Graham-McQuillan-Lamond-M(a)cKean - Muckamore, Killead, Oldstone, Ballyginiff

[Cauther Lassie]

hello List,

Trying to find information on my Graham family who came from Muckamore, Killead, Oldstone, Ballyginniff, all names that have appeared on some family papers.

My 3x Gt Grandfather was Robert Graham and he married a Letitia, and the only Letitia I can find married to a Robert Graham was Letitia McQuillan.    From the IGI there are only three sons born, George born abt 1815 in Oldstone, John abt 1819, Ballyginniff, and Hugh born 28/12/1823 in Muckamore.   George, Robert & John are recurring names in my line but not Hugh.    John was my 2x Gt Grandfather and he married 1st a Helen (Ellen Lamond) and whilst in PRONI last year I found two daughters to born to them, Jane (abt 1843) and Mary born 1845 in Ballyginniff.    He then married Sarah McKeen(Kean) 26th June 1858 in Shaneoguestown Meeting House (I've not been able to locate this place), she was the daughter of William McKean and Sarah Johnston(e).   John & Sarah had two sons born in Antrim, Robert my Gt Grandfather born 18/7/1859 and James born 12/9/1861 - they then came across to Scotland, where George was born 9/1/1861 followed by William, Sarah Jane, Martha & Margaret, I've got all their birth certificates and census returns and the family information from there on down, but am completely stuck on the Antrim information.   The family came to West Calder in West Lothian, and worked in the Shale/Coal Mines, John's daughter Jane by his first wife also came to West Calder and her son's were taken care of by her half brother my Gt Grandfather Robert.   Sarah's brother William McKean also came to West Calder and there are still a few of us in the area today.   

We visited Ireland last year and went round Killead and St Catherine's church, as there is a family story that the Graham land is now under the  runway at Aldergrove.    We were back across this last week and visited Loanends, Muckamore, Ballyginniff (though couldn't find it) but on getting home we found we'd passed it) Dunadry, Aldergrove and several other cemeteries in the area, but couldn't identify any links.

Does anyone on the list find any of the names/areas familiar or may know something I'd be grateful for any snippets of information.

There appears to be lots of families from this area that came to West Calder, and I have notes on them all, so if anyone on the list is looking for information on their lines of family who came to Scotland I'm happy to do what I can, I've an extensive collection of information for the West/Mid Lothian and South Lanarkshire areas.

Hoping that someone can help, many thanks .....  Meg

[aghadowey]

This might help you find the Presbyterian Church and other places in that area-
http://www.geolocation.ws/v/W/4d7932f687865614d50251ec/shaneoguestown-townland-looking-south/en

[kingskerswell]

Hi,
   26 Jun 1858 John Graham married Sarah McKeen (sic) in Muckamore Presbyterian Church, Antrim District.

Regards

[Cauther Lassie]

Thank you both, Aghadowey and Kingskerswell,

We drove down the Oldstone Road, and stopped at the  Shakey Bridge on the Six Mile Water, and the Cemetery at Muckamore, which was closed and padlocked.  Then onto Dunadry where we took more photos of the Mill Houses and the Water, plus the thousands of snowdrops that were in bloom, then up the Shaneoguestown Road .......... 

Very interesting that you have their marriage (same date I have) but at Muckamore Presbyterian Church, on each of the children born in Scotland the marriage is listed as Shaneoguestown Meeting House, and the marriage record I got states the same or do Irish marriages the same as Scots where the Banns are called at both the Bride and Groom's parishes though the wedding normally takes place at the Brides?

Thank you both again...............  regards ....  Meg

[aghadowey]

Just to clear up a few points-
Presbyterian churches do not call banns like Church of Ireland/Roman Catholic ones.
'Meeting House' is another name for a Presbyterian church and it's not uncommon for the same church to be known by different names.
The first minister of Muckamore Presbyterian Church was installed in Nov.1840 (and left in 1861 after a dispute) but as far as I know the records start 1861 when the 2nd minister came.

Here's a bit about Loanends Presbyterian Church which I think has earlier records-
http://www.presbyterianireland.org/congregations/loanends.html
http://www.loanendspc.org/about-us.html

[Cauther Lassie]

hello again Aghadowey,

Many thanks for that, I only know Church of Scotland habits, so that's useful to know as is the "Meeting House" anecdote.  My friend in Belfast is always trying to educate me as to Irish habits, religions and customs, and I fear I may be a slow pupil!!    I did in fact read this morning about the minister who was installed in 1840 and left after a dispute, but I read so much this morning about the district that I can't remember where it was!!     Old age doesn't come itself as my mother pointed out this afternoon!!

thank you for your patience.     regards Meg

[kingskerswell]

Meg,
      The term "Meeting house" probably derives from the early 1700s when the Penal Laws were introduced in Ireland to try to deny Catholics any rights. They also applied in many ways to Presbyterians whose preachers, if they refused to be consecreted by an Anglican bishop, were ejected from their churches. Many of their church members followed them and each Sunday used to meet in one anothers houses for Sunday Worship. Hence the term Meeting House. When churches were built, mainly from 1800 onwards, they were initially referred to as Meeting Houses but are nowadays called churches.

Regards

[TheWhuttle]

Hi Meg,

The "Muckamore" and "Shanoguestown" designations refer to the same congregation.
The modern-day folks meet in the same location as old, albeit in a modern building!
http://www.muckamore.com/find-out-more/mapdirections.html

The location is on the NE edge of the townland of "Shaneoguestown", right on the Eastern boundary of the "Parish of the Grange of Muckamore".

