John,
If John Devine was born in Donagheady c 1807, then unfortunately that RC parish doesn’t have any records earlier than 1854, so there will be no record of him. Likewise for his marriage c 1825 if it was also in the same parish. Moy is in the parish of Clonfeacle and it has records starting in 1814, so you might find James’s & his 3 siblings births c 1839-1845, and perhaps his parent’s marriage if that was also in that parish. (Tradition was to marry in the bride’s church so it’s usually where she originates that matters for that event). The RC parish records are on-line free on the National Library site:
https://www.nli.ie/en/family-history-introduction.aspx
Some of the dates don’t seem quite right to me. If William Devine was born in 1825, then he’s hardly the father of a son John born 1839. He’d only have been 14 then. And if he was older, then the same problem exists in relation to his father John who would have been too young to be his father, if born in 1807.
I checked rootsireland but did not find any record of William’s marriage to Mary Kelly nor the baptisms of their 4 children. I suspect those events took place in a parish which doesn’t have any records for that period. Though you can double check by searching the Clonfeacle records on the nli site.
If John Devine was born in Donegal, then you face a similar problem with records that are incomplete. Porthall is in the parish of Clonleigh. Their records cover the following years:
Baptisms, 1773-95, 1836-7 and 1853-80; marriages,
1778-81 and 1843-81.
So the records for the years around John’s baptism are lost. No easy way around that.
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).
