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Ireland (Historical Counties) => Ireland => Derry (Londonderry) => Topic started by: Blue*Bell on Wednesday 02 March 11 21:11 GMT (UK)
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Hello, I've just started tracing my Irish ancestors and getting in a pickle with my geography!! Not also helped by the variation in spelling of the surname I'm researching.
I am tracing Catherine Jane McGinnis and found on familysearch an entry for 26 Feb 1876. I know this to be the correct entry as her parents are John McGinnis and Margaret Ann Hegarty (also known as Peggy Ann Hegarty/ Haggerty). It only mentions her birthplace as Londonderry. It says her father was born in Tartuakelly, Tarnlaghtt, Finlagan.
I know from the 1891 Scottish Census that she has more siblings, but I am having trouble trying to find their birth entries. I have found a couple under the surname McGuinness but not all of them. One record did mention Church Ballykelly, Civil District Newtown Limavady, Sub District Tamlaght Finlagan, County Londonderry.
Would it be wrong to look for other births and even a marriage entry for her parents at Church, Ballykelly? If so could someone advise how I can do this or another way of tracking down her siblings? Many thanks
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Welcome to Rootschat. With those local places listed in such a way I almost fon't recognise them!
Irish placenames are usually listed as townland name, civil parish name, county name.
"Tartuakelly, Tarnlaghtt, Finlagan" is actually Tarnakelly (townland), Tamlaght-Finlagan (civil parish).
"Church Ballykelly, Civil District Newtown Limavady, Sub District Tamlaght Finlagan, County Londonderry" is Ballykelly Church (not sure of denomination as there are several there), Newtownlimavady (now called Limavady) is the civil registration district** and Tamlaght Finlagan is the sub-district under it.
**civil registration index is online up to 1921 for Northern Ireland counties (births, deaths and Catholic marriages from 1864 and non-Catholic marriages from 1845).
Will have a look and see if I can find any of Catherine Jane McGinnis' siblings in the records.
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Thank you for that, I was having trouble understanding Townlands as it is new terminology for me.
I did try looking up Ballykelly Church, but didn't realise there were several.
Thank you in advance.
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Quite a few children are listed in LDS database-
Mariah born 20 June 1864 Ballykelly (page 808 in civil register)
Eliza born 10 Apr.1868 Ballykelly (page 1048 in civil register)
Alexander born 18 Jan.1871 Ballykelly (page 980 in civil register)
James Cherry born 6 July 1873 Ballykelly
William born 1 Dec.1877
https://www.familysearch.org/#form=historical_records
There might be other children born before the start of birth registration (1864). Based on Mariah's birthdate it's likely the parents were married before 1864 and if it was a Catholic cerremony you'd need to see if the church record exists. If it was a non-Catholic ceremony (including Registry Office) which took place after 1845 it should be listed in the civil index- check for bride and groom separately then cross-reference the results to find a match-
http://search.labs.familysearch.org/recordsearch/start.html#p=collectionDetails&c=fs%3A1408347
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Thank you, and also for the other part to Family Search, I didn't know that was there. I'll have a look and cross reference as you suggested for the marriage. My Gran is quite keen to come over and visit Londonderry, which is why I am trying to find exact locations. Thanks again.
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HI there my name is Raymond Logue and i came across your query today some of the names of individuals you mention are of interest to me. Ive a notion we are both looking into a similar ancestry. My Great Great Grandmother was called Margaret-Ann McGuinness somtimes recorded as Peggy-Ann. She married Hugh Logue in 1858. Her father was Alexander Mcguinness died 1862 and her mother Susan. I beleive she had the folowing siblings Alexander , James , John and Charles. The townland you refer to is Tartnakelly a lot of my ancestors came from there and i myself know where it is as i was raised in Ballykelly. The Roman Catholic chapel just about 2 miles from that village is St Finlough's. I wonder if there is a connection. regards Ray Logue e-mail
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Hi Raymond,
I've just registered and your info is very relevant to my own background. My interests would be mainly McGinnis, Ballykelly. I'm unsure how this messaging works but I'll try to find out.
- Docrt
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I've just come across this chat. I am looking for information on Alexander McGinness ( and every spelling combination known). His parents were John and Margaret Hegarty. It looks like we have the same family. Alexander was my great grandmothers 3rd husband.
