How to get past tithe applotment books without church records? help?

[crb83]

Hello everyone, I'm afraid I've hit THE brick wall.  My family was from Clara in Offaly (emigrated in 1866).  The earliest record I could find was my 4th-great grandfather paying his tithe in 1826, his name was Henry McLain.  I have him in Griffith's as well, but how do i get past there?
They were Church of Ireland and all those records were burned in the Civil War.  Another thing is, their surname  is of Scottish origin from Clan Maclaine of Lochbuie so they came to Ireland from Scotland at some point between the 1400s and 1800s.

I'm hoping to find them in another area pre-1826 where church records survive but im not sure how I would find them.
The family I know if is...

Henry McLain (b. 1794, died in Clara 11/6/1864)
occupation: House painter
wife unknown
children: John McLain b. 1822, Henry McLain b. 1831, and Rosanna McLain.
John McLain emigrated c. 1852 to NY
Henry McLain married Anna Ellis in 1865 before leaving for NY (these are my ggg-grandparents)
Rosanna McLain married Charles Dowling, a police Constable in 1865.

In Griffith's I have an alternate spelling of McClane.  And thats the extent of my info since they left 2 yrs after civil registration started.

Thanks to anyone that can help

[shanew147]

some of my ancestors come from an area very close to Kilbride where Henry lived at the same time. He seems to have lived in the parish of Kilbride, mine lived in the parish of Lemanaghan - which is two parishes to the west. One of them is named James Cathcart and he appears to have has similar Scottish connection. His surname derives from a region near Glasgow.

Our theory at the moment is that is that his ancestors arrived in Ireland as part of the plantations, possibly originally in Northern Ireland as he seems to have had connections in Co. Armagh.


Shane

[crb83]

Thank you Shane, I was wondering the same thing with the plantations.  Also the highland clearances of Scotland came into mind as well as Scots fleeing after the Jacobite Rebellion, etc.
I know King's Co. was set up as a plantation after the english pushed many of the Irish to the rocky west coast.
Do you know what the story was with getting scots to come to Ireland for this? did the Crown force/pay/bribe them?

Thanks Again!
Chris

[shanew147]

as far as I know the land was confiscated and then handed over various people as estates or to middle-men who arranged for approved people (mainly Scottish I think) to take on the land - I think one of the approval criteria was being Protestant.

I am assuming that the land being allocated was in large plots so it probably would be worthwhile for a small holder to take a chance and relocate.



Shane

[hallmark]

Many estates brought their own people with them as they certainly were not going to trust the "locals"..some of these were rewarded with a few acres of land, others a tied cottage which had to be returned if they retired/left..

Some of the "staff" were responsible for security and rewarded with small farms etc as an incentive/reward..

There are many many reasons how people got land!!