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McCay or McKay Information

McKay (McCay) Of Rasharkin

Hi My name is Colin McKay and I live in Victoria in Australia. I am hoping to find more about the McKays (McCays) in Rasharkin. My ancestry as I know it.

Archibald McKay who would have been born around 1790 married Jane McKenna  and was a farmer based on the death certificate of a son. There are likely to be other children from this marriage but Henry is the only one who is a direct line. Henry married Mary McMullan circa 1842 (assuming they married before the birth of the first son).  From Scottish census records they had four children-James, Archibald, Teressa and Bridget. The records of their births or marriage dates are yet to be found along with records of their children’s births. Some time ago I put a post on Rootschat and had a good response where Sparkle26 found the baptism of Theresa McCay in 1851 and a Bridget McCay in 1855 to a Henry McCay and Mary McMullan in the diosese of Rasharkin in Antrim . With the release of the 1921 Scottish Census, Bridget posted here birthplace as Rasharkin while her older brother Archibald (who I am decended from) stated his birthplace as Belfast (James and Teressa had already died).

They were Roman Catholic.

I think this is a recording error

The first records in Scotland show the family in 1871 in Bathgate

Subsequent census used the spelling as McKay.

The ages in the census over the years and on death certificates is very unreliable but the 1871 census would appear to be the most accurate.

 

 

 

Birth Extract for Teressa  29/05/1851

There is no further mention of the son Francis

 

Birth Extract for Bridget

 

corylin1

2 replies

Colin,

Rasharkin RC parish has no records earlier than 1848 so if that’s where Archibald & Jane were born and married you won't find any record of that. Likewise you are unlikely to find any baptism records for children born there pre 1848.

Death registration didn’t start in Ireland till 1864 so if Archibald & Jane died before that, there won’t be a record. Part of the 1851 census of the parish of Rasharkin has survived but it is only a small fraction of the whole. 10% perhaps. So whilst the entries you have found might be related, you can’t be certain of that. If Archibald McKay was a farmer then he should be in the tithe applotment records. Those for Rasharkin (1834) contain just one Archy McCay and he farmed in Tamlaght townland. So that may be your family.

http://www.irishgenealogyhub.com/antrim/tithe-applotments/rasharkin-par…

The 1851 census for Tamlaght has survived and there is this possible family in it (the only McCay & variant living there.) Population of the townland in 1851 was 656 people.

http://www.census.nationalarchives.ie/pages/1851/Antrim/Kilconway/Rasha…

If the right family then evidently Jane had died prior to 1851.. However I am not sure it is the right family because that Archy’s wife was named Sarah had died in Winter 1849 aged 51. (See the 1851 additional pages). So unless Sarah was a 2nd marriage it looks like the wrong family.

There are no McKay/McCay farms in Tamlaght by the time of Griffiths Valuation in 1861 suggesting the family had either died or left the area. Tamlaght today is on the modern Townhill Rd, a couple of miles north of Portglenone. Neither of the 2 baptisms found in 1851 and 1855 have a townland so no clues there as to where that couple were living in the parish.

https://registers.nli.ie/registers/vtls000633199#page/52/mode/1up

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 in conjunction with FTDNA and can offer testing kits at a reduced price. http://www.nifhs.org (Go to DNA project on the website).

Elwyn, IrelandXO Volunteer ☘IrelandXO Volunteer
Elwyn Thank you for your amazing post. I will definitely follow up with your suggestions. The names of Henry's parents were taken from his death registration. I have found errors on these before which relies on children giving information about grandparents they may never have met so I won't rule anything out. I have had a DNA test done through Ancestry and it turned up just one person out of thousands of links who had a McKay connection with Henry and he lives an hour away from me in Victoria. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year. Colin
corylin1

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