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Murtagh Mooney and Alice Dougherty

My great, great grandparents, Murtagh Mooney and Alice Dougherty were married on September 1, 1838, in the Diocese of Dromore.  The marriage place was Newry, Ireland, Ireland and other event place was Donaghmore and Loughbrick Land.  This information is from Ancestry, in the Catholic Parish Registers. Their son, Edward Mooney, was born January 12, 1843, in County Down, Ireland.  I just learned of both of these events, and I would appreciate any information or direction you could provide.  I do not have any information regarding their parent's names or where they lived in County Down and it would be great if you could help me figure out my ancestors.  If you would need any information after they came to the United State, please contact me.  My email address is jhenry1211@gmail.com.  Thank you for your time.  Judy Wood Henry

Jhenry1211@gmail.com

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Judy,

I can find the 1838 marriage on Ancestry but it’s not clear to me which parish the event actually took place in. Ostensibly it’s Newry but if I search the Newry RC parish records the event is not there. The groom’s address was Loughbrickland and the bride’s Donaghmore. Loughbrickland is in the RC parish of Aghaderg  and Donaghmore is in Donoughmore parish. Apart from the fee, the record contains no other information. I have searched all 3 parishes records on the nli (National Library of Ireland) site but cannot find the event.

Here’s the marriage records for Donoughmore parish in 1838. The ones around September are illegible (faded), so it might be there but just no longer legible:

https://registers.nli.ie/registers/vtls000633264#page/12/mode/1up

Here’s Newry’s records for September 1838. They are much clearer and you will see that the marriage is not listed:

https://registers.nli.ie/registers/vtls000633287#page/110/mode/1up

The fee for the marriage was 5 shillings which appears to be fairly standard for that set of records (a few had no fee charged which suggests those couples were not very well off).

Tradition was to marry in the bride’s church which, going by the address, should have been Donoughmore but as I say I cannot find it in those records. The record on Ancestry appears to be a Diocesan record (ie kept centrally by the bishop) and comprises marriages from all over the Diocese.  So it’s not a local parish record.

RC Marriage records for that period are pretty basic. Often all you get is the date, the couple’s names and 2 witnesses. In this case even the witnesses were not recorded. You do not get parents names at that time, and so tracing back a generation without information from another source will be challenging.

I had several goes at locating Edward Mooney’s 1843 baptism but without success. I also searched for other children to that couple (you would expect there to be some) but again without success.

There was an Edward Mooney baptised in Aghaderg on 7th Jan 1840 to parents Michael Mooney & Alice Mooney (ie her maiden name was also Mooney). That was the nearest I could find.

Loughbrickland is a small town between Banbridge and Newry on the modern A1 road from Belfast to Dublin. Donaghmore is a small area a few miles north of Newry, again not far from the A1 road. Loughbrickland to Donaghmore is about 10 miles, perhaps less.

Elwyn, IrelandXO Volunteer ☘IrelandXO Volunteer

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