Irish roots

[CAPPI]

Hi everyone
I wonder if someone could help me with my Irish ancestors from Ballymena Co Antrim.
The names I am most interested in are McCluskey and Weir.
John Weir was born in Ballymena in 1895 and married Louisa Mary McCluskey (known as Mary) in December 1913 at the Ballymena Roman Catholic Church.
Any help with any of these families would be very much appreciated.

I am a little unsure where to find Ballymena on a map as it does not seem to appear anywhere and I am assuming it is a small area of a larger county. Is someone able  to tell me if this is the case please?
Thank you

[sillgen]

Hi
Welcome to rootschat.  Just looked for Ballymena on our road atlas and it looks a quite big town north of Antrim and Lough Neagh and west of Larne.  I am sure you will find it on an online map.
Have you got the marriage certificate?  Details from that will be very helpful.
Andrea

[CAPPI]

Thank you for responding so quickly. I am new to this so was unsure what I needed to do!
I don't have the marriage certificate unfortunately.
I have had a researcher in Ireland finding out as much as possible on these two families but although I have a reasonable amount of information coming back, it doesn't fit anywhere and it is costing me a small fortune!
As far as I am aware, John Weir's father was Patrick and his mother Margaret McCluskey. John Weir married Louisa Mary McCluskey. Apparently there was no father listed on her birth entry but her mother was also a Margaret McCluskey. Very confusing.
John Weir died in 1932. I have a photograph of the family grave.
Patrick (his father) was born in 1866 and married Margaret McCluskey in 1899 in the Roman Catholic Church in Ballymena.
I am registered with the Irish genealogy but Ballymena does not show up in the County of Antrim. That is why I wondered if it is a small place within another larger area Ballynure?
I also noted when I first logged on to RootsChat that Ballymena is not listed in the cenus parishes either so am a bit lost at the moment. Any help would be wonderful.
Thank you

[sillgen]

Have a look at the Irish bit of www.genuki.org.uk and that should help.     Ballymena is a parish in Antrim on that.
Have a look at all the links on the Irish board and see what they tell you about the availability of birth, marriage records etc.  It might be worth your having a trial on www.ancestry.co.uk too
Andrea

[CAPPI]

thank you Andrea I will do as you suggest.
I am already registered with Ancestry.co.uk and have been for some time but have not found it helpful with the Irish side of the family.
The LDS has quite a few possibilities in Ballymena but still no connection with what I already have so I am stuck!
I am also registered with a couple of Irish websites but have found nothing on those either.
Family still live there, so I know they exist!
Thank you for your suggestions. I will keep you posted

[RonnieG]

Cappi,

Have a look at this link for Ballymena and all  the parishes surrounding it.

long link to ireland.com

I have asked the moderators to move this thread to the Antrim board as you will be more likely to get help there. I only found this by chance when I was looking for something else!

RonnieG



Moderator Comment: URL modified, as it was 'stretching' the screen
See tips here, to avoid this:
Topic: Shrinking Very Long Website Links / Topic: Post too W--I--D--E!

[CAPPI]

Thanks Ronnie, that's kind of you

[Blackadder]

If you google for (eg) Seven Towers; All Saints Church Ballymena etc it could throw up some useful stuff for you.
All Saints have a website.

[Blackadder]

Ballymena is the biggest town in County Antrim. McCluskey would not be a common name but Weir most certainly is!