Coming to Kilmacrenan

I don’t know if you have a copy of James and Sarah’s civil marriage cert, but if not you might want to get it as it should list their fathers names, their fathers occupations and the townlands that bride and groom were living in at the time of the ceremony. That may enable you to trace where they lived, using Griffiths Valuation. Marriage regd in Milford 1857 Vol 8, page 101.

Tradition was to marry in the bride’s church which should be on the certificate, (unless it was a Registry Office marriage). That church may be the place to look for her baptism and that of any siblings.

A Catherine  Diver married on 10.7.1857 in Kilmacrennan, after a 35 year courtship, if the information is to be believed.

http://donegalgenealogy.com/kilmacrenanmn.htm

Using Elwyn's marriage registration info, I was able to pull off the civil record info from Find My Past (see below) which shows the names of the father's of the bride and groom. Everything I see indicates Kilmacrenan without any townland info so perhaps they lived in the village. The actual civil record will show townlands if they lived away from the village. The 1857 Griffiths Valuation head of household listing for Kilmacrenan parish shows three Samuel Diver records including one in the village. However, there is no Patterson Cheatley  or any Cheatleys listed. http://www.failteromhat.com/griffiths/donegal/kilmacrenan.htm

Roger McDonnell

First name(s)SarahLast nameCheatleyAge-Marital statusSingleMarriage year1857Marriage date30 Apr 1857Marriage placeKilmacrennan, Don, IrelandFather's first name(s)PattersonFather's last nameCheatleyMother's first name(s)-Mother's last name-Spouse's first name(s)JamesSpouse's last nameDeverSpouse's age-Spouse's birth place-Spouse's marital statusSingleSpouse's father's first name(s)SamuelSpouse's father's last nameDeverSpouse's mother's first name(s)-Spouse's mother's last name-ResidenceIrelandPlaceKilmacrennanCountyDonegalCountryIreland

I located Patterson Cheatly in the Griffiths www.askaboutireland.ie He was in Conwal parish in Dromore townland. Conwal parish is just south of Kilmacrenan parish.

Roger

Family Name 1CHEATLYForename 1PATTERSONLandlordFamily Name 2BROOKEForename 2THOMASLocationCountyDONEGALBaronyKILMACRENANUnionLETTERKENNYParishCONWALTownlandDROMOREPlace NameDROMOREPlace TypeTOWNLAND

Thank you for your help! 

I am hoping to find any of James' siblings and learn about what happened to his parents Samuel and Elizabeth. When James left Ireland he stated that he was living in Milford. His two children were born in Donegal, Eliza July 16, 1858 and Samuel February 13, 1862. The family left for Canada later that year.

Where should I go to find out more about the Diver family while I am visiting?

Firstly, I’d be inclined to order a photocopy of the marriage certificate. You can order a photocopy of the civil certificate from GRO Roscommon for €4 (euros).  http://www.welfare.ie/en/Pages/Apply-for-Certificates.aspx

You have to download and print off the form. Then either post or fax it back to them. You can’t e-mail your order to them. However if you want them to e-mail the cert to back to you, they will do that, so tick the relevant box.

That’ll give you a little more information about the Diver/Dever family. For a start it will tell you what the groom and father’s occupations were, which is very important in locating them in official records. Also I think the marriage certificate may contain a townland (ie an address) more than Kilmacrennan.  Otherwise you will just be wandering around in a 10 mile area without a more detailed idea of where the family lived.

For example I see 2 Dever families in Gortnaskeagh, who were Church of Ireland. (Most Devers in Donegal were RC). That’s the sort of location you might find on the marriage cert:

http://www.census.nationalarchives.ie/pages/1901/Donegal/Kilmacrenan/Gortnaskeagh/

The Church of Ireland has baptism records for 1818 – 1832 and then 1871 onwards, marriages 1818 – 1830 and 1845 onwards, burials 1818 – 1832 and 1871 onwards. (The missing records were destroyed in the 1922 fire in Dublin during the civil war). From my guide to Church of Ireland records, it looks as though the Rector/Vicar has the surviving records. If you plan to ask to see them there, you should make an appointment well in advance. And expect to pay. The Church of Ireland charges for access to their original records. On the other hand there is a copy of the same records in PRONI (the public record office) in Belfast where you can view them free.

