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HAMILTON of Tornamoney + LAVERTY, McKENDRY & McNEILL

AntrimCulfeightrin (Antrim)

HAMILTON of Tornamoney + LAVERTY, McKENDRY & McNEILL

I descend from Patrick and Mary (Laverty) Hamilton of the Roman Catholic Parish of Cushendun within the Civil Parish of Culfeightrin. Patrick and Mary had seven children; six of them have been identified in American records and most of them were born before the surviving Catholic parish registers commence in 1825:

https://registers.nli.ie/parishes/0409

https://registers.nli.ie/parishes/0408

As I recently learned, in 1831, the only Patrick Hamilton identified in the Tithe Applotment Records for the Civil Parish of Culfeightrin was Pat. in Turnamoany:

http://www.irishgenealogyhub.com/antrim/tithe-applotments/culfeightrin-parish.php

With children born in Culfeightrin between 1810 and 1828, I am now 99.9% sure that it was Patrick and Mary (Laverty) Hamilton who resided in Tornamoney in 1831. The coastal townland of Tornamoney is only 181 acres; Patrick Hamilton was undoubtedly related to Alexander Hamilton and Archibald Hamilton who also resided there in 1831. Alexander McNeill was also a resident of Tornamoney in 1831. 1831 residents of townlands immediately adjacent to Tornamoney included:

Altagore Townland

Patrick Laverty

Barney McNeill

Hugh McNeill

Cushleake Townland

Daniel McNeill

Hugh McNeill

Turnamoany is undoubtedly a phonetic variation of Tornamoney:

https://www.townlands.ie/antrim/cary/culfeightrin/tornamoney/

In 1852, Mary (Laverty) Hamilton and most of her children settled in the Town of West Union, Steuben County, New York, in the United States. From census records, Mary (Laverty) Hamilton was born about 1775 so Patrick Hamilton was probably born about 1771. Patrick probably died before the family left Ireland but it is also possible that he died outside of Ireland before the enumeration of the New York State Census in 1855. In West Union, the Hamilton-Laverty family was closely associated with a McNeill family that I suspect may have also originated in Tornamoney or nearby.

In the 1803 Agricultural Census of Antrim, the only Hamilton household identified in Tornamoney was headed by John Hamilton. Tornamoney was also occupied by Alexander, Daniel and John McNeill, as well as Daniel ONeill.

http://www.billmacafee.com/1803agriculturalcensus.htm

How was John Hamilton of Tornamoney in 1803 related to the Patrick Hamilton who married Mary Laverty and probably resided in Tornamoney in 1831?

I would like to connect with any Hamiltons who may know more about the Hamilton family of Tornamoney and perhaps especially those are not online because they may be elder members of the family who know the most about its history! Old photographs of people and structures at Tornamoney would be extremely interesting.

I am also very interested in comparing Autosomal DNA results with other descendants of the Hamilton family of Tornamoney via the free site, GEDmatch.com.

Thanks for your help!

Perry Streeter (perry@streeter.com)

perrystreeter

2 replies

Perry,

In terms of general information about Tornamoney it’s not very big. In the 1901 census the total population was 24 people, in 7 inhabited houses.

http://www.census.nationalarchives.ie/pages/1901/Antrim/Cushlake/Tornamoney/

In 1901, there was a shop which employed 2 people. There was 1 shoemaker, 1 coal miner and the rest were farmers or children. There was a small coal mine in Ballycastle so that’s likely where the coal miner worked.

1 Hamilton family as you presumably already know:

http://www.census.nationalarchives.ie/pages/1901/Antrim/Cushlake/Tornamoney/923495/

Griffiths Valuation tells you that the Hamilton farm was plot 5 which is a long narrow strip of a farm (just over 19 acres) reaching up from the sea shore to a point high on the hill above Tornamoney Point. It’s a popular area today with tourists as there is a narrow twisty road which climbs around the coast and gives splendid views across to Scotland. The Hamilton farm is on a loop off the Torr Head scenic road. The land is very hilly and wouldn’t be great farming land. Probably only suitable for sheep or hardy cattle. A lot of the land in that area is very boggy. Great views though. Some information on Tornamoney here:

http://www.placenamesni.org/resultdetails.php?entry=15824

A fairly good description of the whole parish can be found in the Ordnance Survey memoirs. These were compiled in the mid 1830s and give a detailed description of the parish, naming many inhabitants and describing the agriculture, industries, interests, habits of the people and so on.  Many townlands are named and if there are any interesting buildings they get a description too. The OS memoirs are not on-line anywhere but you can buy a copy from the Ulster Historical Foundation.  You’ll need the volume containing the civil parish of Culfeightrin. Each volume contains 3 or 4 parishes so you are likely to get the adjacent ones in the Culfeightrin volume.

https://www.ancestryireland.com/about-us/contact-us/

A youtube clip which shows the road up by Tornamoney and around Torr Head.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7XL3cWGJ598

Tornamoney gets a few mentions in the ,local papers for some unusual rocks (eurite and erratics) which got the local naturalists club excited. (Belfast Newsletter 13 June 1899). I can’t find any other significant mentions in the papers.

I searched the local phone book for Hamiltons in the Torr Head area. I didn’t see any but so few people are listed these days it doesn’t mean much. You could contact the parish and put a request for contact with anyone who has knowledge of your families on their facebook page or in the parish magazine.

http://www.cushendunweb.co.uk/St%20Patricks/stpatshome.htm

 

 

Elwyn, IrelandXO Volunteer ☘IrelandXO Volunteer

Elwyn:

Thank you for the rapid, thorough and thoughtul response!

Perry

perrystreeter

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