Ancestors near Lough Neagh that went to Derry Cathedral?? Your thoughts...

[crb83]

I was wondering if anyone had run into ancestors in Ulster that attended church services far from where they lived?  I'm trying to figure out if a group of people in St. Columb's Church of Ireland registers are one & the same with a group that appears in Tyrone's hearth rolls (a group of Maclaine brothers and their families).

From what I understand, this area in Tyrone (southeast near Lough Neagh) was in ruin after the Eleven Years' War and there were no churches. Is it feasible that people made the trek to Londonderry (abt 35 miles) to marry or baptize children?  It seems like this family came to Tyrone from Down after the land was seized and parcelled out to adventurers and soldiers c1652.  (The older John is probably the John I found in the 1642 ulster army lists)  I'll post the records anyway but I was wondering if this is too far-fetched of a theory.

Register of St. Columb
22 Jul 1655    Baptism of John Machilane, s. Owen
22 Jan 1663   Marriage of Archiball M'Clene & Mary M'Cracken, wit: Wm M'Clene
27 Dec 1663  Baptism of William M'Clene, s. Patrick
27 Dec 1663  Baptism of Jno M'Clene, s. Archiball, wit: Wm M'Clene
29 Mar 1665 Baptism of John M'Clane, s. Anndro
9 Mar 1667   Baptism of Andrue M'Lane, s. John
21 Feb 1668   Burial of James M'Aline, s. John & Elinor

Tyrone's Hearth Rolls, 1663
John McKline, Coolkill, Clonfeakle, Dungannon, Co. Tyrone
Patrick Mclaine, Galcussah, Desertcreat, Dungannon,  Co. Tyrone
John McOlane, Lederg, Killyman, Dungannon, Co. Tyrone
Andrew McClean, Ballymenagh, Tullyniskan, Dungannon, Co. Tyrone

I know the hearth/subsidy rolls aren't exactly a precise householder census but these names do not appear anywhere else in Tyrone, Londonderry, Donegal (except for a Patrick in Inishowen) as far as any records for this timeframe goes.

[kingskerswell]

Hi,
   I would think that it was highly unlikely. The track over the Sperrin Mountains in those days would have made it an arduous journey and it would also have been dangerous because of the number of outlaws in the Sperrin areas. The distance by road would have been about 50 miles.

Regards

[aghadowey]

I agree that it is unlikely. My great-grandmother's brother born 1850 wrote that his grandparents lived at a 'then great distance away' so they rarely got to see them- it was about 9 miles, the roads were fairly good and there were no mountains in between- and this was written by a man who had lived in America then came back to Ireland, had brothers in New Zealand, Australia and Canada and sisters in America, Syria and India!

[kingskerswell]

Hi,
    As a matter of interest I have had a look at some Muster lists for various parts of Co. Londonderry between 1622 and 1666 and found a tenant, John McClene, living in the Bellaghy area in the Vintners portion in 1630. I also found a Thomas MAKLANE, a soldier under Captain Robert Thornton, in Londonderry city on 18 Aug 1643

Regards