Looking for volunteers in Drumachose

Marilyn,

Unfortunately I am not in a position to meet you during your visit as I will be in Canada at that same time. I don’t think we have any other volunteers in that exact area at the moment.

Townlands are unique to Ireland. It has more than 60,000 and they are traditional Gaelic land divisions which pre-date the Norman invasion in the 12th century. A townland is the smallest administrative area of land in Ireland. They can vary in size from 1 acre up to 5000 acres, though most are between 50 and 500 acres. The whole country is divided into an invisible network of townlands. Many are rural, and there is not necessarily any town in a townland. Indeed some have no-one living in them at all, eg mountain tops and uninhabited islands. They were used as the basis of leases in the estate system, and subsequently to assess valuations and tithes in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries.

Some townlands have been forgotten, some survive only on property deeds and other have given their names to towns and districts.

In rural areas there were no street names or house numbers (that is still the case in some parts) and your townland was sufficient to identify you or get a letter delivered. The postman, and anyone else who mattered, knew exactly where in the townland everyone lived. They survive today as important markers of local identity. (A townland is not the same as a US township).

A group of townlands makes a parish and a group of parishes makes a barony.

You can see the boundaries to each townland on the Griffiths on-line maps, and for Co Derry, there are paper copies in PRONI (the public record office) in Belfast and in the local studies section of Coleraine library.

For a good description of life in the Drumachose area in the 1830s, you could read the Ordnance Survey memoirs. These were compiled on the instructions of the Duke of Wellington (then Prime Minister) primarily for taxation purposes. So a bit like the Doomsday Book. They were compiled parish by parish, and describe the inhabitants, their occupations, pastimes, habits, they analyse the various different denominations by number, and report on health, schooling, seasonal migration patterns as well as permanent migration patterns. And so on. A typical parish contains about 20 to 30 pages of information and some drawings. They are well worth reading if you want to get a feel for life in the Drumachose area at that time. (I realise it will be 20 years after your ancestor left Ireland but it’s probably the most detailed summary that exists).

There should be a copy of Drumachose and surrounding parishes on the bookshelves in PRONI’s main research room. Coleraine library may also have a copy.

The following protestant church records survive for Drumachose:

Baptisms, 1730-52 and 1804-98; marriages, 1728-53 and 1805-45; burials, 1730-36 and 1804-81; vestry minutes, 1729-77, 1787 and 1794-1881, which include a list of those who attended church on Easter Day, 1754; confirmation lists, 1833-77; census, 1830.

Methodists – nil prior to 1841. (They would have attended the Church of Ireland before that).

Presbyterian – Derramore – baptisms from 1825

Drumachose – baptisms from 1833

1st Limavady – baptisms from 1832

2nd Limavady - nil for the early 1800s.

Reformed Presbyterian – baptisms from 1843.

So only the Church of Ireland might have records for the period you are interested in. There’s a copy in PRONI in Belfast.

However the fact that your ancestor was tried in Limavady doesn’t necessarily mean he lived there. He may have live din another parish nearby, and just been taken there for trial. The trial might have been reported in the papers. Try the Londonderry Journal. Copies for the years around 1802 are held in PRONI on microfilm. MIC/60.

Looking at the 1831 census for Drumachose, I see about 6 or 7 Moor(e) households. Most were Presbyterian, with 1 RC. They were in Cahery, Rathbradymore, Cullessan, Deerpark, Catherine St Limavady and Linenhall St, Limavady. And 1 in Ballyclose. (Presbyterianism points to their being descended from Scots who came to the county in the 1600s).

http://www.census.nationalarchives.ie

Carrowclare is in the parish of Tamlaght Finlagan. Nearly all the Moores there in 1831 were Presbyterian. Surviving Presbyterian records for that area:

Ballykelly:

Baptisms, 1699-1709, 1805-19 and 1826-1983; indexes to baptisms, 1699-1709 and 1805-19, and to marriages, 1699-1740 and 1805-11; marriages, 1699-1740, 1805- 11 and 1845-1920; session minutes, 1826 and 1846-68; list of communicants, 1804-18, 1826-55 and 1859-62.

There were also Presbyterian churches at Largy & Myroe but neither has records for the early 1800s. The Ballykelly records can be found in PRONI.

I found 1 Moore in Carrowreagh in the 1901 census. He was a servant and so might not originate in that townland. He too was Presbyterian.

So I’d guess that its Presbyterian records and background that your ancestor may have come from.

Elwyn, thankyou VERY much for this. It is extremely helpful and the most detail I have seen yet on the matter. It gives  me a lot to follow up on.

Have a wonderful holiday in Canada.

Regards, Marilyn

Hi Marilyn

Sorry to have missed your visit.  I belong to a new research association in this area and we would be glad to help with your Moore search.  You will also find us at https://www.facebook.com/roevalleyancestral.researchers.1

regards

Betty

Hello, BettyMac, thankyou for your reply. I'm not on Facebook so can't access the site. If you have any member who has researched the name Moore in the parish of Tamlaght Finlagan my email can be passed to them for contact. Marilynlong2011@yahoo.com

I am descended from a convict Irish rebel called Tristram Moore who was convicted in a trial in Newtown Limavady and sent to Australia in 1802. I have seen various references to Tristram Moores in the 1700s in Tamlaght Finlagan but no evidence they are mine - or his father or a relative. 

In the 1800s there are a couple of Tristram Moores in Carryreagh and Carryclare townlands connected to a Solomon Moore. As Tristram is not a common name they may be connected to mine.

So making connection with anyone researching Moore would be helpful.

Regards, Marilyn