McNiff's from the Drumkeeran area

Death cert for a Myles McNiff of Moneenatieve, County Leitrim    1896

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Death of a Patrick McNiff, could this be your Patrick's dad?

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Death of a Winifred McNiff 1880, Note Michael McTernan present at death, husband of Bridget, daughter of Patrick.

v

There are so many McNiff's in the areas you mention including all the names you list, it appears you come from a very large family so perhaps you should check out irishgenealogy.ie , it is a free government site.

Thank you Roger and Eileen.  

I'll look at the Irishgeneaology,ie site, in case I haven't already but the problem is, as Roger stated, online and church records from that period are sparse.  Prior to Patrick and Winifred leaving from Sligo, there is a "black hole".

That's why I was hoping a McNiff family in that area today might know based on family history or their Bible, that Patrick was born in in 1825-30, married and then disappeared.  That same family would likely have a Myles McNiff.  There are now 3 generations of Francis Myles McNiff's here in the US so it alone seems to be a big clue.  Lawrence also seems to be a relatively rare name amoung McNiff death recodes - the 256 of them I went through looking at date of death, age at death, and then subtracting the two to determine approximate years of birth. I only found two (2) Laurence (Lawrence) McNiffs in the 100 years (1800-1900) yet Patrick and Winifred named their last child Lawrence.  All their children were born here in the US.  Eileen, the Myles McNiff, who's daughter Bridget McTermon was the Informant, had a brother also by the name of Myles who married Catherine McTermon (b1844).  They lived in Drumduffy with children Francis, Kate, Myles and John, so that could be MY McNiff's based on family naming. (My McNiff's have no Williams, or Matthews or Daniels or Lizzie's.)

And yes, I've done both 23&Me over a decade ago and more recently, Ancestry DNA, which draws a circle in a 30-50 km radius around Drumkeeran saying this is where my DNA is from!  So I 'd like to believe that 7 generations later, there must still be some McNiff's there today with a Patrick that went to America, and an great-great uncle Lawrence and a couple Myles McNiff's.  I'm prepared to write snail-mail letters to each to solve this.  I just need to find that one or two McNiff's that really know their family trees.

Thank you both!!

Jack

Hi Jack, 

Howie McNiff from New York here.....My great, great grandfather was THOMAS MCNIFF from Aughterangh, County Leitrim.

He came to NYC around 1850 --- married Ellen Blake from Tipperary.  They had 4 kids but he died around 1858 leaving Ellen with 4 young kids.

His son was James McNiff who married in 1869.

His son Francis was born in NYC in 1907.  

One of his Francis's sons was my father, Howard born 1929.  He was an NYC Police Officer.

I was born 1955 and currently reside in Nanuet, NY

I have two sons, Brad, born 1988 and Stephen, born 1994.  

I'm not sure who we are related to back in Leitrim but I wouldn't mind sharing info.

Here's and interesting story --- Jimmy McNiff/Duffy was born in Leitrim, moved to Scotland and then Canada. 

He won the Boston Marathon in 1914 and then died in WW1 a year later fighting for Canada in France.

I didn't know anything about him when I ran the Boston Marathon in 1980 time of 2 hrs. 31 minutes.

Long lost cousins from the Drumkereen area of Leitrim???  Yes, I think so.  

I am researching my husband's McNiff family, and found some similarities here. His great-great-grandfather was Patrick McNiff (1819, Ireland -1883, New York), married to Winifred (1821-1877).

Their children were John, Catherine, Mary, Ellen, and Frank, most of whom died in Penn Yan, Yates, New York.  But perhaps I haven't found all the children.

Looks to me like we may have some common relatives - would love to connect off-line, but I'm new to this and don't know how. 

Hello Jack and Howie,  found a Hugh McNiff death cert which may interest you, he was from Lisfultighan which you mentioned above, born 1811 so fits with the time frame. Delighted so many family members are finding each other, well done.

v

Hello Henke Family.  Yes, I see we are related according to Ancestry.  Email me at JackButler.email@gmail.com   Love to contact you directly.  We are all related to Patrick McNiff's family from Penn Yan. 

I'm pretty sure our McNiffs lived in Tullintowell.  I found both Miles and Lawrence McNiff's there as well as others.  Lawrence McNiff looks to have been a VERY uncommon name.  One of Patrick's children buried at St. Michael's Cemetery in Penn Yan is Lawrence.  So that's a VERY strong link to Tullintowell for me.

Sorry I've been away from this board for a few months tending to another major project.

Howie, we may be related but Aughterangh is a bit of a ways from Tullentowell.  May be same family or cousins. 

Thanks All!!

Jack

Hello. I've spoken by phone and email with the Post Master in Drumkeeran.. Am hoping she can help me identify any local McNiffs who I can contact by phone, email or snail-mail.

Had a return email response from her but no contacts yet.

