kirk of rathfriland county down

[theoalex1203]

I have traced my GG/Grandfather back to Augnavallog townland in the Drumballyroney parish. He was Francis Kirk d.o.b. 1819 and his father was William Kirk but I have no more information on him. They were farmers and leased houses. A William and a Francis appeared on the Flax growers list of 1796 and are presumably ancestors but I cannot make the link between the generations. Any information from other Kirks would be appreciated.

[sarah]

Hello theoalex1203, Welcome to RootsChat.

I just did a little search using RootsChat advanced search and it came up with 13 posts off Kirks in Down... These look to be the most interesting as they are both Kirk topics concerning rathfriland.

http://www.rootschat.com/forum/index.php?topic=593743.msg5234698#msg5234698

http://www.rootschat.com/forum/index.php?topic=198082.msg989312#msg989312

Regards

Sarah

[kingskerswell]

Hi,
   There is some information on what appears to be this family on the Ros Davies surname site. See http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~rosdavies/SURNAMES/K/Kirk.htm

Regards

[BallyaltikilliganG]

Hi all, I started by recapping the main records

1796 Irish Flax Growers list http://www.failteromhat.com/flax/down.php
Kirk              Francis              Drumballyroney                  Down
Kirk              William              Drumballyroney                  Down
also
Kirk              Robert               Drumgath                        Down
Robert in Drumgath civil parish is the parish beneath Drumballyroney parish so could be a relative

1827 and 1837 http://www.irishgenealogyhub.com/down/tithe-applotment-books/drumballyroney-parish.php#.VgEsS0vU4YU
Kirk, David    Townland: Lisnavaghrell Year: 1827
Kirk, David    Townland: Lisnavaghrel? Year: 1837
coming from the Banbridge the road passes southwards through the townlands of Lisnavahrog, Aughnavallog and into Rossconnor where lies Rathfriland. That ‘?’ shows the enumerator doesn’t know his townlands so I would take it that it could be Aughnavallog

1863 for Griffiths valuation  quick listing http://www.failteromhat.com/post1845.php to which I have added the map references for the homesteads found on the more detailed version http://www.askaboutireland.ie/griffith-valuation which needs exhausting
Kirk   David   Aughnavallog   Drumballyroney   Down  map ref 17
Kirk   Francis   Aughnavallog   Drumballyroney   Down map ref 18
Kirk   Marmaduke   Aughnavallog   Drumballyroney   Down map ref 16
Looking up the askaboutIreland website  reveals the homestead boundary sites on a map are together spanning the Church Hill Road also findable on google maps at 2-18 Church Hill Newry BT34, UK its just over a mile north of Rathfriland and houses that saddle the road around No 11 look likely buildings. Do exhaust all the info on the buildings maps fields etc on the maps, a secondary building in a plot is often a barn which also if lucky survives today.
Marmaduke if he is the Marmaduke who married in 1881 is the son of a Thomas Kirk  see
in http://www.ancestryireland.com The three tenants might be all grandsons within the family tree etc

Your family
William Kirk
Did William have other children? there are children with a William Kirk as father on http://www.ancestryireland.com eg
JANE         KIRK   1828   WILLIAM   Down   
ELIZABETH      KIRK   1828   WILLIAM   Down      
JAMES         KIRK   1830   WILLIAM   Down   
ROBERT            KIRK   1830   WILLIAM   Down   
children
Francis Kirk b 1819 Augnavallog townland in the Drumballyroney parish. Aughnavallog is the townland above Rossconnor in which Rathfriland resides.  possible marriages [No he married Nancy Allen see below]
from https://www.emeraldancestors.com/
1853   Francis KIRK married Charlotte  XXXX Newtownards   Down   
1866   Francis KIRK married Isabella XXXXxx Newtownards   Down   
children
entries in http://www.ancestryireland.com
ANDREW      KIRK   1840   FRANCIS   Down   
WILLIAM      KIRK   1842   FRANCIS   Down   
MARY MORRISON   KIRK   1845   FRANCIS   Down   
they also have a NANCY KIRK 1866 FRANCIS Down, but thats unlikely

from Ros Davies http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~rosdavies/SURNAMES/K/Kirk.htm
Francis   KIRK   .   Drumballyroney   husband of Nancy Allen; father of Andrew b. 15 Nov & bpt. 15 Dec 1840 & William b. 4 May & bpt. 9 Jun 1841 & Mary Morrison Kirk b. 8 Mar & bpt. 20 Mar 1845at Ballyroney Presbyterian Church   PR
Miss   Jane   KIRK   .   Drumballyroney   wife of Edward Bigham; mother of John McCracken Bigham b. 19 Apr & bpt. 8 May 1841 at Ballyroney Presbyterian Church   PR
William   KIRK   .   Drumballyroney   his house & 10 acres in Lisnavaghog to be sold by auction 22 May 1813   AG   this source very unusual see AG =Armagh Guardian newspaper   transcribed by Alison Causton, Kingsville, Ontario, Canada in British newspaper library
William   KIRK   .   Drumballyroney   father of Francis bpt. 6 Aug 1819 at Ballyroney Presbyterian Church   PR

