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MacBeth family Ballymaggory 1800-1825

TyroneLeckpatrick (Tyrone)

My ancestor Mary MacBeth married William Nickle and left for the United States in 1825.  Family tradition says that her family was from Ballymaggory, in Leckpatrick.  Family tradition remembered all kinds of names from her husband's family, but nothing about hers except the town.  We know she was born in 1796 in Ballymaggory and had siblings named John, James, Rosanna, Eliza and Jane.  We know about the siblings because of surviving letters that were in somebody's attic, but nothing about their parents. One of the sisters married a McKendrick and one I think married a Callahan.    If there's anybody who knows about MacBeth/McBeth families in that area before 1825, I would love to hear from you. 

 

Karen Worley

KRWorley@aol.com

krworley

3 replies

Karen,

There’s no MacBeths listed in the tithe applotment records for the parish of Leckpatrick in 1826 and none in Ballymagorry in Griffiths Valuation of 1858. The local RC parish records (Donagheady) don’t start till 1854 so there aren’t any comprehensive sources to consult that might list this family.  It’s going to be difficult to find much on them.

Elwyn, IrelandXO Volunteer ☘IrelandXO Volunteer

Yeah, I thought that was going to be the case.  I sat at PRONI for several days and looked through all the stuff a very helpful librarian suggested.  We found a map of Ballymaggory from sometime in the 1700's that had multiple MacBeth homes listed, and the guy she married, William Nickle, was from Woodend and we found lease records for his father and grandfather.  We saw Woodend Rd just coming out of the town of Ballymaggory, so I even know where it was.  So I believe that the family tradition is correct about the place, but there just don't seem to be any more records to look at.  Unless there's anybody local who kept the family Bible, I think I'm stuck.  I just posted here because I thought it was my one chance of getting to local handed-down family information.  Is there a library in Strabane that has any local genealogy files, in case I ever make it back to Ireland?  Thanks very much for the reply.

krworley

There is a library in Strabane but I am not sure whether they have much local material. The local studies section for Co Tyrone is in Omagh library. But you could e-mail Strabane and ask what they have.

https://www.librariesni.org.uk/libraries/county-tyrone/strabane-library/

Most Irish research comes to a stand around the early 1800s due to lack of records, so you did well to find some records from the 1700s.  But there are not many records for that period as you have found.

Elwyn, IrelandXO Volunteer ☘IrelandXO Volunteer

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