McDonalds / McDonnells of Louth and Drogheda

Local Co.Louth volunteer contacted.

Keri, I can find no suitable Michael McDonald born Louth to a parent James and Mary (one born in 1853 but not married in 1866 then) most likely Michael born in 1842 in Englishtown, Ratvilly, Wicklow. this county lies south of Dublin on the east coast, this Michael was born in 1842 baptised October, father James and mother Mary Doyle, two siblilings Mary and James, no other children found plus or minus 10 years. Bear in mind not finding another one doe not mean this is correct as some churches did not have records at that remove or had gaps and you may be unlucky. 

If he married Mary Coyle in NY then he may not be from Louth at all but there are 3 James McDonald's on Louth in Griffiths in Griffiths but no suitable baptisms. 

As Mary was RC I am assuming Michael was too, this is important as we rely on church records at that remove. Is there any information on the marriage certificate to assist.

St Marys in Drogheda is the parish south of the river Boyne, it is partly in the civil area of Counties Louth and Meath but wholly in the religious diocese of Meath, 

There is a site here about Louth and if you see any grave listed it is possible to look them up in hard copy usually but some are online, Cord cemetery in Drogheda is the oldest and the reference to transcriptions is in the local library, Calvery only opened in 1902 and similiar for St Peters. https://jbhall.clahs.ie/ 

I do not see a record for the Coyle / King marriage but the church was only opened in 1834 and marriage records appear to have been lost as they do not commence until the 1870s, civil records begin in 1864. There appears to have been 9 children in total last in 1863, no further info on the address. 

Good Luck

Pat

Thank you, Pat, for your wonderful reply and help. It is truly appreciated.

I am not surprised to hear about you not finding a baptism record for Michael McDONALD 1843, but I thank you for looking. It confirms my result. I'm actually beginning to doubt if the parents listed on his US Death Certificate were accurate.

I have not been able to locate the marriage record of Michael McDONALD and Mary COYLE. I have been going on the assumption that they either were married in the UK before they immigrated to the US in 1865 or shortly afterwards since their first known child, Joseph Francis, was born in Oct 1867 in New Jersey, USA. I did, however, find the marriage record of his 2nd marriage in New York, USA, but no parents were listed.

Did you have a chance to look for additional records for Thomas McDONNELL c. 1837, who lived and died in Drogheda? Previously, I found his drowning in the River Boyne listed in the civil death records and in a local newspaper, but these didn't contain anything about his family or parents. I have located records about his children.

Thank you for your mention of the old Chord Cemetery in Drogheda. Awhile back, a descendant of Thomas McDONNELL 1837 (she lives in Dublin) told me about an old cemetery in Drogheda that lots of McDonnells were buried in. That must be it! I'll make sure to visit when I travel to Ireland next spring!

I also plan to visit the old St. Mary's in Drogheda, where my 2nd great-grandmother, Mary COYLE 1840, was baptized. I saw online that it is now referred to Gerrard's Church and is used for events and weddings. Is that correct?

I sure wish I could find something to connect these McDonald/McDonnell men. The 3 that immigrated to and lived in New York, USA have been documented to be in each other's lives as godparents and taking in one another's children. I am in touch with a descendant of both John Edward McDONALD 1841 and Michael McDONALD 1843 and these family lines thought John and Michael were cousins. Shared DNA amounts among their descendants suggest that, too. We will see. :)

Thank you again for all of your help.

Blessings,

Keri 

HI Keri and Pat!

Keri:

If you have not done so already, please complete this form regarding your trip next spring. Thanks!

Roger McDonnell

Hi Keri, I live in St Mary's parish on the south side of Drogheda, the church you refer to as Gerrards Church is formely the Protestant Church of Ireland built circa 1801 I think, a church of the First Fruits (tax on the first harvest of the year) pre 1800 a Catholic Church stood on the grounds, some ruins remain. It is now used in recent times as a funeral home and place for civil marriages. I think your ancestors were married in St Marys RC Church just down the hill from it opened in 1834 and the marriage records are missing pre 1874, locally it is said they were burned accidently at some point by an over zealous person tidying the place.

The Cord graveyard is closed to the public, a bit of local contention to the public locally here. I have looked at Griffiths Valuation done in 1851 for St Mary's parish, this would be the civil land divisions, there are 18 entries for Coyle in the townland of Bryanstown, most to a Stephen Coyle, some others in the townland of Lagavoureen, but also in Lagavoureen there is a Thomas McDonnell, there are no McDonalds listed in St Marys in this land census of landlords and tenants, head of house only. The 4 McDonnells listed in Legavoureen are Christopher; Michael; Thomas and Edward.

There are maps with Griffiths Valuation and you can see the plots but a lot of tooing and froing to see the over lay to the present, I cannot do it really but it can apparently be done. Unfortunately the area south of Drogheda and both townlands mentioned have been extensively developed for housing in the last 25 years or so so unlikely you will see it as was. There is a Drogheda Down Memory Lane Facebook page with a lot of photos, some old some not so old, there are a lot of old photos of Drogheda in the National Library of Irleand website, search digital photos, I think you can purchase them also if you wish. 

