Mcelwee family of Fanad

They are my 2nd great grandparents.

Bwestfield:

Welcome to Ireland Reaching Out!

I will alert our parish liaison for Clondavaddog that you have posted a message.

Roger McDonnell

Hi Bwestfield

Welcome to Ireland Reaching Out!I

As I am sure you know it is very difficult to research ancestors from Donegal who were born in the first part of the 19th century because unfortunatly very few church records are available prior to the 1840’s. RC Records only started to be recorded in Massmount Chapel in the Parish of Clondavaddog in Co.Donegal in 1847.

I looked to see if I might find your family tree on ancestry and I came across this one so I attached it below. I am pretty sure this might be you, it is a fine tree. You did well to find the Church Marriage Record for Neal McElwee and his wife Sophia, however it is unfortunate in a way as the Church records at the time do not reference his father’s name or the location that they lived in Fanad, You might have found this info in the Civil Birth and Marriage Register whichstarted to be recorded in Milford Town a few years later.(1864 onwards).

The only Records available before the Church in 1847 are the 1834 Tithe Applotment Books for the Parish of Clondavaddog, yet they happen to tell the name of only some of the tenants and farmers that happened to be fortunate to be able to afford the leasing of land at that time, and even then these names only work best when combining them with findings of families recorded later in the 1858 Griffith Valuation for Clondavaddog. I will have a look at these later to see if there might be any McElwee families that stand out from the crowd and worth researching further.

I wonder have you considered autosomal DNA testing with ancestry or familytreedna to see if you match up with someone who might has more info on your McElwee line. It will help pinpoint the townland your great-grandfather was born. Of course there is no 100% guarantee that your dna matches will provide you with this, but there is a lot more people taking an interest in this within the locality and McElwee is a name that is common to be seen on alot of family trees which are finding their roots in back in Fanad, In north Donegal.

Regards Seamus