Ireland XO
Back to Message Board

William McKee b Leitrim 1818.

LeitrimDrumlease (Leitrim)

I realise this is a needle in a haystack search, but here goes. The facts are that William McKee was born in Leitrim 1818. I know this from his RIC file. He joined the RIC in 1838, number 3271 and spent most of his time in Tippearary N. He was Protestant, C-O-I.

The rest is speculation. A relation came across on Ancestry, a suggestion for his parents: John &Egnis/Agnes? McKee, both of whom were born in1780. No other details. When I was doing research many yrs ago, I found many McKees living in the area of Drumahaire/Drumlease. I could be wrong, but I think the church parish records were either destroyed, or began too early. I know I never found his birth cert.

As I have no idea if Egnis/Agnes was living in Leitrim, I have no idea of where they got married. Three of William's sons joined the RIC. William's father would have been (if correct) 36 yrs old when the RIC formed, but he might have belonged to a pre-RIC force, if such a force existed.

So to conclude, I would be looking for a birth cert for William McKee, a member of the C-O-I, who was born in Leitrim in 1818. If correct, his parents were, John & Egnis/Agnes McKee, born 1780, possibly in Leitrim and if wife was from Leitrim, married there, possibly in the early 1800's. I am inclined to think of Drumahaire/Drumlease as a starting point, as there seems to be many McKees living there.

Any information, gratefully received.

John.

John Mc Kee

2 replies

Hello John, I search Roots Ireland for any McKee born from 1810 to 1835 and found none, however I searched the Tithe Applottments and there is a John McKee in the parish of Innishmagrath, townland given in 1834, there are other McKee people but but only one John. 

Here is a list of the C of I records that survive and lost https://www.ireland.anglican.org/cmsfiles/pdf/AboutUs/library/registers/ParishRegisters/PARISHREGISTERS.pdf 

There is often a letter of recommendation when they jon the police but there is an excellent Facebook page, apply to join Royal Irish Constabulary A Forgotten Irish Police Force 1816 to 1922 the Royal was added in 1867 I think, one of the contruibutors is Jim Herlihy who wrote the book on the history of the RIC. They answer a lot of queries.

There are also a couple of Leitrim pages on FB one Leitirm History and Genealogy and Genealogy and a couple on Mohill on old photos if interested but I searched them for any McKee reference and no joy.

I would recommend you look at the Leitrim Library website and local history section and you can search old newspapers, get a tiny piece of the article but can request the page, about €1 I think, the library may be on lockdown but the email should be working. A number of books have been produced locally in the last 10 or so years also.

If you cannot find anything let me know, I answer queries on this site relating to Louth but my mothers family are from Leitrim, just in case there are a few ares of Ireland, called Leitirm but only one county, here is a site of townlands and civil parishes so you can see what townlands are referred to. https://www.townlands.ie/ 

Good Luck

Pat

St Peters LouthIrelandXO Volunteer

Hi Pat,
Many thanks for the information. It was the e-mail from an American relation, which rekindled my interest. It is speculation (John & Ignis etc,) but worth pursuing. I never came across the parish of Innishmagrath, when I was doing a research on the area. It was a while back, but I was honing in on the Drumlease area. The C-O-I parish records close by were either destroyed, or started too late. Certainly I got no joy.

The trouble is once he left Leitrim, all his decesdants were born in Tipp N.

All I have is that the man who recommended him to the RIC was, S Armstrong, JP. From my notes, I found a Simon Armstrong of Hollymount who served as high sherrif of Leitrim 1829.

I definitely will look up the things you mention and if anything does come up, I'll let you know.

Once again, many thanks. Much appreciated.
John

John Mc Kee

Reply

Reply
One image file up to 2 MB.