I do not get notifcations of postings for some reason but if you wish my site email is stpeters@irelandxo.com but I will look in to see if you post again, I can send you some links to local places of interest if you wish, there is a local hotel formely a school where a teacher at one point was a Christian Brother and migrated to the US, name of Holland and there is always a US Navy submarine of that name as he built the early ones to his design for the US Navy, he was not born here.

Regards

Pat

Hi Roger!

Where might I find that travel form you requested that I fill out? I am in the beginning phase of planning, but I'd be happy to look into it. Thank you!

Keri

Pat, you are the best! Thank you for sharing your wealth of information!

Re: Cord graveyard ... I'm disappointed that it is closed to the public, but I totally understand.

Re: Griffiths Valuation ... I believe I have found my 2nd great grandmother's father, Denis COYLE, living in Newtown, Colp Parish in Drogheda in 1855. All of his 9 known children were baptized at St. Marys, Drogheda (found in Ancestry's "Ireland, Catholic Parish Registers, 1655-1915"). Is this the same church as the present-day one on James St. in Lagavooren? 

I also found him in the Civil Death Index (rootsireland.ie) in 1867, lived on Marsh Road, St. Mary's Parish, Drogheda with his wife, Jane (KING). I haven't found her death record yet.

I recently compared the Griffiths maps to the current ones of Drogheda and I think I have found the area Denis COYLE lived ... it's on Dublin Road close to Wheaton Hall. You're right. Years and development have changed the landscape, which I expect, but a possible visit to St. Mary's would be wonderful.

Re: Lagavoureen McDonnells ... Interesting find, Pat. Thanks. I've looked at Griffiths numerous times for these families and always left crosseyed and a bit overwhelmed. lol 

I so appreciate all of your help and the info you have shared. May I ask one more question that I've always wondered about while researching? How common was it back in the mid-1800s in Ireland for families/men to move around and relocate? Especially in Co Louth? I've heard that most stayed pretty close to their home parish or those parishes adjacent to it. Would military involvement move them around? I'm trying to think "outside of the box" concerning my McDonald/McDonnell research. Thank you so much!

Keri

Keri:

Sorry! Forgot to add the link. Here it is  https://www.irelandxo.com/meet-and-greet

Roger

Hi Keri, people would move around but often to Drogheda which at that time mid 1800s but for centuries Drogheda was a large trading port and industrialised town, there was a military barracks and also the police (RIC) could not serve in their own or their wives county. Drogheda was the 2nd largest port for migrants during the famine (after Queenstown now Cobh (Cove)) Migrants from Drogheda would have travelled to Liverpool using the regular crossings. Also in 1844 the railway arrived in Drogheda, then the viaduct was built (I understand the largest in the world at that time but can't swear on it) finished in 1852, so plenty of work, add in breweries and distillilers, shoe making and flax mills, the Marsh Road had many factories etc Also landlords would sometimes move tenant farmers around their properties (Huge farms were the norm then) good tenants would be moved to improve holdings in poor condiiton etc

You can search Griffiths for free on this site https://askaboutireland.ie/griffith-valuation/index.xml?action=placeSea… This shold default to Griffiths Places, so if you insert St Mary and Meath you will get all the townlands, click on the icons to see occupants in each townland, I understand the maps are somewhat later than the originals. You can also use the ordnance survey office maps and overlay, https://osi.ie/ and you can see the various civil townlands here (religious parishes may vary slightly) https://www.townlands.ie/ Best to use townlands and parishes as Baronies and EDs are not really helpful.

If you sign into this site you can see civil records (ignore church unless you are interested in Dublin; Cork or Kerry for now) civil records from 1864 for everyone, some death certs are not visible as transcribed until after 1871 I think. You can purchase those online for just over $4 this is just the register extract and you may find the death there, Drogheda is a registration district. https://www.irishgenealogy.ie/en/  and if you want to read the Catholic parish register you can search them by event and date only, some are a tricky read and while most available registers are here they are not all there. https://registers.nli.ie/ 

There is a Louth Gedmatch page but it is a recent addition but has a few hundred kits I think.

Regards

Pat

Pat, THANK YOU for your wealth of knowledge and information! The picture you painted of Drogheda's history really helps me understand the scope of the area. I appreciate your time, patience and help.

Blessings,

Keri

Hi Pat!

May I ask if the old St. Mary's RCC (Meath) in Drogheda still stands (ie: where an 1840 baptism would be held)? If so, where? I would like to see it when I visit.

Thank you!

Keri

Hi Keri, not only is it still there it is an imposing church on the skyline of Drogheda (there are a few of them) my own kids were baptised there, imagine it is the same font. There is a book on the history of it and there was a talk last week on it to fundraise for a new roof. 

The church is in Drogehda, County Louth, but in the RC Diocese of Meath. It is visible on Google street view and I attach hopefully a snip of it, think there may be pictures of it on this site under St Mary's Meath (careful there are two parishes of that name in Meath)

Sometimes the pictures are too big to attach, if you go on Google Earth streetview it is at the jumction of Duleek Street (Domonos Pizza  near by comes up) and the R132 opposite Scotch Hall and Dunnes Stores.

There is a book on its history and the author is still about not sure if the book is but will check as I may have two copies.

Regards

Pat