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Hi Terese there are many different ways to spell McGuinness and different ways occur within the same family as many people could neither read nor write. I think we may be descended from a common ancestor. My great great grandmother was Margaret Ann (Peggy Ann) McGuinness Born Circa 1835 she had 4 brothers John , Alexander, James and Charles their parents were Alexander and Susan McGuinness. I discovered that from the will of Alexander McGuinness who died in 1862. You can see it yourself free at the PRONI website search Wills Calenders for Alexander McGuinness died 1862 Sistrakeel Ballykelly in the probate district of Londonderry. PRONI is the Public Records Office of Northern Ireland. If you google St Finlough's Church Ballykelly you might find pics of the chapel and graveyard where some of your ancestors were baptised married and interred. I believe John Mcguinness married a Margaret Ann Hegarty also known as Peggy Ann. Do you have dates for you ancestors. I live in Derry city but am originally from Ballykelly and i know the area well. Ive only used the spelling McGuinness to save confusion. Hope to hear from you best regards Raymond Logue
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Thank you for your reply Raymond. The very little I know is from their marriage certificate from 24 DEC 1914 ST MARY'S CHURCH, ERSKINEVILLE NSW Australia ( Sydney suburb). See attachment.Alex and my great grandmother did not have children. I have also attached a photo of their wedding
I would love to be able to fill in a little more about Alexander if you could assist
Thanks Terese, Hunter Valley, NSW, Australia.
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Hi Terese thank you for posting that pic it is the first time ive seen anyone of that generation. I dont seem to be able to trace a previous marriage for alexander in ireland perhaps he married in scotland as i believe this family left ireland to go there at some stage. if you check previous posts on this thread you will see a user called bluebell i believe her to be decended from Catherine Mcguinness a sister of your Alexander. The details in his wedding cert ring familiar in regards to the profession of blacksmith as that was in his background. Alexander was one of 11 children born to John McGuinness and Margaret Ann Hegarty aka Peggy Ann. His siblings were Susan b 1855, John b 1857, Patrick b 1859, George b 1862 Mary b 1864, Margaret b 1866, Elizabeth b 1868, Alexander himself born 22nd January 1871, James Cherry b 1873 Catherine Jane b 1876 and William b 1877. Alexander's grandfather was also Alexander McGuinness known as Alick he was a farmer and had a blacksmith's shop he died in 1862 as did his wife Susan maiden name ive not been able to find out.
Alick and Susan had 5 children Margaret Ann (Peggy Ann) she married Hugh Logue in 1858 thats were my family fit in. Alexander , John that married Margaret Ann Hegerty, James and Charles. I hope you can figure all that out Terese. if you cant source any info on the places in ireland like the chapel were they all would have worshipped and sourrounding countryside i may have some pics i could post up let me know. My father was William James Logue b 1929 my grandfather John Logue b 1899 My GreatGrandfather James Logue b 1863 and he would have been a first cousin to your Alexander McGuinness 8 years of a difference in age they would have known eachother well im certain of it. best regards Ray Logue any other queries just ask
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I am searching for information about the Leach/Leech/Leitch family of Glack, Ballykelly. My great-grandfather, Abraham Leech, was born in Glack in 1861 to William Leech and his wife Mary Ann (nee McIvor). Beyond this, my research has turned up only a few possible Leech connections which I have found difficult to confirm.
I think William died in 1878 at the residence of his sister, Susan McGuinnies, in Sistrakeel. There is a headstone in St. Finlough’s graveyard for Alexander McGinnis (died 16 November 1909, aged 95 years), his wife Susan (died 28 March 1902, aged 75 years), his daughter Catherine (died 17 February 1904, aged 38 years) and son William (died 29 January 1926, aged 70 years).
Does anyone know if and how these people connect to the Alexander and Susan in previous posts?
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Hi K3 yes the headstone refers to Alexander Mcguinness and his wife Susan Leech. The Alexander on the headstone is the son also of the Alexander (Alick) Mcguinness died 1862 and Susan died also 1862 I have not been able to find out her maiden name and probably will not either as records do not cover the time of her marriage or birth. They had one daughter Margaret-Ann Mcguinness my great great grandmother and four sons in total Alexander who married Susan Leech, John who married Margaret-Ann Hegarty and James and Charles I'm not sure if these two survived got married or left Ireland. I hope I have been helpfull and haven't been complicated in my reply. Best regards Raymond Logue
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Thank you Raymond for replying so quickly to my post. Your information has helped to confirm the link between the Leech and McGuinness families in my tree. Since you have lived in Ballykelly and are very familiar with the families from that area, do you know anything more about the ancestry of Susan Leech? I have isolated facts about Leachs but am unable to confirm connections between them.
