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Falls of Ballighillare, Donaghedy

TyroneDonaghedy (Tyrone)

My Falls family emigrated from Ballighillare, Donaghedy to Carleton County, Ontario between 1818-1825. They are listed on what is known as "The McCabe List": a list of petitioners requesting sponsorship to emigrate to Canada. Colonial office records: C.O. 384/22, pg.94, reel B-945. Samuel Falls(b Tyrone) was the son of William Falls b abt 1779 d 1877. Samuel's eldest brother, Hugh(born Tyrone) was in Canada by 1818. The name of William's 1st wife is unknown. His second wife was Elizabeth Cook (b 1787, Ireland) but it isn't known where they married. There is a William Falls listed on the list of commuted Chelsea pensioners residing in Upper Canada. It states William Falls, 6 Dragoons Regiment, date of discharge: Feb 1819; length of service: 22 years (which would make commencement of service 1797 and, if age 20 when enlisted dob 1777. I have no idea if this William Falls & my William Falls are related. Any help appreciated on information on this line.

Year: 1829

Name: Samuel Falls

Origin: from town of Ballyhillare, parish of Donahady, County Tyrone, Ireland

No. in family: 2 males, 4 females; total of 6

Signed: ("X")

Remarks:

The father of Samuel Falls with a large family resides in Canada;-one of his brothers, Hugh Falls, is in Ireland; he has a family;-place of residence Ballyhillare in the county of Tyrone - he is know to Mr. Robert McCrea of that place"

IrelandXO member

3 replies

Linda,

The current spelling of the townland your ancestors appear to have come from is Ballaghalare. That’s on the modern Berryhill Rd between Donemana and Strabane. The parish name is Donaghedy.

No Falls there in Griffiths Valuation of 1858 nor in the 1901 census, when there were 15 households:

http://www.census.nationalarchives.ie/pages/1901/Tyrone/Dunnamanagh/Ballaghalare/

You haven't said what denomination your family were. If they were Church of Ireland they have records for that parish going back to 1697 (with gaps). No other denomination has any records before the mid to early 1800s though. The Church of Ireland records have been copied and are in PRONI (the public record office) in Belfast. They are not on-line so you would need to go there yourself (or get someone else to do it for you).

Possibly DNA testing may be a way of matching with others who have additional information about where the family originate. Family Tree DNA reportedly has more people with Ulster roots than any other company. That obviously increases the chances of finding a match. You might want to try them or, if you have already tested, you can transfer your results to them for no fee.

The North of Ireland Family History Society is running an Ulster DNA project and can offer FTDNA testing kits at a reduced price.  http://www.nifhs.org (Go to DNA project on the website).

 

 

Elwyn, IrelandXO Volunteer ☘IrelandXO Volunteer

Hugh Falls is listed as Church of Scotland in the 1842 Canadian census.  His widow lists herself as Presbyterian in subsequent posts.  By the 1861 census Samuel Falls lists himself as Methodist.

. While I have posted my DNA I have no male line DNA results so only my maternal line applies, unfortunately.  There was a Hugh Falls listed in the "Ireland, School master & mistresses"In Donagheady, Townland Lisbotaney in 1826 for a Hugh Falls but this was after my Hugh had arrived in Canada.  I don't know if this could be a relative or not. A William Falls, has the following military record;

William Falls b Aughaloo Tyrone served 10th foot regiment; discharged aged 51 after 28 years 9 months service enlistment 1784-discharge 1813( would have been born in 1762).  again, I don't know if this could be a relative of my Falls line 

IrelandXO member

Linda,

The Church of Scotland is Presbyterian and so Church of Scotland & Presbyterian effectively mean the same thing. The area around Donagheady was heavily settled by Scottish settlers in the 1600s so there are plenty of Presbyterian churches there. Donagheady 1st Presbyterian has records from 1875, Donagheady 2nd from 1838, Donemana from 1856 & Magheramason from 1878. Copies of those records are held in PRONI (the public record office) in Belfast. They are not on-line anywhere so far as I am aware. But they are all too late for what you need.

I looked in the Muster Rolls for Tyrone in the 1630s. There were no Falls living there then, which points to them arriving after that year.

Here’s a link to a Co. Tyrone site. There are some Falls listed there:

http://cotyroneireland.com/names.php

There are very few records in Ireland for the late 1700s and early 1800s and so you may struggle to make much progress with this.

Elwyn, IrelandXO Volunteer ☘IrelandXO Volunteer

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