Looking to see if there's any local historians who could help me with what's proving to be a very tricky bit of research. This might be a bit of a long post, so buckle up!
I'm trying to see if I can find a link between two branches of O'Neills living in the triangle formed between Portglenone, Bellaghy and Maghera in the 19th century. I've been referring to them as the 'Stafford' O'Neills as they seem to be linked by the seemingly traditional use of 'Stafford' as a given name in their families, (first or second name).
My theory is that they may be linked to the Stafford-Downings of the same area, but I've yet to find firm evidence. There are a small handful of other local families that share this Stafford naming, such as the catholic Dinnens, McCanns and (some) McLaughlins, and the protestant McQuillans. By 1901 the Downings themselves seem to be fairly evenly split between catholic and church of Ireland.
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One branch of Stafford O'Neills, the one directly linked to my own tree, lived in and around the townland of Rocktown, between Bellaghy and Knockloughrim. This is the family of my 3x great grandmother
Ellen O'Neill (b. c.1820-1827, d. 1908). She married a
John Carmichael, marriage date unknown, and had at least four children that I have found: William James, Thomas, Francis
Stafford and my 2x great grandmother Ellen Carmichael.
Their immediate neighbours in the townland were the family of one
Stafford O'Neill (b. c.1830, d. 1894). He married a
Sarah McErlane in Greenlough up near Portglenone on 12th August 1855. Stafford and Sarah had 8 children with 6 surviving (as counted in the 1911 census). The 7 I've found in the record are Henry, John
Stafford (died age 6), Francis, James, Stafford, John and Mary Anne (twins). Stafford senior first appears in the Rocktown record in 1862, taking over the lease of 16 acres of land from a James O'Neill, exact relation unknown.
I have no firm evidence for this, but my hunch is that Ellen and Stafford O'Neill may be siblings (or at the least cousins). Apart from moving to live on neighbouring farms at the same time, there are other confirmed links between the two families; Stafford O'Neill junior was one of the signed witnesses at William James Carmichael's marriage to a Catherine Kelly in 1898. The family also has some potential links to other Stafford families in Dreenan. A Stafford McCann is a sponsor to Stafford and Sarah's son James Stafford O'Neill's 1862 baptism. The Dinnen family of Dreenan also has a
possible link to the O'Neill / Carmichael family; in the first Griffiths valuation a John Carmichael is renting some land to both a John and Stafford Dinnen. However, as of yet this is only a possibility, I have no firm evidence that this is the same John that married Ellen O'Neill.
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