Adjacent townlands are:

   Straidballymorris (Parish of Templepatrick) to the East;
   Dunadry (Parish of Grange of Nilteen) to the North-East;
   Islandreagh (Parish of Grange of Nilteen) to the North;
   Islandbane (Parish of Grange of Muckamore) to the North-West;
   Muckamore (Parish of Grange of Muckamore) to the West;
   Ballyharveylower (?Parish of Grange of Muckamore) to the South-West;
   Ballyrobin (Parish of Killead) to the South.

For a list of Parishes within County Antrim see http://applications.proni.gov.uk/geogindx/antr.htm .

Prior to the establishment of the congregation near Muckamore village, religious attendance could have been at Donegore, Antrim (town), Crumlin,  (Kilbride, Templepatrick) ...


Muckamore village boomed in the early 1800s, due in part to the efforts of the WHITTLEs, and then the CHAINEs, in running linen-beetling and corn-grinding mills (adjacent to the river).

Many itinerant workers were also encouraged to set up "cabins" there.
[Election law of the time allowed anyone with a chimney to vote in selecting an MP to represent the town of Antrim at the Dublin parliament.  It was one of the "pot walloping" boroughs.  This led to "corrupt" political practices - all swept away (together with the entitlement to supply an MP) by reforms in the early 1830s.]

----
The best way to see the historical geography of the area is to access the online Griffiths Valuation for Ireland.
http://askaboutireland.ie/griffith-valuation/index.xml?action=placeSearch

Simply enter "shaneoguestown" as the place-name.

Select "Occupants", then skip to the 2nd page to see the "Presbyterian Meeting House & Yard" entry.

Select the "Details" (magnifying glass) associated with this entry.
Observe the "7b" map index reference.
Close the "Details" window.

Select the map option (best to use the RH "big" one).

You can then:

  Move the map around, using the "sticky" hand tool (or the arrow icons);
  Switch between "modern day" versus "historical" maps, by moving the horizontal slider;
  Zoom in and out using the vertical slider, the "+" & "-" icons, or by double clicking the mouse buttons.

[The historical maps were based on the Ordnance Surveys performed during the 1830s.]

----
The keys for the Muckamore graveyard can be got by knocking on the door of the house opposite.
[N.B. the yard is a dangerous place, especially in wet weather, with steep inclines.]

----
The McKEAN surname is of Scottish origin.
[More tomorrow ...]

Interesting article about a McKEEN fisherman drowning off Ballyginniff in Jan 1886.
http://www.glenavyhistory.com/townlands/ballyginniff.html


----

" ... shale miners from around Ballymena moved to Broxburn in search of work, bringing with them their Orange identity."

http://www.grandorangelodge.co.uk/press/PressReleases-2010/100706-speech_by_dr_david_hume.htm


That'll account for the colour of the bings then!


Enjoy!

Capt. Jock

[Cauther Lassie]

Hello Kingskerswell & Capt Jock, Sir!

to the former, many thanks for the explanation of Meeting House, really interesting and explains so much, now it's in my head - ta muchly - we were so close but never mind back again later in the year, when hopefully it'll be a bit warmer!

and Capt Jock, for the time and trouble and the links that you sent, many thanks.  I've been searching Griffiths for years and managed to find my Mum's family, Dundass of Fermanagh, but as to the Graham's can't pinpoint any of them, information on them is as scarce as hen's teeth.  We had a great time this morning playing with the maps from that link and traced the route we took on Tuesday.   The Glenavy link found last Sunday and instead of being a good housewife I devoured it and others on the area, and am so impressed, read every word of the whole thing.   It's an excellent site and the folk who put it together should be rightly proud of it.

Thanks too for the Hume link, soon as I saw the name, knew it was a Border name, the Douglas-Hume's a force in the Borders.     Course I'm married to a Borderer, so have become well versed on that area!!

The comment re the Shale Miners going to Broxburn, Dr James (Paraffin) Young, first opened works in Durhamptown (area of Bathgate in abt 1856) to refine oil from cannel coal.    A rich seam of the coal was found at Addiewell, West Calder and he built and opened massive works there in 1866 - many of the workers (including mine) moved from Armadale (Bathgate) to Addiewell (West Calder).  Young formed the Scottish Oil Works and later opened the works at Greendykes in Broxburn - again many of the workers moved to Uphall/Broxburn to the new works where the concentration was on the by products of shale extraction, mainly detergents, and the candle works were moved from Addiewell to Broxburn.  I was privileged over the last few years to transcribe all the Burial Registers for West Calder (all of them), Bathgate (about 40 years of them) and all of Uphall/Broxburn and it was an amazing experience connecting the families and finding all the links and discovering how many of them were from Antrim & Down.

Most of the bings round Broxburn/Winchburgh have been removed to use on road building and many of the smaller bings round Addiewell and Cauther met the same fate apart from the huge ones at Westwood, West Calder - the Five Sisters, which is now protected and kept as a National Monument to the Shale Industry.  Mind they're more pinky red than orange!

The McKeens were an interesting lot, William's son Robert emigrated to New Zealand and became the 12th Speaker of the Parliament there, was and MP and JP, and made CMG.   His obits all refer to him being born in West Calder but none of them state that his father was from Antrim and I now believe so was his mother Martha Bryans (Briens, Brians etc).  However another thing that has to be confirmed one way or t'other!!

Thank you again for all the information and looking forward to the "more tomorrow".

cheers .....  Meg