Jack Butler

April 1, 2025

Convinced that my McNiff's are from Tullintowell, I am planning a trip there September of this year (2025). The Post Master in Drumkeeran tells me there are no McNiff's left in the area. Joe McNiff died earlier this year outside of Drumkeeran but not known if he was of the same family. Howie, she also thought some McNiff's had changed their last name to Duffy in England. Researching Irish townlands with both "McNiff" and "Gallagher" familes also leads to this area around Tullintowell. (Of course, that may be self-fulfilling prophecy since Gallagher was/is so common a name.) Myles and Lawrence (Laurence) McNiffs both appear in Griffith's Valuation in Tullintowell. Strong DNA match up wtihin 30 miles of Drumkeeran. Too much overlapping evidence for this to be coincidence. Worst case, I'll see a part of the Irish country side in County Leitrim I'd not seen before.

I also spoke with Patrica at the Genealogy Center for County Leitrim. She mentioned that there were so many McNiffs in that area back in the mid-1800's that they 'color-coded' them. The "red" McNiffs. The black "McNiffs. The blue "McNiffs. Waiting for more information on the rational behind that.. They must have some family lines broken down for the various McNiffs if they were color-coded.

Henke family members, our connection is via Francis Miles and Isabelle Ruth Dowell's daughter Ann Faye who married William Edward Henke. Email me at the address provided above!!

Finally, there is also a still mysterious relationship between the McNiff's who settled in Penn Yan, NY and the Gavin family. Both traveled from Sligo. Both settled in Penn Yan. All their kids had the same first names. Whether they were genetically family or just really, really close friends I don't know yet. Other unsolved links exist between Patrick & Winifred McNiff and the Sheridan, Sweeney, and McCormick families.

Jack

PS..Roger and Eileen, not sure I am getting Notifications when anyone posts on this board. Please respond when you read this. Thank you!

Thanks, Roger.  Seems to be working now.

Roger and Eileen, Is there a listing available online of the known graves within the cemeteries at Killargue and Aughalaughey?

Hi Jack

Hope you don’t mind me sticking my nose in - I think we must have a connection somewhere. I’m a Duffy in Scotland whose 2 x GGrandparents changed their name from McNiff to Duffy when they moved from Leitrim in the late 1870s (McNiffs only changed their name to Duffy when they moved to Scotland, no one knows why….it’s not as if Duffy’s not an Irish name?!). My McNiffs are from Moneenatieve townland, I see some of them mentioned in this message string. I’ve gone as far back as my 3 x GGrandparents Michael and Mary (Michael who is born around 1797 had a brother Patrick (b 1803)). I’ve traced 6 of Michael and Mary’s children and I’m sure there are more as there’s a gap of 12 years between Myles (b 1819) and my 2 x GGrandad Michael (b1831)…….perhaps your Patrick is one of their siblings?

On the whole, the McNiffs in my tree either stayed in Leitrim, moved to Scotland (and then England) or emigrated to Brooklyn; Bridget (b 1840) emigrated to Brooklyn and most of Myles’ children to Brooklyn also; James (b1836) to Illinois.

I’m happy to share information to see if there is a connection.

Alison Duffy

Hello Allison

Thanks for reaching out.  How did you get records back to 1797?!  Was that via Tithe Appointments or church records?

I knew there were McNiff's in Moneenatieve, as well as Gowlaun, Tullintowell, Lisacoghil, Lisuanaw and Gragnagon  I have very little info on my Patrick's family other than what I could deduce based on the names of his children.    Tullintowell seemed to be a good fit in terms of first names as well as the other families who lived nearby.  Many of those families seem to have also made their home in Penn Yan, NY once they came over to the US.  Sweeney's, Gallagher, Gaffney/Gavin, McCormick, Sheridan, Fallon, etc.

My Patrick looks to have been born about 1825.  He is listed on the Dromahair ships register as 25 years old when they left Sligo. They landed in either Boston or NYC in 1850.  

The ringer for me is that his youngest child (buried in Penn Yan) was named Lawrence.  The McNiff's in Tullintowell has a Laurence, Myles, James, etc.  The eldest child was John so I assume that was Patrick's father's name. He had no childrn named Hugh but one boarded the Dromahair with him.  They stayed in Vermont for a few years before moving to Penn Yan.  In Vermont, there were two Hugh McNiff's relatively close in age to each other (~ 10 years). P atrick and Winifred had three daughters, none of them named Bridget however.

That's very interesting about the name change to Duffy from McNiff when they headed to Scotland.  it woudl be wonderful to find a connection between our families.   I'd love to know how all these McNiff's in the various townlands around Drumkeeran were related but I doubt we'll ever know.

Jack

Allison, how did you trace your McNiff's to Moneenatieve?   Did you have access to an old family Bible that linked everyone together?

-Jack

One addtional thought:  have you done any genetic testing like Ancestry DNA or 23&Me?  I've done both.  Ancestry woudl likely show if we share any DNA from our respective McNiff families. I've gone back to Ancestry to look at distant family matches.  I don't see anyone with the name "Duffy".  I do see Gallaghers, Sweeneys, and some other Irish names from around Drumkeeran.

Jack