The family tree is not clear to me this stage. I would next be searching other records iie church and PRONI
but I have run out of time so hoping something is new to you and keep going

[theoalex1203]

Sarah and Ballyaltikilligan

Thanks for all that information.

Regards

Graham Kirk

[BallyaltikilliganG]

Graham you left out ' kingskerswell ' who as you can see is 5 times more experienced than me in seeking information amd feeding it back in his posts.   It was his single line re Ros Davies that triggered me to go further and start applying a fuller search, and because i knew a Bill kirk photographer in the 1970s whose art form was not sufficiently recognized in the social media of his day. Perhaps you knew the Ros Dvaies information already in which case you should have mentioned it. So there we go. lets hope your Rathfriland kirks show up on this board
Good luck JimG

[theoalex1203]

Jim

I.m new to this as you have probably guessed and yes some of the information was known. Apologies for missing " kingskerwell" out.

Graham Kirk

[BallyaltikilliganG]

well said.  from Ros Davies website  http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~rosdavies/
Ballyroney Presbyterian Church in Ballyroney village
The meeting house of Ballyroney, is situated in the village of Ballyroney, in the townland of Lackan, on the road between Rathfriland and Dromara.
The old church was built in 1708 when the Presbytery of Armagh formed a new congregation outside of Rathfriland. .....,"Rebuilt by subscriptions in the year 1832........The new church was built in 1928 on the same site.
Records are available.
Baptisms, 1819-63; marriages, 1818-29 and 1833-1906; stipend accounts, c.1830-1848 in PRONI MIC 1p/168A/1 & PRONI fiche MIC/1P/168/a-2 & Yahoo Co. Down newsgroup site , graveyard attached; records- try http://www.findmypast.ie
References;V3 p 10, 15 OSM ; GIPR; GIC; ORHB p 41; HCPCI p49-50 ; church anniversary booklet 1958

from http://www.proni.gov.uk/guide_to_church_records.pdf
just to confirm PRONI church records copies held by them include Baptisms, 1819-63; marriages, 1818-29 and 1833-1906; stipend accounts, c.1830-1848. MIC1P/168; CR/3/30

If you get to checking church records for burial 1839-1873, the church of Ireland C.I. Drumballyroney (Dromore diocese) might include a Kirk

PRONI just to get warmed up, under Freeholders alone, there are 5 Kirks listed in just one document for 1769 ref Aughnavallogh   Drumballyroney   Down ,with other documents with original images

So good luck onwards
BallyaltikilliganG

[Dalzell]

I grew up as a neighbour of the KIRK family.  We shared a March ditch in Aughnavallog.  I only remember Joseph and Mary born in 1887 and 1888 to Marmaduke and Mary Jane Kirk.  Francis' family were all gone from that area when I was growing up.  I noticed that Ellen, daughter of Francis emigrated to Brooklyn, NY in 1910.  It appears that her brother William and sister Mary remained on the land in Aughnavallog but were unmarried.

Obviously I do not know the connection going back to your g-g-grandfather.  My g-aunt married John Kirk of Tamery, Clonduff, County Down in 1809 in 2nd Rathfriland Church (her church).  His church was noted at 1st Rathfriland Church.  You should check their records and you may find your family there. The distance from Aughnavallog (now known as Churchill Road) to Rathfriland is about 2 miles and to Ballyroney is about 4 miles.

My Dad's family went to the school attached to the Drumballyroney Church, now the Bronte Interpretative Centre.  Most likely your family went there too as it was a quarter of a mile from their home. The records for the students that attended this school are located in the PRONI in Belfast.  It was closed as a school around 1926 and the students then went to Glaskar.

If you want to contact me I will be happy to hear from you.  Hopefully others will connect with the names posted.  Good luck.  It is a long process.

PS: My g-g-g grandfather's land and survey map produced in 1783 shows F. Kirk on the east march of his land.

Lorna
Information on birth dates from National Archives of Ireland Census 1901/1911