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Hi K3 it might be difficult to trace further back than Susan Leech however there were a few in the census of 1831 living in the townland of Glack. One seems to stand out as a possible ancestor of Susan and that is one Abraham and Leech my only reason for saying this is that amongst the 8 children of Alexander Mcguinness and Susan Leech they had one son called Joseph Abraham Mcguinness born 17/July/1867. They had 7 other children
William Mcguinness born 25/December/1855
Susanna Mcguinness born 12/November/1858
Joseph Mcguinness born 2nd/October/1860
Mary Teresa Mcguinness born 19/March/1862
Alexander Mcguinness born 16/December/1863
Catherine Mcguinness born 22/August/1865
John Mcguinness born 23rd/June/1869
Of all these only one Susanna had a godparent who was Leech him being Patrick Leech. May well be a brother of Susan Mcguinness nee Leech.
All these children therefore are first cousins to my great grandfather James Logue born 1863.
I found most of this information on rootsireland.ie and the Irish Census online also Irish genealogy. ie
I have asked my family and it seems there is no one of the name Leech living in those areas where they once were anymore but I could be wrong. Hope this helps you let me know if I can help you further.
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Thanks again Raymond. I appreciate your efforts to try to trace Leech ancestors and descendants for me. I agree that the name Abraham Leech sounds like an ancestor of my great grandfather, so the challenge for me now is to make the elusive connection. If your family history research ever turns up any other Leech connection, I would be pleased to hear about it.
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Greetings all - I am new to this site and hoping that some of you might have information that might help my search; however, my dates are likely way too early. Let me share why I am posting in this here first. Recently, I got some 3rd-5th DNA matches from MyHeritage and all of those shared matches led to an Alexander McGinnis - whom I think is the same family as mentioned in this series of posts. That was highly interesting, because my oldest known ancestor is a William McGinnis born in America in 1750 - much earlier than the Alexander mentioned here. I believe my William is the son of a Thomas McGinnis likely born in 1710 in County Down according to some family trees, but we do not have actual evidence of that. If Thomas had siblings that stayed in Ireland, that would be a possible connection to the family lines of Alexander McGinnis. Secondly, my BigY DNA results place my line right next to two men named Leach/Leech who show oldest known ancestors in the mid-1700s living in America. Another of my Y-DNA cousins lives in Eglinton and his family has always beein in that area. The posts in this string lead me to conjecture that the McGinnis/Leach Y-DNA connection might be found in the Ballykelly area. So, I am posting here to see if anyone can offer suggestions for my research directions. Thanks in advance for any ideas.
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Allow me to share a little more information. I contacted the managers of the two Leach Y-DNA lines that are close to my own line. Both of them list a Zadock Leach as the earliest known ancestor who was born in America. Neither of them know of an Ireland connection (but I am sharing all this wiith them to keep the informed). Does anyone see the name Zadock in the Derry region as a forename?
Thanks,
Dave
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Haven't come across Zadock as a Christina name in Ireland but if their ancestor Zadock Leach was born in America it's more than likely it would have been an earlier generation who was born in Ireland.
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Thanks - that Leach family in America really knows little about their ancestor. Evidently, there is some lore that their earliest known ancestor (Zadock Leach) may have been an indentured servant who took on the name of his American family - perhaps a child who was orphaned during passage? Not sure.
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Interesting name Zadok. It was definitely biblical but in this case it may have been due to a musical event in the 1700's. "Zadok the Priest was composed by Handel for the coronation of King George II in 1727. Zadok the Priest has been sung prior to the anointing of the sovereign at the coronation of every British monarch".
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Sorry to have not returned to this conversation in a while - but I would like to provide another bit of Leech-McGinnis connections. In the Griffith's valuations from around 1850, I find the following names living in the Carnamuff townland in the parish of Faughanvale, County Derry: Hugh Logue, Joseph Leech, William Patterson (which I include because my emigrant ancestor married a Patterson), James McGuinness and Patrick McGuinness. I also searched the Tithe Applotment books from the 1820s, but did not find any of these names except Patterson although there were McGinnis names (William and Samuel) in the Bolies townland. My main point is that in the mid-1800s, the Logue, Leech and McGinnis/McGuinness families all lived near to one another.
Cheers,
Dave McGinnis