Ulster Genealogy and Local History Blog

As I have mentioned before the key to researching ancestors in Ireland is location - townland, parish, county. For those with farming ancestors who held leases it is important to know the history of the townland, who was the landlord and what estate did it belong to? Take for example Isaac Watson whom we find in the townland of Glenkeen in the parish of Glendermott (or Clondermott) in county Derry. Griffiths valuation of tenements reveals a lot about Isaac Watson.   Isaac Watson number 10 in Glenkeen held a farm of some 23 acres from his landlord Henry Stacy Skipton (rateable value of £12-10sh). In addition he himself was a landlord renting 3 houses to John Bradley, Robert Thompson and Edward Jervis. His landlord, Henry Stacy Skipton, was from a prominent county Derry family and his ancestor was Alexander Skipton who had purchased the townland of Glenkeen in the early 17th century, however, he was murdered in 1624 by an O'Cahan over a disputed lease. The Rev Alexander Skipton (c1...

FOUR LIMAVADY BROTHERS - FOUR POSTMEN 130 YEARS ACCUMULATED YEARS OF  POSTAL SERVICE OVER 600,000 ACCUMULATED MILES Below is a photograph of my great, great grandgather George Forrest who was born in 1839 (the Year of the Big Wind) in the parish of Balteagh a rural hinterland of Limavady. His family moved into the town shortly after the Great Famine, where he resided until his death in 1912.  George had five sons and five daughers by his wife Ann Jane Mullan. Four of his sons became postmen in Limavady.  I was able to track down their service records for the Post Office in the Public Records Office, Belfast (reference GPO/5). THE FOUR POSTMEN BROTHERS -  1. George Forrest junior (1874-1895) died in 1895, aged 21 of TB and his death certificate gave his occupation as post-boy. His death was also recorded in the Coleraine Chronicle. Coleraine Chronicle 20 July 1895 2. John Forrest (1869-1953)  John Forrest was a rural auxiliary based in Limavady and he served Gla...

  KINCULBRACK IN UPPER CUMBER PARISH Kinculbrack in Upper Cumber parish is a townaland close to the village of Claudy containing 576 acres. Kinculbrack borders the following other townlands: Ballymaclanigan to the north; Binn to the west; Claudy to the west; Dungorkin to the west; Gortilea to the north; Killycor to the south  and Mulderg to the east. The Rev John Rutherford B.A  wrote a history, 'Cumber Presbyterian Church and Parish' published by James Calhoun, of the L'Derry Sentinel, 1939. He appears to have had access to primary source material that was subsequently destroyed in the explosive fire in Dublin, 1922. Included in the appendix are freeholders' registers 1761-1781 & 1796. I have used Kinculbrack as an example but the freehold registers' cover most of the townlands in Cumber parish. Below are the freeholders' returns for Kinculbrack in chronological order by surname. It reveals the importance of locating published family and parish histories ...

The placename Knockanduns appears several times in the registers of Ballykelly and Bovevagh Presbyterian Presbyterian churches both near the town of Limavady. Bovevagh Presbyterian register of baptisms: Born 27 Aug 1823 baptised 10 Sept 1823 Mary Anne dau of John Taggart & Mary Ann Whiteside of Knockanduns Born 6 Aug 1824 baptised 18 Aug 1824 James son of Joseph Gallagher & Rose Robison of Knockanduns Ballykelly Presbyterian register of marriages  August 3 1811 Mathew Gray of Bevedagh married to Charlot Cairns of Ballynarg – Mr Gray certificated for Mathew and Thomas Cairns father of Charlott for her – said Thomas with Joseph Patton of Knockanduns other witness.  Bovevagh Presbyterian marriage register  Married 6 July 1824 Samuel Patten of Knockanduns to Ann Douglas (dau of William Douglas) of Boigh. Knockanduns is not listed as an official townland for the Roe valley area. I consulted the Ordnance Survey Memoirs Index of townland names (published by the Institu...

Climate fluctuations have a great impact on human history and society. The Medieval Warm period lasted c1750AD to 1300AD to be followed by a period known as the Little Ice Age c1300-1850. The former is always preferable to the latter as illustrated by a little known event of Irish History known as the Great Frost of 1740-1741. The Great Frost The Great Frost began on the  last day of 1739. Rivers and lakes, including Lough Neagh, froze over, mills ground to a halt and travel was restricted.  Devastating Impact:  The cold led to the total crop failure of crops resulting in famine and starvation, paticularly amongst the poorer classes resulting in massive spike in deaths. The famine lasted 21 months. The impact of this extreme weather event has been well documented in David Dickson's book Arctic Ireland (unfortunately now out of print).

QUADRUPLE FAMILY TRAGEDY, 1872 Occasionally, when researching families, one uncovers other unrelated families that catch the attention. Whilst looking for a death record for another Johnston family I came across a striking triple death registration for three sons of an Andrew Johnston residing in the townland of Doora, near the village of Kesh, Co. Fermanagh. The three deaths were all registered on the same day, the sixth of April 1872 and made for very sad reading. Andrew had lost three sons within one month; William Andrew aged 4, George aged 9 and Acheson aged 13. It seems that typhoid fever (spread by a bacteria called Salmonella typhi), carried in contaminated water had struck the family with devastating consequences. Outbreaks of typhoid fever were not uncommon in 19th century Ireland.  Having caught my attention I had a look at the family of Andrew Johnston and discovered that he had lost another son Francis Johnston, aged 16 years to the same disease on 16 May 1872. Four so...