QUIGLEY in Clooney Parish, Clare

Greetings.  Hoping for research advice from someone very familiar with records in Clare, particularly in Clooney Parish as, after two years of trying to trace my ancestors, I find myself still facing the same brick wall, and rather puzzled over the state of the filmed parish baptism records.

My 3rd great grandparents, John QUIGLEY & "Ann MELVERN (Nancy)", as her name is put down on a family-made pedigree chart, were married in York, Yorkshire, England.  I do not know when, exactly, they left Ireland for England; I imagine due to the famine.  I've done some reading about that and understand Clare was very hard hit.  I know my John & Nancy Ann were in Walmgate, York, Yorkshire in 1853 but I have not yet been able to pin them down any earlier than this.

Per the diary of his son, John QUIGELY was born in Clooney Parish, Clare, Ireland.  This, son, my 2nd gr grandfather, visited Dublin in the late 1880s and very much wanted to visit Clooney Parish, as he'd been told there were still several QUIGLEY families living there.  Upon examining a map and making inquiries, he found he did not have enough money for the journey to Clare, so had to settle for an extra day exploring Dublin, which he describes in his diary.  His father, John QUIGLEY's marriage record to Ann MELVOURNE places John's birth about 1815 and gives his father as Malachy QUIGLEY, stonemason.  Both the bride and groom were living on Malt Shovel Yd., Walmgate, York at the time of the marriage.  Despite the misspelling of Nancy Ann's maiden name in the marriage record, her correct father's name is given, matching a document Nancy Ann later made herself in 1891, her approximate birth year of 1825 is appropriate as a match for her actual birth of 1824 in Sligo, Ireland, matching other documents which we know for certain belong to her, and she, by then a widow, is found along with her two children on Malt Shovel Yd., Walmgate, York in the 1861 census.  Descendant-made biographies state that John QUIGLEY died when his daughter, his second child, was only two years old, so Nancy Ann being shown as a widow in 1861 fits, as does the existence of only two children, my 2nd gr grandfather and his sister.  Nancy Ann is often recorded just as Ann and her surname is seen in various records as MELVERN, MELVIN, and MELBURN, in addition to the MELVOURNE mentioned above on her marriage cert.  Neither the bride nor groom signed their names, but only made their marks.  Given that they came from Ireland, they'd have been perceived in England as having accents and neither would likely have had any idea whether the English recorder who took down their names spelled them correctly.  In addition, the marriage was witnessed by a Thomas QUIGLEY and the 1891 document made by Nancy Ann and her son does list a Thomas QUIGLEY as a brother to my John.  That 1891 document also lists a Hugh QUIGLEY, uncle to my John.  The family of a Hugh QUIGLEY, age 72 born in Ireland, is seen living on the same street as my Nancy Ann and her children in the 1861 census.  At 72, he is certainly old enough to be the uncle of my John mentioned in the 1891 document.  Given all of the above, I feel confident we have the correct marriage record for my John & Nancy Ann, which is important as it happens to be our only source for the father of John QUIGLEY, Malachy QUIGLEY.  Because Malachy is listed as a stonemason, I contacted the Grand Masonic Lodge in Ireland inquiring about old membership records.  While they do have a database for Clare, I'm told no QUIGLEYs appear in it.

Two people claimed, years back now, to have seen a baptism entry for a John QUIGLEY on 25 Feb 1816 to Malachy QUIGLEY & Mary MORRISSY in Clooney Parish.  The first was a user who made an entry in the LDS IGI giving the baptism of my John QUIGLEY as "25 Feb 1816 Rc Clooney" and citing the LDS film of the Quin/Clooney Parish records as the source of that information.  No contact information was left by the user who made this entry.  The second was an Irish look up volunteer by the name of Kathleen who wrote back to my probable Australian cousin upon this cousin's query.  Kathleen was asked if she could find any children born to Malachy QUIGLEY & Mary MORRISSY in Clooney; she replied with a list containing John on 25 Feb 1816 and noting that, just nine months later, twins were born to the same couple on November of 1816, Martin and "unknown".  Kathleen did not say where she found the information she supplied, but did say she would also check at the parish, though she wasn't certain their records would go back far enough.  I've tried every way I can think of to track down and contact Kathleen, to no avail.

I've put in about 40 hours studying the LDS film of the Quin/Clooney Parish records with baptisms beginning 4 Jan 1816, extracting all readable entries which contain a QUIGLEY or QUIGLY.  I can find no readable entry for a John QUIGLEY born to a Malachy QUIGLEY, nor can I find any readable entry on 25 Feb 1816 at all.  I do find Martin QUIGLEY born to this couple in November of 1816 at Ballyvergin (best I can make out) but find no readable mention of the "unknown" twin.  "Readable" is a key word here.  I find two other children born to the couple in 1821 and 1824, both at Knockanoura.

