Montgomery of Aghadowey

[Gortinanima]

Thanks Aghadowey,

I wonder if Parks is actually Newpark which is an unofficial placename contained within the townland of Killykergan, Aghadowey? Not sure if Killykergan is near Ringsend though?

[aghadowey]

Newpark is the name of the house there but it's not near Ringsend. Will have a closer look at old maps and ask a friend from Ringsend if he ever heard of a place called Park in that area.

[dromorecoty]

I too am descended from Aghadowey Montgomerys- my 9th GPs John Montgomery 1640-1689 x Isabell Shaw...grand daughter of the Shaws of Greenock...who founded Ballygally Castle...

My 8th GPs Robert Mongomery 1660-1689 x Mary Eliza McCollum..

My 7th GPs William Montgomery 1675-1733 x Mary Aiken...they were born in Aghadowey and emigrated to the USA with Rev'd James MacGregor in 1718..

My 6th GPs John Montgomery 1703-1743 ( born Aghadowey died Lincoln Co, Maine) x Sarah Harper (Sarah was born in USA but her father James Harper was from Limavady)..

I am in Ulster for three weeks to search out my Montgomerys of the past and present...and to see where they might have lived or been buried in Aghadowey...

I would be most appreciative of any hints or help that any one could give me in this search...

Thank You..

[aghadowey]

It will be difficult to get records for such an early period even with the information that you already have found.

Not all those who went to New England with Rev. McGregor's were from his own congregation but there certainly were Montgomerys in the area (often spelt McGomery). McGregor's Aghadowey Presbyterian Church (near war memorial just down the road from the present building) had no burial ground. Many Presbyterians would have been buried in the Parish (St. Guaire's Church of Ireland) church (also on Ardreagh Road not far from Presbyterian church but in opposite direction from war memorial). There were also burials at Agivey but no stones that early can be read and all the Montgomerys I've come across lived in the opposite direction from Agivey.

The early records for Aghadowey Presbyterian Church are quite sparse (baptisms only from 1855, marriages from 1845) but one item which does survive is the Session Book which covers a period before and after McGregor's time in Aghadowey. There are no details of baptisms or marriages and is really just notes of Session meetings. There is however, a list of elders and we've managed to figure out what districts they would have covered. Much of my reference material is packed up at the moment but will have a look later to see if those notes are still in the house.

Note: St. Guaire's (unlike Presbyterian churches here) idd keep a burial register but the early records were destroyed and the earliest surviving one starts around 1870ish.

[aghadowey]

Have found my notes for the old Session Book. The first recorded meeting is 1 Dec.1702. In 1728 (10 years after McGregor and a large part of the congregation had left) a Henry Montgomery was added to the list of Elders. The original book is now in the Presbyterian Historical Society, Belfast.

[dromorecoty]

Went to Proni yesterday and found some good old maps of Aghadowey in the early 1700's...ran out of time before going to see the sessions at the Presbyterian Historical Society...

But now I have a good idea for what made up Aghadowey 300 years ago..

Was Coleraine its market town..??

Was the sole entity in the center of Aghadowey...the church...was there a manse..??...or did there exist a general store...and a blacksmith...and a pub and travelers hotel..??

What is the small chapel like building...across the street from the Church of Ireland..

There was a Montgomery on the War Memorial...and a McCollum in the Presbyterian cemetery...

Plus many other 1718 emigre names in both cemeteries...so it is possible that cousins could still live in Aghadowey..

Will be going to the Presbyterian church for service tomorrow...with my assistant...it would be great to meet the voice of Aghadowey..

Elizabeth Jeffords, USA

[aghadowey]

If you are going to attend Sabbath services tomorrow you will be in for a treat as it's Harvest- the church will be decorated with flowers and fruit, extra musical pieces, etc. In addition to the mid-day one there's also an evening service.

What is the small chapel like building...across the street from the Church of Ireland.
That was the Good Templars Hall (temperance group)- after they disbanded the property went back to Aghadowey House/Castle (was next to the Parish Church).

Was Coleraine its market town..?
Coleraine and Ballymoney although nearby Garvagh also had a market, etc.

Was the sole entity in the center of Aghadowey...the church...was there a manse..??...or did there exist a general store...and a blacksmith...and a pub and travelers hotel..??
Aghadowey Parish is a bit spread out and didn't have a centre as such (although the Parish Church is near the centre of it. In addition to St. Guaire's (church of Ireland) there was the Presbyterian Church, Catholic Chapel (in Mullahinch then the present one on what is now Cullycapple Rd.) but lots of other Presbyterian churches in the area (Killaig, Crossgar, Ringsend, Ballylintagh, Moneydig, etc.).
There were pubs (one across from Presbyterian Church), shops and blacksmiths (one across from Termperance hall) throughout the countryside but the main industry in Aghadowey was linen with bleachworks, mills, cottages for workers and the big houses owned by the gentry (all except for Aghadowey House survive).
The current Manse for Aghadowey Presbyterian Church dates from the 1950s- earlier ones at Flowerfield, Greenhill, etc.
The Rectory was St. Margaret's (which can be seen from Parish graveyard and is in Belgian-gothic style) and earlier Rectors lived at Blackheath House (the famous hymn-writer's Cecil Francis Alexander's husband grew up there- she wrote Once in Royal David's City, There is a Green Hill Far Away and All Creatures Great and Small).
There were no hotels in Aghadowey but Garvagh, Coleraine, Kilrea and Ballymoney did have some and some of the pubs (such as Blackhill where there's still a stone milestone) might have had rooms to let.

[dromorecoty]

Was the Ballywillin Mill for grain or textiles..??

Where were the textile mills in Aghadowey..??

There appears to be very well cared for grazing pastures in Aghadowey now...had those in the 1600's and 1700's been converted to the growing of flax and the bleaching of linen...from growing fleece..??

I notice that in 1718...the boats were taking not just emigrees from Coleraine but linen as well...to Boston..

Is there an industrial map of Aghadowey...showing the mills and bleach greens..

I have the Mullin book on Aghadowey with me...and some of the pictures...such as the mill with Mullamore Bleach Green...look like the preliminary stages of my 2g grandfather's Dobson Mills on the East Falls of the Schuylkill in Philadelphia...were these Arkwright mills as in much of Lancashire and Cheshire and Yorkshire...as well..??

I have been to the linen museum in Lisburn...but did not use their research facilities...would that be the best spot to research the Aghadowey linen trade..??...or the Linen Hall in Belfast...or....??..

[dromorecoty]

It is very possible that I saw my 9th great grandfather John Montgomery mentioned about ten times in the Aghadowey Session Book (1702-1725) from 1703 on...when I visited the Presbyterian Historical Society in Belfast yesterday...

He was born about 1640...so would have been 63 years old in 1703...and was married to Isabella Shaw...the grand daughter of the builder of Ballygally Castle...James Shaw...and his wife Isabella Brisbane Shaw...the ghost of Ballygally Castle..

His grandchildren and some young great grandchildren would have been on the boats with Rev'd Macgregor in 1718..

There is also a Henry Montgomery mentioned extensively in the 1720s...after the boats had left...possibly the current Aghadowey Montgomerys...are descended from him...