Roger found what seems likely to be Patterson Cheatly’s farm in Dromore. It was plot 9 which was a 42 acre farm running up the hill there. Today it’s not far from Smiths Cottage B & B. You will need to study the Griffiths Map fairly closely and possibly ask locally to find it. It’s about 2 or 3 miles outside Kilmacrenan.

http://www.askaboutireland.ie/griffith-valuation/index.xml?action=nameSearch

What looks to be Patterson Cheatley’s death was registered in Letterkenny in 1872 (Vol 17, page 111). He was 64.  There was still a Cheatley family farming there in 1901:

http://www.census.nationalarchives.ie/pages/1901/Donegal/Templedouglas/Dromone/1187550/

William died in 1908. Here’s his probate abstract taken from the PRONI wills site:

Administration of the Estate of William Cheatley late of Dromore County Donegal Farmer who died 23 November 1906 granted at Londonderry to Jane Cheatley the Widow.And in 1911:

http://www.census.nationalarchives.ie/pages/1911/Donegal/Templedouglas/Dromore/497610/

This particular family were Church of Ireland but most of the Cheatleys in Donegal were Presbyterian. So these families are all likely to be descendants of Scots who settled in the area in the 1600s.

If you find the Dever address from the marriage certificate, let me know and I’ll see if I can pinpoint their house.

You ask what to see in the area. It’s a holiday area. Lots of second homes. Most people go for the scenery, beaches and things like the opportunity to hear traditional music in the pubs and so on. The famine museum on the Inishowen peninsula is well worth seeing. (At Christmas it’s magically transformed into Santa’s Grotto which takes a certain amount of twisted imagination but works very well).

I would also drive up to Grianan an Aileach. It’s a Bronze Age fortress on a hilltop and you get magnificent views (when it’s not raining).

https://www.tripadvisor.co.uk/Attraction_Review-g186601-d582480-Reviews-Grianan_Of_Aileach-County_Donegal.html

For some reason I didn't see this until today. I am not sure how to contact the rector but it seems that will be my best bet.

Thank you for all the information you have shared. One of my relatives has done a lot of work on the Cheatley family so I will be focusing on the Diver family for my trip.

Looks as though the Rector lives in Letterkenny:

https://www.ireland.anglican.org/find-a-church/parish/11710/tullyaughni…

Is this the record you mean? I received it from a relative who went to Ireland many years ago.

Yes that marriage certificate gives Sarah’s address as Dromore, parish of Conwal. So that means the farm that Roger found is the right one. So you can certainly go to Dromore and see where she lived.

The Diver family are going to be harder to locate but I suspect they  probably lived in Gortnaskeagh. Samuel was dead by 1857 (according to the newspaper clipping) and so wouldn’t necessarily have been in Griffiths (which was compiled in 1858 for this part of Donegal).

Griffiths list 3 Diver farms in the townland. Plot 1was John with 27 acres, plot 2 was James with 2, and plot 3 was Thomas with 9 acres. They were all likely related to each other.

There were no Diver farms in Gortnaskeagh in 1825 according to the tithe applotment records, so it looks as though the family acquired farms there some time between 1825 and 1858.            

Hi Elwyn,

Thank you once again for all the information. I really appreciate you taking the time to share what you know with me. You refer to a newspaper that Samuel was dead in 1857, can you tell me where I can look to find this? 

I will see what I can find on Gortnaskeagh, thank you for pointing me there. I was looking in Kilmacrenan.

Patricia

The newspaper link wa sin my post of 26th September:

http://donegalgenealogy.com/kilmacrenanmn.htm