Hi all,
I'm posting to see if anyone has any more information relating to the Reverend James Mackel, parish priest of Ardtrea (b. c1756 - d. c1832).
He was buried in
Ballyeglish Old Graveyard (sometimes referred to locally as simply 'Eglish') a very ancient burial ground that was used by all denominations, about 1km south west of the Loup cross roads. Rev. Mackel was apparently a man with a very holy reputation; so much so in fact, that local people apparently used to take handfuls of soil from his grave to try and cure ailments. Eventually, so much soil was taken that the Reverend was almost uncovered and local priests had to put a ban on the practice.
I happen to be a descendant of Mackles (the usual spelling in our tree) from the local area, some of whom lived in the Loup, and I was fascinated by the story. I was wondering if it could be discovered precisely where he placed among the local Mackle families.
What I know about the Rev. Mackel so far is that according to his memorial he died on the 4th of March 1832 at the age of 76. At that point he had apparently been parish priest of Ardtrea for 'upwards of 40 years'.
I found the following death notice in the Belfast Newsletter of 11 Mar 1831. The death date is off by a year and a couple of days, but the rest of the details would seem to match. The 1832 date comes from a tombstone transcription; many of the tombstones in Ballyeglish are very worn or damaged, so there's possibly a mistranscription at play.
The Rev. James Mackel P.P. of Ardtrea. This venerable and highly gifted Ecclesiastic expired on the 2d inst. at his house in Ballynagarve near Magherafelt at the advanced age of 76 years, upwards of 40 of which he was priest of this, his native parish.
This is all I have on him so far. Obviously with Irish history this far back, records can be very piecemeal, but I was thinking with someone seemingly so well known locally, there might be other fragments of information floating around.
Thanks in advance for any help or information!
