William Plunkett & Margaret Kelly

[Plunkett Granddaughter]

Hello from Canada!
We recently held our first Plunkett reunion of William and Margaret, who emigrated from Newtownards in 1848 and 1850. Through our shared resources, we discovered a 7th child, apparently their oldest.
We also discovered a bible with the name of our William's son William inscribed in it, along with Ballywatticock (1845).
From what I understand, Ballywatticock is a townland, but in the early to mid 1800s, could there have been a community called Ballywatticock?
Is there a location where I can find a list of cemeteries within the townland?
We have not been able to find any record of William or Margaret in Ireland itself.
Thanks very much for any insight. We are now planning a reunion in Newtownards in August 2019.

Louise

[aghadowey]

Welcome to Rootschat 

A townland would consist of a group of houses and/or farms but wouldn't necessarily have contained a church, burying grounds, etc. As you can see from looking at the location of Ballywatticock it's just outside Newtownards-
https://www.townlands.ie/down/ards-lower/newtownards/ballywatticock/
It's most likely your ancestors went to a church in Newtownards. Do you know what religion they were in Ireland?

This gravestone map for County Down will show some places they might have been buried but it's possible there's no headstone. Also, it was usually only the Church of Ireland that kept burial records but many COI records sent to Dublin for safekeeping were lost. http://www.historyfromheadstones.com/index.php?down

[Plunkett Granddaughter]

Thank you!
They were Presbyterian, and there is one stone that I know of at Movilla. I am in touch with the descendants of the Plunketts on that stone in Newtownards, but I'm looking for other cemetery locations, as well.
They were known as the Plunketts of the Shore, so I'm thinking perhaps they were closer to the water at the lower edge of the townland?