Gilmour family Drumardnagross

Doug,

Griffiths Valuation for 1860 lists William Gilmore in Drumardnagross. He had plot 7 which was an 13 acre farm. Today that property is down a minor lane off the Mullagh Rd, a mile or two north of Trillick.

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

The Valuation Revision records show that he later acquired plot 8 making the farm about 26 acres. William is replaced in 1882 by Robert Nealands. There are further changes before James Gilmore appears as tenant in 1911. He is replaced in 1914 by Hugh Thompson.

William Gilmore died on 26.7.1880, aged 85. He was a widower.

https://civilrecords.irishgenealogy.ie/churchrecords/images/deaths_returns/deaths_1880/06467/4859979.pdf

https://www.nidirect.gov.uk/services/searching-valuation-revision-books

There was a Joseph Gilmore working as a farm labourer in 1911. Not sure if he is connected to the family. Possibly not.

http://www.census.nationalarchives.ie/pages/1911/Tyrone/Trillick/Drumardnagross/869924/

Robert Gilmore married Ellen Gilmore on 22nd Feb 1855 at Dromore Presbyterian church.

Matilda Gilmour married Robert Patterson on 16th July 1856 in Dromore Presbyterian church.

https://churchrecords.irishgenealogy.ie/churchrecords/

Tradition was to marry in the bride’s church, so that suggests the Gilmore family church may be Dromore Presbyterian. That church’s baptism and marriage records start in 1835. There’s a copy in PRONI in Belfast.

Sarah Jane Gilmour married Gerrard Todd of Esker on 9th Mar 1859 again at Dromore Presbyterian. Robert Gilmour was a witness.

The Gilmore/Gilmour family being Presbyterian would fit with their ancestors having come from Scotland. Huge numbers of Scots settled in Tyrone in the 1600s, so that’s not uncommon. Presbyterianism was established in Scotland in the 1500s and brought to Ireland by Scots settlers.

Doug,

PRONI is the public record office for Northern Ireland. It’s in Belfast. It’s records are free to view if you go there in person (or if a researcher goes on your behalf). Most of their records are not on-line so a personal visit is required. They will do simple research for you (for a fee) eg looking up and copying a particular baptism, but they won’t do trawling research eg all Gilmour baptisms between X & Y years. You would need a researcher for that.

PRONI

2 Titanic Boulevard, Titanic Quarter, Belfast, Northern Ireland BT3 9HQ

Phone: +4428 9053 4800

Fax: +4428 9025 5999

Email: proni@communities-ni.gov.uk

Researchers in the PRONI area: http://sgni.net

I had a look at the Gilmour farm on Google Earth. The image is a bit hard to make out. There are some modern sheds there, suggesting it’s is still a functioning farm or business of some sort. Whether any of the original buildings are still there is not clear. Sadly, from your perspective, Ireland is not a museum and many modern farmers get rid of old buildings that don’t suit modern farming methods. The odd one survives as a store or outbuilding. You’ll perhaps need to pay a visit to find out exactly what’s there.

 

We are fine here in this part of Ireland. Covid 19 is having an impact but not as bad as parts of the US, Canada and Britain. We'll likely be fine.

Doug,

Yes protestants did marry catholics in the 1820s. Fermanagh was (and still is) about 50:50 Catholic and Protestant. So the population split made it more common there than in many other parts of Ireland. There was usually some family disapproval, especially in farming circles where they were sometimes thinking ahead about inheritance etc.

The Catholic church in 1820 would not marry you unless both parties were Catholics, so the non Catholic would have to convert. This is often apparent because there will be an adult baptism in the baptism records, typically 4 to 6 weeks before the marriage. Alternatively the couple could marry in the Church of Ireland which, being the state church at that time, was open to all denominations. Register Office ceremonies were only introduced in 1845, so there was no option for a civil marriage before that.

The couple had to decide what denomination to bring the children up. There were different solutions. Where both parents were devout you often find the boys brought up the father’s denomination and the girls the mothers. With families that were less bothered, they just plumped for one denomination, normally that of the parent that felt strongest about the matter.

A mixed marriage could be a factor in a couple’s decision to emigrate (though there were many other factors driving emigration as well).