McAlary/McClary help re Native Place

[anniebelle]

My ancestors, Daniel (dob c1825) and Martha McAlary/McClary (nee McIlhinney) (sp?)(dob c1820)   came to Aust on Jan 10, 1844 per 'Herald' as Assist Immigrants.  I am trying to locate where they originated from.  They are of the Church of Rome; Daniel's parents: Neil and Mary McAlary/McClary and Martha's parents: Hugh and Anne McIlhinney (spelling?).On the immigration records it looks as though the native place is " Daysart, Co Derry" The persons certifying them for the immigration files are as follows:

Certifying Regist of Baptism: REv Geo Smith, Curate of Desertoghet, Co Derry

Physician cert health: Jas McAlister, Surgeon, of Garvagh, Ireland

Householder cert Character: Anty McAlister, Meteor, Garvagh and Robert Moore of Garvagh

Magistrate & Clergyman cert'g correctness of inform: Robt Ogilvy of Ploodbank?, Garvagh and Rev G Smith of Glebe Stilerea ?, Garvagh

Can anyone with knowledge of Co Derry give me some direction.  I have not been able to find a parish of Daysart

Any help would be appreciated. Thank you,  Anniebelle

[anniebelle]

 Some additional information:  Martha's death certificate in 1895 gives her place of birth as: Coolbawn, County Drumgarra, Ireland and their place of marriage as Garvagh, Ireland.  As the informant to the death cert is their Australian born son this may not be correct.  Anniebelle

[akanex2]

The parish in question is Desertoghill (sometimes called simply "Desert" locally) and it covers a rural area in the east of the county between the towns of Kilrea and Garvagh.  George Smith was the Church of Ireland (Anglican/protestant) clergyman in this parish in the 1830s (he performed the marriage ceremony for my gt gt gt grandparents in 1832) so that doesn't fit with them being Roman Catholic, unless it was a mixed marriage.  You can search the area through the 1850s maps online at the following website - and search for the houses of members of their families who remained behind in Ireland.

http://www.askaboutireland.ie/griffith-valuation/index.xml

Not sure about Martha's birthplace - but I know there are McIlhinneys/McElhinneys in County Donegal which neighbours Co L'Derry to the west, and "Drumgarra" could just about be an Aussie rendering of Donegal

Good luck in your search.

[akanex2]

There are 4 graveyards in Desertoghill parish :-

Desert Old Churchyard - pre-reformation site of old Church of Ireland (CoI) church until 1774
Moyletra Churchyard - current CoI church (since 1774)
Moneydig Churchyard - current Presbyterian Church (congregation only began 1835 - Presbyterians previously attended church in Garvagh or at Boveedy in Tamlaght O'Crilly parish)
Craigavole churchyard - current Roman Catholic Church (since 1734)

Had a quick check of some records and can find no McAlarys or McIlhinney gravestones in either Church of Ireland churchyard and only one recent (1960s) stone for McAlary in the Presbyterian churchyard in the parish - sorry I have no details for Craigavole.  None of these churches have pre 1844 records available online.

The 1831 census partly survives for the parish (head of household only named, number of people in house split male/female and by religion) but is only available on microfilm in the Public Records Office in Belfast.  I can tell you the index shows 20 McAlary households in Co Londonderry, but none with Neil as head, nor any in Desertoghill parish unfortunately.  The parish was predominantly Presbyterian with about 2/3 of the population belonging to that church.  All the McIlhinney households were located in the west of the county (i.e. on the border with Co Donegal) and again no mention of a Neil.

[anniebelle]

Firstly, thank you for your advice and efforts - greatly appreciated.  I have looked at the Griffth Valuation site and to my delight found 3 McLary names, Daniel, Neil and John. These are definitely mine as I know 2 brothers Daniel & Neil from the Garvagh area had children come to Australia.  The 3 male names crop up continually in the family in subsequent generations.  It looks as though I may not have too much luck in going back further or finding out any more about them without a visit to Ireland which hopefully I can do in a few years time.  No luck with the McIlhinney/McElhenny though - no names in Desert parish look remotely likely. Shall have to do more homework.

I would appreciate some help in interpreting the valuations:

Neal McLary appears to have a Lessor (Landlord?) called James Church and the area comprises a house, offices and land comprising an area of 7ac 2Roods 11perches with annual rent of 4 Pds. The map ref is 1 in Map 26.  Does this sound right?  I couldn't seem to print a legible copy of the map attached.  Is there some technical wizardry I need to perform?  Again, many thanks,  Anniebelle.

