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Please help me get further back

Creggan (Armagh)

also 
So far I have got all Catholic

Grandparents Patrick Woods/Annie McShane

GG.Michael Woods/Ellen Keenan

GGG Michael Woods/Catherine Daly No parents name on Marriage Certificate,got all Children 

Catherine Daly 5 March 1815 UPR Creggan 

Michael Woods 31 January1814 UPR Creggan Parents Arthur Woods/Mary Myers this was first choice going by Catherine's DOB

found Arthur 28th November 1794 Haggardstown also Rassan/Mary Miers 28 November 1796 Dundalk

also Michael Woods 20 September 1818 making him age 16 this says Armagh but had a sponsor named conlan which was the only sponsor I found on michaels siblings births.(Conlans near neighbour also grandson bought grandparents House)

also found Michael 18 Aug 1797 Creggan,Patrick Woods/Mary Caherty,Michael 2 oct1798 James/ Woods/Sara McQuaid

Michael 10/101813 Armagh Patrick/ Woods/Ann Fitzpatrick 

Michael 15 November 1820 age 14 at Marriage Peter Woods/Catherine Ruddy.

trishbeer@yaho…

10 replies

Trish,

The earliest records for Creggan Upper RC parish cover the years 1796-1803, then a gap, 1812-1829, then a gap and 1845 onwards. You will probably struggle to get back any further, unless your families were very wealthy or notorious as few records exist for the 1700s. A lot of Irish research comes to a stop around 1800 due to the general lack of records.

Elwyn, IrelandXO Volunteer ☘IrelandXO Volunteer

Thankyou for the information,is there any way I can find out if any of the michaels is the one that married Catherine Daly in 1834 

trishbeer@yaho…

Trish,

Have you been able to work out which townlands they lived in? If any of the births has a townland and it matches one of the Michaels townland then that ups the chances but it can be difficult. Were they farmers or labourers? Farmers tended to stay put in the same townland but labourers are really hard to track as they often moved around to follow the available work.

Elwyn, IrelandXO Volunteer ☘IrelandXO Volunteer

 

They were farmers and the townland was Cornonagh(Cornoonagh) barony of fews upper

It says Creggan Lower but most of the family has Creggan Upper on their certificates,it's about 3 Miles walk from Crossmaglen near the border.

have found nothing on rootsireland for Cornonagh,I  am not on the other sites anymore,only on Rootsireland until march.

Cornonagh borders

Lurgan Cullenboy- North

Creggan Bane Glebe -North

Ballybinaby -East the Kane part of the family come from here,found McShane's at Rassan Creggan where I found an Arthur Woods

Mounthill- East

Coolderry- West

I am not too technical minded,it's just luck and help from your site,further on than my fathers site in Mayo even with my DNA Done,I am meeting with my cousins this week for a family funeral so will be giving out the tree's to them I was hoping to confirm if the 1814 birth was the right one before I see them,if the Catherine Daly birth is right,it's the only ones on Creggan that fit,unless Michael was a lot older than Catherine.

 

trishbeer@yaho…

Trish,

The tithe applotment records for the parish of Creggan in 1828 show 3 Woods farms in the townland of Cornoonagh: Michael, Patt (ie Patrick) & Thomas.

http://www.irishgenealogyhub.com/armagh/tithe-applotments/creggan-parish.php

By the time of Griffiths Valuation c 1860 there were just 2, Owen & Michael. They had plots 72d & 72e, which they were farming in common with 3 other people.  That they lived beside each other suggests they were closely connected, cousins or brothers. I suspect these will be 2 of the 3 1828 farms and that all 3 farmers were closely related.

Plot 72 today is on the modern Coolderry Rd. Judging by Google Earth it’s still a farm though a new house seems to have replaced the earlier houses.

A probate abstract, for Catherine who died intestate:

Letters of Administration of the personal estate of Catherine Woods late of Cornonagh County Armagh who died 4 January 1885 at same place were granted at Armagh to Michael Woods of Cornonagh Farmer the Husband.

