Joseph McCusker

Joseph McCusker apparently lived his life and died in Loughhall, Co. Armagh, where his was born in approximately 1824, presumably, in as deduced from the record of his death on August 14,1885. That record shows that he was 61 at the time of death.

It appears that Joseph worked as a farm laborer, as stated in his death record. Additonally, in the Griffith’s Valuation of 1855, he is shown as the tenant on a very small parcel of land in Loughall, County Armagh. His parcel, 1b, was owned by William Orr, and contained only a house and garden. It was an area of only 35 perches, or something less than one quarter acre.

Joseph was married to Jane Hayes on July 18, 1844 in the Catholic Church of Loughall, Tartargan. Their wedding was witnessed by Edward Huilray and Margaret Rafferty. As Catholics, Joseph and Jane, and over time their children, must have been cautious given that Loughall was the founding place of the Orange Order in 1795, after a bloody battle of the Protestant “Peep-O-Day Boys” with the Catholic “Defenders.” Less than a year after that foundation, there existed 90 Orange Order Lodges commemorating the anniversary of the Battle of the Boyne on July 12.

While it is uncertain exactly how the laborer, Joseph, earned his pay, it is certain that he and Jane were prolific in producing children. In all, the bore and raised nine, including: James (1844), John (1846), Margaret (1848), Mary (1850), Sarah (1855), William (1860), Teresa (1863), Hugh (1864), and George Alexander(1866).

No record of Jane Hayes death has been discovered, but Joseph died in Loughall on August 14,1885.