXO Volunteer ☘
Wednesday 9th Feb 2022, 10:08PM
