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I was thrilled to find a death record of my ancestor Ross McKenna on the rootsireland website last night.  The record shows that he died in the Parish of Aghaloo in 1868 aged 53.  His address and the address of the informant (William McKenna - who I believe to be his son) is Killydreen.

Killydreen is a townland in the  Parish in Errigal Truagh Co. Monaghan - not far from the border of Co Tyrone.

What I would like to find out now is which church (Roman Catholic) or graveyard he would have been buried in.

From a letter our family has - it states that their daughter Catherine MCKENNA (married and maiden name!) who died in 1912 in Belfast "was taken home to Errigal Truagh and buried with her mother and father"

So I am looking for a grave that has Ross MCKENNA d. 1868, his wife Mary MCKENNA (also a nee McKENNA!) date of death not known; and their daughter Catherine MCKENNA d. Sept 1912.

I would like to find this Parish to see if the records have any more of my McKennas in them.

Hoping someone can help,

thank-you

 

news4kaz

Saturday 23rd Nov 2013, 03:03AM

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  • I looked at the Errigal Truagh RC records on rootsireland. They only have baptisms for 1867, though they have marriages from 1833-1852 & for 1861-1893. A fuller copy of the parish records is held in the National Library in Dublin and also in PRONI, Belfast viz:

    R.C. Errigal Trough (Clogher diocese) Baptisms, 1835-52 and 1861-81; marriages, 1837-49 and 1862-81.

    Births, marriages, deaths and parish accounts, 1837- 79.

    Those are not on-line and a personal visit is required to access them.

     

     

    This may be the local church:

     

    PARISH OF ERRIGAL TRUAGH

     

    Very Rev Sean Nolan, PP,

    St. Joseph?s,

    Emyvale,

    Co. Monaghan.

    Tel/Fax 047-87152

    Email: tru@tinet.ie

    Ahoghill Antrim

    Saturday 23rd Nov 2013, 04:31AM
  • Thank you Ahoghill Antrim.  I have concentrated my searches in previous years to Errigal Truagh as I knew Killydreen townalnd was part of this parish.  I found baptisms of Ross & Mary MCKENNA's children on rootsireland.ie as Errigal Truagh Parish

     

    I have also contacted the Parish of Errigal Truagh - Father Sean Nolan's office and they found those same baptisms in their records.

    That's why I was so surprised (and thrilled) to find Ross MCKENNA's burial in AGHALOO parish.  So I am thinking that I need to search the Roman Catholic church records for this parish.  That is why I joined this Parish.

    Is this correct? or am I missing something?

    I looked up  the Roman Catholic churches on GENUKI and there are three in Co Tyrone near the border of Co Monaghan that would be a possibility.  St Joseph, Caledon; St Mary's, Aughnacloy and St Brigid, Lisconduff.

    I will try and attach the record I have from rootsireland.

    regards, Karen

     

    news4kaz

    Saturday 23rd Nov 2013, 06:04AM
  • The Rootsireland information you have for Ross is slightly misleading in the sense that though it is described as a ?Church Burial Record?, to me it?s information taken from the statutory death records (which started in 1864), not from church records at all. (In Ireland, the RC church doesn?t normally keep any burial records).

    There could be a couple of reasons that Ross?s death is recorded in Aghaloo, rather than in Errigal Truagh. One is that that?s where he was when he died. The other may be that the civil and RC parish boundaries aren?t the same, putting part of the RC parish of Errigal Truagh in the civil parish of Aghaloo. (RC parish boundaries and parish names are often different from the civil ones.). If you buy a full death certificate from GRO Roscommon you may get a little more information eg the place of death. When someone dies away from their normal residence the death certificate usually records both addresses.  Roots Ireland only have Killydreen down in their transcript but if he died in a  different townland, that would normally be recorded as well as usual residence.

    The death was registered in Clogher 1858 volume 8, page 85. You can order a photocopy from GRO Roscommon for ?4 per certificate. Put the place, year, volume & page number on the application form (anywhere). Don?t worry about leaving some boxes blank. You don?t need to fill them all in if you have the reference details. http://www.groireland.ie/ You have to post or fax the form to them but they will e-mail the copy certificate to you if you wish. Tick the relevant box on the form.

    Killydreen is in the RC parish of Errigal Truough. Assuming the family always lived there, then those are certainly the records to focus on if you are looking for baptisms and marriages. You don?t need to worry about which church he attended for record searching purposes as in general the records for the whole parish should all be kept together in the collections in PRONI and the National Library.

    For burial purposes it may just be a question of searching the local graveyards. Families often had plots in unexpected places, and some graveyards were multi-denominational so don?t rule out the local Church of Ireland graveyards if you can?t find anything in the RC graveyards. Bear in mind too that most people didn?t have a gravestone, so you may not find anything at all.

    I assume you are aware that Ross?s farm in Killydreen is shown on Griffiths Valuation for 1860, so that would be easy enough to locate today, should you wish to do so. (Plot 4, a farmhouse, outbuildings and 10 and a half acres.).

    http://www.askaboutireland.ie/griffith-valuation/index.xml

    Ross M?Kenna is also listed in the tithe applotment records for Killydreen in 1826.

    http://titheapplotmentbooks.nationalarchives.ie/search/tab/home.jsp

    3 of the households in Killydreen were occupied by McKenna families in the 1901 census:

    http://www.census.nationalarchives.ie/pages/1901/Monaghan/Shanmullagh/Killydreen/

    I looked to see if Ross left a will but he does not appear to have done so, or at least probate wasn?t necessary if he did.

    Ahoghill Antrim

    Saturday 23rd Nov 2013, 11:01AM
  • Thank you again! This information has been most helpful. I have ordered from GRO before.

    I have looked at the census' previously but was unable to make a connection from Ross' family to the families listed.

    Am really hoping that finding this death record may give me the connection. 

    William I believe is his son.

    I have had a researcher and also the church office look for possible burial places that include the burial of daughter Catherine in 1912. But no luck so far.

    I was so lucky to visit in 2011 - visited Errigal Truagh graveyard  and Killydreen. It was just fantastic. You can see Aughnacloy from the front gate of Killydreen.

     Cheers, Karen

    news4kaz

    Saturday 23rd Nov 2013, 12:07PM
  • You probably need to get someone to look at the revaluation records for Ross?s house, to see who it passed to. (You would expect it to be the eldest son), and then follow that forward. The revaluation records run through to 1930 and will show who occupied it all that time. At least one of the families in the 1901 census is surely a descendant of his. The revaluation records (which use the same plot numbers as Griffiths) will show which of the 3 1901 households was his (plot 4).

    The records are not on-line (for the Republic of Ireland) but are held in the Valuation Office in Dublin. If you e-mail them they might look them up for you. Otherwise you?ll need to get a researcher to look them up for you.

    Ahoghill Antrim

    Saturday 23rd Nov 2013, 03:01PM
  • Ahoghill Antrim, thanks again. This is brilliant. I have looked up their website and they do research by email.  

    I have a couple of things to keep me busy for a while!

    Yes I think one of the widows on the 1901 census is the daughter in law of Ross. I will be looking too for a marriage of William now that I know he lived to adulthood. 

    Thanks again!

    Regards, Karen

    news4kaz

    Saturday 23rd Nov 2013, 09:39PM

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