McConnell & Parkinson, also Devlin/Devlaing

Margaret,

I searched the Irish civil marriage records 1880 – 1900 but cannot find a marriage for William & Ellen/Helen. Ellen Devlin is a very common name in Ireland and without a bit more information I don’t see any easy way of tracing the correct lady.

Margaret Ann Parkinson’s birth c 1791 and her marriage in 1832 are before the start of statutory birth registration in Ireland. Statutory birth, death and marriage registration (in some jurisdictions called Vital Records) only started in Ireland in 1864, save for non RC marriages which were recorded from 1845 onwards. So you probably won’t find statutory birth, death or marriage certificates in Ireland for this family. For earlier years you usually need to rely on church records, where they exist.  Ideally you need to know the precise denomination and have some idea of where the person was born in order to search the correct records. Not all churches have records for that period and not all are on-line. 

RC records are mostly on-line on the nli site:   

https://www.nli.ie/en/family-history-introduction.aspx

For other denominations, the churches usually hold the originals but there are also copies in PRONI, the public record office, in Belfast. A personal visit is required to access them. Access to the records there is free. This link explains what records exist, parish by parish:

https://www.nidirect.gov.uk/publications/proni-guide-church-records

If you are unable to go yourself, you could employ a researcher. Researchers in the PRONI area: http://sgni.net

Have you found many instances where she was called Devlaing? It all stems from the Irish  O'Doibhilin. I can't even imagine that pronunciation.

I have Dowlings in my tree, and surprisingly the Y-700 test said we were Devlins, not Dowlings. I believe we're Devlins. But there are men named "Devlin" who match each other more closely than they match to us. So there's still a splinter group that my family stems from. Our earliest ancestor was married in the US in 1766.

I have since found our ancestor in the American  Revolutionary War records as Davling, Deavilling, Deviling. I haven't found an actual "Devlin" record yet. The name was morphing. After the war, he settled on Dowling as his spelling. I'm curious if there was a line of Devlins whose name was more often spelled with the g. Devlaing, Deavilling, etc.

I'm still looking.  Why I am wondering about Ellen Devlin and Henry Bruse being linked with the Parkinson family is because my grandmother always said that Dulcie Bruse was her cousin.  So far I cannot find any confirming links.  My grandmother came from the John Parkinson line. John Parkinson was the father of Maria who married Richard Bruce in Derriaghy in 1828.  Bit by bit we will solve the mystery.  I was very interested in the variations of the spelling for Devlin/Devlaing.  - Margaret.