Gortmore Omagh

[mmclm]

I would be grateful if anyone has information on Gortmore,Omagh.My Grandfather's brother and sister were born in 1873 and 1876 respectfully and the address of where born justs says Gortmore.Does anyone know please if this is a village,area etc. Thankyou in anticipation!

[aghadowey]

Gortmore would be the name of the townland. There are actually 2 Gortmores in Co. Tyrone listed at www.thecore.com/seanruad:
Gortmore, 216 acres, civil parish- Clogher, Clogher Poor Law Union
Gortmore, 219 acres, civil parish- Drumragh, Omagh Poor Law Union    

If it's not clear from birth certificates which is the correct one then check index of civil registrations for each birth and see what's listed for registration district (this will be the same as Poor Law Union).

To explain townlands further-
Counties are made up of parishes and parishes are made up of a group of townlands. If you are doing any research in Ireland these divisions become extremely important. For further information:
http://www.irishtimes.com/ancestor/browse/records/land/townland.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Townland
http://www.ancestryireland.com/database.php?filename=townlands

[opoman]

My wife's grandmother had a brother and sister born and baptised in Drumragh in 1873 and 1876.  The surname was Thorn and the townland was Gortmore.  I want to know if the baptisms were in the C of I or the RC church.  I think the Catholic church in Omagh was built in 1899 but I suppose that there will still have been Catholic baptisms before that time.  Is there any way of finding out?

I suppose that it would be stretching coincidence too far for you to be related to the same two people.

[aghadowey]

Welcome to Rootschat. The original poster didn't mention a family surname so not sure if you are searching for the same people.

At the top of the Tyrone board are a few stickied threads for church records and other resources. Clicking on this link (http://www.from-ireland.net/tyr/tyrindexrc.htm) under R.C. records shows that the following records for Drumragh (Diocese of Clogher) exist and microfilmed copies will be in National Library (Dublin) and PRONI (Belfast)-
Baptisms: May 1846 – Nov 1846, Nov 13th, 1853 – Dec 22nd, 1880 - indexed
Marriages: June 1846 – August 1846, Nov 7th, 1853 – Dec 26th, 1880
Burials : May 1846 – Sept 1846, Nov 23rd, 1853 – Dec 11th, 1880

There's also a link to Sacred Heart Church, Omagh which might be the one you mentioned, although the congregation is certainly much older than 1899.

St. Columba's Parish Church, Drumagh (Church of Ireland) is listed on C. of I. website:
www.ireland.anglican.org/index.php?do=information.dioceses&page=showparish&id=11300

If your family were in Ireland in 1911 their religion should be listed in the census:
www.census.nationalarchives.ie/search

[opoman]

Wow - terrific and quick response - many thanks.

[TonyMcGartland]

I know its late but Gortmore is the area of Omagh that runs the entire length of the Derry Road in town. Along that route you have Gortmore Drive, Gortmore Park, Gortrush Park, Hunter Crescent, Watson Park, Ashgrove Park, Edenvale Park. These estates all are post 1957 however the stretch the entire Gortmore area.

[DrewDughi]

I had a similar question about "Sedennan", another townland around Omagh.
The same language is used in reference to both places, as well as Kivlin (now Kevlin), that of "born at" or "died at".
All of these places were likely centered on a manor house originally, and included the land around them. That appears - in the case of Kivlin and Sedennan - to be confirmed by the maps accompanying Griffith's Valuation (whereas Gortmore had already been encroached upon by the growing city).
While Kevlin and Gortmore are built up now, Sedennan has retained it's rural flavor, centered around what appears to be the original manor house, built no later than the 1820s, by the Greer family.
Drew Dughi
GGGrandson of Jane Greer McBride (1840-1931)