[aghadowey]

Can add a bit to what akanex2 has already posted.

"Moneydig Churchyard - current Presbyterian Church (congregation only began 1835 - Presbyterians previously attended church in Garvagh or at Boveedy in Tamlaght O'Crilly parish)"
People from Aghadowey congregation also joined Moneydig when it was formed.

"Magistrate & Clergyman cert'g correctness of inform: Robt Ogilvy of Ploodbank?, Garvagh and Rev G Smith of Glebe Stilerea ?, Garvagh"
Robert Ogilby lived at Woodbank which is just outside Garvagh
Rev. George Smith was Church of Ireland minister but not sure what 'Glebe Stilerea' should be- perhaps Glebe House? (rectory)

"Householder cert Character: Anty McAlister, Meteor, Garvagh and Robert Moore of Garvagh "
Lots of McAllisters (various spellings) about Garvagh but never heard of anywhere called 'Meteor.' Wonder if this might be Anthony McAllister of Mettican? (not far from Woodbank House) Anthony died 1863 and was the father of James McAlister (c1830-25 Oct.1860 Hong Kong), surgeon H.M. 3rd B.N.I. (perhaps the James McAlister you mentioned)

My first thought is that McIlhinney is a Donegal name but the details you have are certainly Garvagh, Co. Londonderry which isn't near the Donegal border.

"Coolbawn, County Drumgarra, Ireland" wonder if this could be the townland of Cuilbane (also known as Coolbane) outside Garvagh towards Kilrea? It's in Desertoghill Parish and belonged to the Worshipful Company of Ironmongers. In 1863 A. McAlister (possibly Alexander McAlister of Tirkeeran) was in  partnership with John Witherow there. Other tenants were John (now Widow) McGuigan, Bernard McNicholl, Widow Rose McNicholl, J. Craig and Samuel Campbell, John Craig, Widow Martha Shannon, Alexander McDonald, Anthony Toghill, Charles Boylan, William Mulholland, John Boylan. If this is the correct place (and I think it could be) Martha's family were either away before 1863 or perhaps she was just working and  living there at the time of her marriage.

[akanex2]

Added detail from the Ordinance Survey ("OS") Memoir for Desertoghill Parish (1837) on the Rectory (residence of CoI clergyman)

"Glebe Hill, [the residence of the Rector of Desertoghill] , is situated in Mettican Glebe."

"st" could look like "H" written in a suitably flowery script - not sure about the "erea" part of the placename though.

Yes - printing the maps is a problem.  I used to be able to do it by right clicking on the blue border at the top of the map pop-up and select the print option, but they have recently changed the format and this doesn't seem to work now (any tips gratefully received).

James Church was the Landlord of Neil and Daniel McLary's farms.  The Church family had owned the freehold to Moyletratoy townland since 1629 and James was the 1st cousin of my gt gt gt grandfather whose marriage was performed by Rev George Smith.  You have read all the details correctly - to help understand the areas quoted: 1 hectare = 2.47 acres and a rood is a quarter of an acre (a perch is one fortieth of a rood).  The "annual rent" quoted was the taxable value of the property (not necessarily the actual rent, but the tax valuer's estimate of what it should be).

Two points I noted in the OS Memoir which may be of interest:

The weaving trade was (1837) carried on extensively in Moyletratoy townland with 35 of the 37 homes there containing looms and many families were supported entirely by this activity. 

On the farm of Francis McAlary in Dullaghy (townland adjoining Moyletratoy) stands a large stone called "the Giant's Stone".

[aghadowey]

Wonder if 'Stilerea' could be Kilrea?

[anniebelle]

Thank you to each of you for so much information.  In looking at the hand written document again I think "Stilerea" is possibly Kilrea or maybe Glebe Stile or Stale near Garvagh rather than Stilera Garvagh. It is interesting to hear about the people who certified the documents and to get some idea of what was going on in the area at the time. 

As the McAlary's stated they were Catholic on arrival in Aust and continued to be Catholic through out their lives in Aust I will at some time try to look at the Catholic records for the Parish as mentioned in earlier postings.

Thank you again for your informative responses.  Anniebelle.