I note that only one Malachy QUIGLEY/QUIGLY appears in the entirety of readable baptism entries contained on this film, and he is married to Mary MORRISSY/MORRISSEY.  I note that at least two distinct adult Hugh QUIGLEY/QUIGLYs appear on this film in baptsim entries 4 months apart, one married to Bridget C. and the other to Honora H.  Other entries contain a Hugh QUIGLEY as sponsor, but without mention of his wife.

In general, I find the 1816 baptism entries in puzzling condition.  Entries begin 4 Jan 1816 and proceed in logical order through part of November.  What appears next is a section of extremely faded and/or water-damaged and/or broken pages with handwritten page numbers (which appear to me to be original) that are skipped, duplicated, oddly-arranged, etc.  Even with benefit of a magnified viewer, a magnifying glass, extra light, a vivid imagination and extra sets of eyes asked to assist, I can make out only a word here or there at the beginning of this damaged section of baptism entries, that word being "April".  For entries written above this April baptism, one can only discern that something was once written there.  As what was once written there could certainly include February entries, I cannot determine with any certainty that this film does not contain a baptism entry for John QUIGLEY to Malachy QUIGLEY on 25 Feb 1816.

Upon seeing this April entry presented after November, I first thought the record had jumped ahead in time from November 1816 to early 1817.  However, from April, this damaged section proceeds in logical order again (best I can make out) through December.  1817 is clearly marked next and entries proceed from January through December as one would expect.  I rolled the film back to study 1816 again and asked for assistance in analyzing it.  April is definitely seen after November and information entered between November and April is indicipheralbe.  Some page numbers are missing entirely, though no obvious gaps in time appear as far as baptism entries are concerned, best I can make out.  There are three pages numbered "15", though each contains entirely different information which seems, best I can make out, to flow logically from page to page.  You might see page 18 next to page 23 but the information seems to flow between the pages without obvious gaps in time.  Very strange.  I wonder whether more than one copy of the parish record exists/existed and surviving pages from more than one copy were gathered and filmed.

I contacted Peter Bierne at the Clare Library to ask about the history of these parish records and their filming.  While he feels I've raised interesting questions, he has no sources at hand which answer them and does not know who would have those answers.  He is given to understand that 1) two films of this parish record were made, one by the LDS (a negative copy with light writing against a dark background) and one by the National Library of Ireland (a postitive copy with dark writing against a light background), and that 2) the positive copy is the earsier to decipher.  The LDS film I've studied is a positive copy.  I have written, over a year ago now, to the NLI inquiring about the history and filming of the Clooney/Quin Parish records and asking if I might purchase from them copies of the baptism entries for the year 1816.  I have never received reply.

At Peter Bierne's suggestion, I have also written directly to the Diocese, explaining the difficulty with the filmed record and asking for their assistance in checking the single date of 25 Feb 1816.  In over a year, I have never received reply.

Is anyone here familiar with this record?  Do any other copies survive which might prove more readable?  Were any early transcriptions made before the ink faded/water damage occurred?

I find only one Malachy QUIGLEY in the Tithe Applotment Books and he resided in Knockanoura.  However, an 1821 list of 40 Shilling Freeholders registered to vote lists two Malachy(s), one spelled QUIGLEY registered in 1813 and one spelled QUIGLY registered in 1819.  Both resided in Knockanoura.  Peter Bierne assures me these represent two distinct individuals rather than two entries made for the same individual.

A Thomas QUIGLEY is shown in the Griffith's Valuation living in Knockanoura and it is suggested to me, by a kind Clare resident I spoke with on a message board, that this Thomas may be son to Tithe Applotment Malachy and inherited the lease to the land.  As yet, no one I've asked has been able to describe a means of determining for certain whether the Tithe Applotment land and the Griffith's Valuation land are actually the same.  Any ideas?

Is anyone familiar with other records that exist locally in Clare which may provide a work-around to trace my QUIGLEYs if John's baptism entry cannot be found?

I'm given to understand that almost no burial records exist in Clare and those that do contain only the name of deceased and date of burial, no details by which to confirm one has found the right person.  I've checked various cemetery transcriptions I found online but as yet, no sign of the grave of my Malachy QUIGLEY.

Does anyone recognize this family?  Malachy QUIGLEY with a brother named Hugh, and sons, Thomas and John in Clooney Parish?

Thanks so much for your time, and for any advice you can offer to put me on the right path.  :)

Tyggs