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McKeegan of Antrim

Antrim

Hello.

I am trying to locate my McKeegan family from Antrim.

I have a Hugh McKeegan bornabout 1836 in Ireland. He immigrated to Ormstown, Quebec, Canada and married a Margaret Cavanagh in 1855. They were Catholic.

On their marriage register, his parents are listedas Denis and Catharine McKeegan (no maiden name recorded) from County Antrim. There are many other McKeegans in the Ormstown area, but so far I have not found a link between them and my Hugh. I checked Griffith's valuation and noticed there are many McKeegans in the Layd Parish, among others,but there is also a Denis McKeegan in the Shankill parish. I am hoping to find more specific information to connect my Hugh to his family in Ireland.

Thank you.

Mary

marytini@hotmail.com

2 replies

Mary,

I searched the Irish RC baptism records for Hugh born c 1836 and also for his parents' marriage but did not find any matches. Not all RC parishes have records for the years you are interested in. For example, Layde RC records only start in 1838. So it may be that no documentary record exists of either event.

Statutory death registration started in 1864. I searched the records 1864 to 1920 for Denis & Catherine in Co. Antrim. I did not find any for Denis. There were several for Catherine but only one was old enough to be Hugh’s mother. She died in 1882 in Cushendall. However her husband was named Patrick, a fisherman.

On the basis that families often repeat names, I looked for other Hughs and Denises in the 1901 census. who might be related. I found this pair of unmarried brothers living in Layde RC parish. Their parents turn out to be Hugh McKeegan and Mary Ann McGloughlin. So not your immediate family, but perhaps related. Difficult to say.

http://www.census.nationalarchives.ie/pages/1901/Antrim/Cushendall/Glenaan/923223/

I suspect DNA testing might be the only way of linking in perhaps to someone who has more knowledge of the family’s origins.

Elwyn, IrelandXO Volunteer ☘IrelandXO Volunteer

Elwyn, thank you for your time and effort. I have done DNA testing, but so far have not found any links to this part of my family.

marytini@hotmail.com

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