Meenagh/McAleer

[mmclm]

Hi,
My grandfather was born in Castle Lane,Omagh in July 1879.His given name was John McAleer.A sister Sarah was born 1876 and brother James 1873.Sarah and James were born in Gortmore.On the birth certs. their father's name was left blank.Their mother's name was Eliza Mc Aleer and the children were registered as Mc Aleer.
By the time they had all relocated to Glasgow--approx 1900, they were using the name Meenagh.When grandfather was married in 1904, his name on wedding cert. was Meenagh.His father was named as James Meenagh ,deceased.
It has all been a family mystery and Grandfather would never talk about family or his days in Ireland.
I have the birth certs. and just cannot understand how or why the name was changed to Meenagh.
I would be grateful for any information to help solve this query.
MMcLM

[Christopher]

Hello MMcLM,

Have you found when and where Eliza McAleer married?

Christopher

[aghadowey]

I have the birth certs. and just cannot understand how or why the name was changed to Meenagh.

It's possible that mother married or lived with James Meenagh after children were born. He may or may not have been the father of any or all of them but perhaps they thought of him as their father and just started using his surname.
Did mother Eliza also go to Scotland? Have you tried searching for her and James Menagh in Scotland?

[mmclm]

[]
Hello MMcLM,

Have you found when and where Eliza McAleer married?


Hi Christopher,
I have no record of a marriage for Eliza.When my grandfather married she was mentioned as the widow of James Meenagh on his marriage certificate.She was living with the rest of the family in Glasgow by then.I don't know if a marriage actually occured !
Regards,MMcLM

[pjbb]

My Grandmother Mary Jane Sanderson was also born in August 1879 on Castle Lane. She was the illegitimate child of Mary Anne Sanderson & Willy Buchanan. She also was Baptised at Sacred Heart Church. A lady in Ireland went & found me a copy of her Birth Record which showed my Great Grandmother could neither read or write & was an unwed mother & the father was not listed. She got it through NIDirect Government Services, Northern Ireland.  I found my Grandmother's Baptism Record on Find My Past & that gave me her father's name. I also found my Great Grandmother's Birth Record on Find My Past. Someone told me to only put in the last name & pick from the menu of names. On Find My Past I also found my Great Great Grandparents Marriage Registry. Have you tried to look on this Genealogy site. Small world my Great Grandmother & your Great Grandmother probably knew each other. Also very strange that they were both Roman Catholics, unwed & neither of our Grandparents wanted to talk much about their past.