1st Donagheady Church of Ireland - Location c1826?

[bntaylor]

I have been fortunate to find an 1826 record of baptism for my gr2 grandfather in the 1st Donagheady Church of Ireland.

To further the search for his townland of origin, I'd like to derive some geographic clues from the location of the Church, as it existed around 1826. Was it the same location as St. James in Dunamanagh (which was erected in 1861 upon some ruins)?

The 1837 Topographical Dictionary of Ireland provides this description: "The church is a small neat edifice, half a mile west from the ruins of the old church." Not particularly helpful.

Any help greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance!

Barry Taylor
Sooke, British Columbia, Canada

[gaffy]

I found various bits of information on the internet which conflicted, so I struggled, no information on the internet was absolutely conclusive, my advice is to hope someone local will confirm.

Anyway, there's a website for the current church - the St. James Church of Ireland, Donemana - this is the webpage covering a brief history: http://stjamesdonagheady.wordpress.com/a-short-history-of-the-parish/ Also on that website are contact details for the Church, you may wish to contact them directly to clarify the historical locations.

The brief history seems to suggest three churches, the oldest at "Church Hill" since the early 1600s, a "St. Michael's" from the late 1700s, and St. James from 1879.

If you google 33 Longland Road, Donemana and look at the google maps "hit", you will easily find St. James, the current church.

Head up that road about 150 yards (in a NE direction)  and you will see a little loop of road south of the Longland Road.  If you switch from "map view" to "satellite view" or "streetview" you will just about see what are gravestones / ruins - I wonder is this St. Michael's?

Turning to the OSI 6" mapping series of 1837 - 1842, here is a church in the townland of Bunowen which fits the ruins / graves I previously mentioned lying about 150 yards NE of the current St. James Church: http://maps.osi.ie/publicviewer/#V1,644974,903672,6,7

This website allows you to pan, zoom in/out and view on a more contemporary map, so play around. Obviously the St. James church hadn't been built at that stage, though it looks, comparing old and modern maps, as if it was built in land surrounding Earls Gift - I'm lead to believe from internet references, St. James is also called Earls Gift (Earlsgift)?

Going back to the original (early 1600s) church at Church Hill, I'm wondering if a reference in the OSI 6" mapping series of 1837 - 1842 to "Ruins of Old Church" just south of the townland of Church Hill is the oldest church?  If you pan a bit north from my previous link you will see it, otherwise follow this link: http://maps.osi.ie/publicviewer/#V1,645356,904465,6,7

[aghadowey]

I'm even more confused than gaffy and I haven't even tried searching for information yet 

Are you sure about the name of the church? Parish (Church of Ireland) churches don't usually have a numerical designation because they are the church for the whole parish. Presbyterian churches, on the other hand, are commonly given such as designation as splits within a congregation can cause the formantion of multiple new ones in the same town or area.

There was a 1st Donagheady Presbyterian Church (estavlished c1658), 2nd Donagheady Presbyterian formed in 1741 after a dispute. In 1933 the two congregations were reunited and known as Donagheady Presbyterian.

Any idea of the minister's name? exactly what details are included in the baptismal record? last but not least, do you have a copy of the actual record or is the information from a transcription/pay site?

[aghadowey]

Donemana Presbyterian is a separate church.

According to this list records for 1st Donagheady only start from 1875, 2nd Donagheady from 1838. However, the Church of Ireland records for the period covering 1826 baptisms seem to have survived.
http://cotyroneireland.com/churchrecord/parishrecords.html

[aghadowey]

Is this perhaps where you found the church records?
http://www.breadyancestry.com/index.php?id=churchrecords

The Church of Ireland website shows the location of the present St. James' with contact details for the Recotr (although not all are interested in the history of their charge or have the time to answer queries)
http://ireland.anglican.org/information/dioceses/parish/11270

[bntaylor]

Gaffy: Thank you so much for the Google Earth and (especially) the Ordnance Survey map reference. This is exactly what I hoped to derive from this query. Given that I'm unlikely to be able to pinpoint the townland of origin for my ancestors, the next best thing will be to use Google Earth StreetView to take a 'cyberwalk' where they walked. Hence my desire to locate the Church where the baptism of my gr2 grandfather took place.

Aghadowey: It was indeed the breadyancestry site where I found the index that revealed the existence of the record, but I went the extra mile and hired a researcher to find and copy the original record at PRONI. The designator '1st Donagheady' appears to be an archival reference, not one assigned by the Church. The baptism itself was on Page 1 of the 'new registry' for 1826, so I was very fortunate that it was preserved.

Your idea of tracing the Church from the Curate's name is a brilliant suggestion. I have attached his signature block. I myself cannot decipher his handwriting. (See attached image)

Thank you all for your help. I am astonished by the depth and speed of your responses!

Barry
Sooke, British Columbia, Canada

[aghadowey]

The signature is James Hazlett Curate which confirms that it was not a Presbyterian baptism. In addition, the snippet looks like it came from a Church of Ireland register.

January 28 1837 HAZLETT. At Dunnemana, on Saturday last, the REV. JAMES HAZLETT, curate of the parish of Donagheady
http://www.cotyroneireland.com/burial/DonagheadyDeaths1786-1859.htm

[bntaylor]

It  looks like I owe you two a big 'thank you', for the mission appears to have been accomplished.

I'm comfortable with the deduction that the Church that existed in 1826, with James Hazlett as Curate, was indeed St. Michael's. The site is now known as St. Michael's Cemetery, and is located 150 yards NE of St. James, just as you suspected. Gaffy. This extract from the St. James site confirms the fact.

"Around 1790 a new church, St. Michael’s, was constructed in what is now known as St. Michael’s cemetery and again a portion of the gable wall remains standing to this day."

And here is a photo of the site from the County Tyrone web that also confirms the site of the old church.

http://www.cotyroneireland.com/churches/images/st_michaels_cemetery.jpg

The Ordnance Survey map also records a school house at the location so this, too, captures my imagination as to whether my ancestors may have attended.

Aghadowey: It is interesting that the page you found containing the record of James Hazlett's death in 1838 also included an entry immediately beneath and another five entries beneath for individuals named HUSTON. These may be members of the family two generations further back in my search.

Cheers!

Barry

[aghadowey]

Glad to hear that we were able to get quite a few details sorted out between us 

If Killyclooney is between Donemana & Ballymagrotty (I could be mistaken) then the children in the family might have gone to a school closer to home. Perhaps someone with local knowledge will have more ideas on this.