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Daniel McFaull born Circa 1848 In Ireland

I have been researching my husbands family tree for several years and have been unsuccessful in finding any records from Ireland.  Daniel spent a lot of his life in Glasgow, Scotland but I have never been able to find his birth certificate and all records (census, marriage etc) have said Daniel was born in Ireland.  Daniels parents are stated as James McFaull (sometimes written as McFaulds) and Eliza Wallace.  James occupation is either labourer or Farmer.  When Daniels brother married in 1866 James was shown as deceased.  DNA matches suggest that James might have been married more than once (common at that time) to a Mary McKeon/Kane and obviously our Eliza Wallace but I can find no proof of this.  The DNA match has stated in their tree that a James McFall died in 1864 (which works) in Bushmills Coleraine.  If I could find more details on James death - of his spouse or James marriage to Eliza Wallace hopefully showing a previous marriage to Mary etc I will be able to confirm that this is the correct James and finally be able to tell the family what part of Ireland the family are from.  Can anyone help at all please? 

lmcfaull

14 replies

Imcfaull,

You mention not being able to find Daniel’s birth certificate. If he was born in 1848, he won’t have one. They weren’t introduced in Ireland till 1864. You might find his baptism, but only if the parish he was born in has records for the 1840s.

Death registration also started in 1864. I searched the on-line records for a James McFaul (and variants). There is a death for a James McFall registered in Coleraine in 1864 aged 60 on the irishgenealogy site. Deaths 1864 – 1870 are not viewable free on line there and you have to order a copy of the certificate from GRO Roscommon. You can order a research copy (photocopy) of the civil certificate from GRO Roscommon for €5 (euros). https://www.welfare.ie/en/Pages/Apply-for-Certificates.aspx

You can e-mail your order to them and they will e-mail the certificate back to you.

The certificate should also be on the GRONI site (Northern Ireland GRO) for £2.50 to view, but I cannot find it there so ordering from Roscommon seems probably the only way forward.

Come back here with a copy of the certificate or the details from it and we’ll see if we can help a bit more.

Griffiths Valuation (1859) does list a James McFall in Market Lane, Bushmills, living in a labourer’s house or cottage.  Can’t say whether it’s your ancestor without information from the certificate.

Irish death certificates are not as comprehensive as Scottish ones. You should get his marital status and his wife might have been the informant but not a lot more. It won’t mention parents names or previous wives.

There’s an Eliza McFall death registered in Coleraine in 1869 aged 61. Again that’s not viewable on-line and is not on the GRONI site either but you could order a copy from GRO Roscommon.

The names McFall and Wallace are fairly common in the Antrim/Derry area and I suspect you are searching in the right part of Ireland.

I assume this family were RC? Bushmills today is in the RC parish of Ballintoy. Their earliest records appear to date from 1858. Prior to that it looks to have been in the parish of Portrush which has records from 1844. No sign of a McFall/Wallace marriage though. Probably the records don’t go back far enough.

Elwyn, IrelandXO Volunteer ☘IrelandXO Volunteer

Thank you for your help.  I did order the James McFall death certificate in 1864 - the informant was Daniel McFall - son which works on our side and it shows he is married but no mention of wife/wives so unfortunately cannot still find link to James and both Mary and Eliza.  As records do not seem to exist for the time period that I am searching, I am unsure as to how I will ever resolve sadly.

lmcfaull

What was the townland (address) on Daniel’s 1864 death certificate?

Possibly the 1869 death for Eliza is his wife? You might want to consider ordering it to see.

I read on another site that you think/know the family were Presbyterian. Bushmills Presbyterian has baptisms from 1820 and marriage from 1821. Might be worth checking those to see if the family is listed. I think you’ve been in touch with Kate Connolly. Perhaps she was able to say if the family is in those records?

 

Elwyn, IrelandXO Volunteer ☘IrelandXO Volunteer

Sorry for the delay in replying - I did not see a notification that I had a reply.  Please could you tell me how I find the records of Bushmills Presbyterian for those dates as obviously that should include the marriages that I am trying to find.  It would be amazing if it did.  Many Thanks

lmcfaull

Bushmills Presbyterian records have been copied and are held in PRONI under ref: MIC1P/113.  They are not on-line so a personal visit is required to view them. If you are unable to go yourself, you could employ a researcher. Researchers in the PRONI area: http://sgni.net

Elwyn, IrelandXO Volunteer ☘IrelandXO Volunteer

Thank you for that information.  I do not live in Ireland but will see if I can find anyone to help me.

lmcfaull

I can look them up for you, if you are happy to cover my costs.

Elwyn, IrelandXO Volunteer ☘IrelandXO Volunteer

That is very kind of you Elwyn.  I am concerned as to whether they actually exist and don't want to waste anyones time going to PRONI if they don't.  I would be more than happy to cover costs if agreed beforehand but just don't want anyone to have a wasted journey as it is in a time period before civil records existed. Kind Regards  Lisa 

lmcfaull

Lisa,

I am sure the Bushmills Presbyterian records exist. PRONI wouldn’t advertise having them in their collection if that were not true. Whether your ancestors are in that set of records is the uncertain bit.

Marriage tradition was to marry in the bride’s church, after which she’d attend her husband’s, so we have to hope that Eliza Wallace and Mary McKeon were both Presbyterians from Bushmills and married there.

I’ll look for the 2 marriages in those Bushmills records and also for Daniel’s baptism c1848 as well as any siblings he may have had.

 

 

Elwyn

Elwyn, IrelandXO Volunteer ☘IrelandXO Volunteer

Thank you Elwyn - Please could you advise of the cost for that 

lmcfaull

I now have seen the records from the Bushmills Presbyterian church at PRONI and sadly nothing that relates to any known names.  I also have the death certificate of the "James McFall" in 1864 that I believe to be our ancestor.  He died in Bushmills.  I have seen details of an Eliza McFall in 1869 who also died in Bushmills and I believe to be James' wife.  Her death was reported by an Eliza McFall and I have now also found records of her.  She is the only person so far that I have found with any records connecting her to another area, other than Bushmills or Billy. She married James Meharg on the 19th December 1871 at Magdelene Church (Church of Ireland) in Belfast Antrim.  Her address is given as Sandymount St Thomas Belfast. All records I have found so far have the family as Presbyterian/Church of Ireland.  I have tried to contact all churches in the area for help but nothing as yet.  I have still not found any birth records of any of James children of either of James marriages, details of James marriages or Marys death.  A lady with a tiny DNA match has links to a Kane family with records in Dunluce Church (Church of Ireland) but again no Mary and no records there either of Mary marrying or records of her death.  I am not sure what other steps I can take now to prove the connection between the two families and wondered if anyone has any more suggestions at all?  Many thanks Lisa

 

lmcfaull

Lisa,

Tradition was to marry in the bride’s church which in Eliza’s case in 1871 was Church of Ireland so that suggests she was that denomination. If so, and if she was born in Bushmills, then you’ll know by now that the Billy parish Church of Ireland records were lost in the 1922 fire.  The church authorities Ireland generally only kept the one copy and so there’s no easy way round that.

Billy parish was split around 1830 and a separate parish of Dunseverick created. It does have records from 1832 onwards (in PRONI). Have you checked those?

But otherwise I don’t see many other options for making any progress. Sorry.

Elwyn, IrelandXO Volunteer ☘IrelandXO Volunteer

Hi Elwyn - Thank you for your help again.  I did not know that the Billy church of Ireland records were destroyed and no I have not checked the other records you have mentioned as I did not know they existed but it is definitely worth any possibility because as you said I am running out of options sadly.  I really appreciate the guidance.  

lmcfaull

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