By 1901 there was just the 1 family farming there:

http://www.census.nationalarchives.ie/pages/1901/Armagh/Creggan_Lower/Cornoonagh/1021761/

The Michael Woods in the 1901 census was a widower when he married Ellen Keenan in 1886 and he was the son of another Michael. You know from the census he was born c 1848.

https://civilrecords.irishgenealogy.ie/churchrecords/images/marriage_returns/marriages_1886/10834/5951708.pdf

His first wife was the Catherine who died in 1885 aged 33:

https://civilrecords.irishgenealogy.ie/churchrecords/images/deaths_returns/deaths_1885/06300/4805688.pdf

I would try and construct family trees for the 3 families in that townland. Search the birth, deaths & marriage records 1864 onwards for Woods events registered in Dundalk. Likewise the parish records before that. It may help build a picture of who stayed and who left. That in turn may help work out if this is your family. Some might still be on the farm today. That’s something to consider. But obviously 2 of the 3 families there either died out or moved away.

The Drogheda Argus  & Leinster Journal of 13th July 1963 reports that a Peter Woods of Cornonagh had been stopped by the police for suspected drink driving, on his way back from a pub in Newry. He admitted having had about 5 bottles of stout.  The court gave him the benefit of the doubt and did not convict.

Elwyn, IrelandXO Volunteer ☘IrelandXO Volunteer

I have got all the birth and marriage details going from Patrick Woods and Annie Mchane,their births and marriage,all birth Certificate's for all the Children,John,Michael,Patrick,Bernard,Peter,James and Joseph and my mother Ellen,yes the drunk driver was my uncle Peter,he moved to America with Bernard and Peter married a neighbour from back home who he met in America,Bernard married her Cousin.

Have certificates for marriage of Michael woods and Catherine McCreesh 1884,their births and birth of baby Michael born 1884-1884

also Details of will.

will dated 21 July 1898 of Bridget Brennan leaving Cornonagh to Michael Woods,probate 11 June 1900,might be godmother as on Patrick's birth Certificate.

Also Marriage 1886 to Ellen Keenan and births of Mary Anne (married Patrick Donnelly)died Daisy Hill Nursing home 1942

John(married Honora O'Brien ,children John Gerald 1937,Edmond P 1939 USA,James 1891-1891and Patrick 1892(Grandfather)

From rootsireland I have marriage Michael Woods to Catherine Daly but no first name of father children were

Cath 20 Nov 1835

Mary 28 July 1837

Anne 15 April 1840

Bridget 23 Jan 1842

Michael 8 July 1844

Ann 2 Feb 1847

Ellen 5 Oct 1849

Elisabeth 31 March 1853

original photo of Cornonagh on this site,new bungalow in its place,my Grandfather lived there until he and my grandmother died,then sold to neighbour conlan family.

trishbeer@yaho…

Sounds as though you have already researched the families fairly thoroughly. Not sure I can suggest anything more. There’s no easy way of identifying precisely who was  who in those early parish registers where there are no other identifying clues beyond a couple of names and a date.

Elwyn, IrelandXO Volunteer ☘IrelandXO Volunteer

Have gone back through the births I had for Michael and also looked for Owen as you thought they might be related it looks like they were brothers.

Michael Woods 2 October 1798 UPR Creggan parents James Woods/Sara McQuaid

James Woods 27th March 1801 UPR Creggan parents James Woods/Sara McQuaid

Owen Woods 19 June 1815 UPR Creggan parents James Woods/Sara McQuaid

Would make Michael 17 years older than Catherine if 1815 is right for her birth.

This is the only one that fits looked for parents Michael,Thomas and Patrick.

trishbeer@yaho…

Yes that seems reasonable. If there were 3 of them running the same farm, you would epxect there to be a close relationship.

Elwyn, IrelandXO Volunteer ☘IrelandXO Volunteer

 

Think I have worked it out hopefully 

Patrick,Michael and Thomas on Cornonagh 1828

Michael born 10 October 1813

Thomas born 7 June 1830

Parents Patrick Woods / Ann Fitzpatrick 

Michael and Owen on Cornonagh 1860

Michael born 2 October 1798

Owen born 19 June 1815

Parents James Woods /Sara McQuaid

So hopefully Patrick and James were Brothers

but no more records to find out.

trishbeer@yaho…

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