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Gribben and Donegan in Aghagallon

AntrimAghagallon (Antrim)

I'm looking for information about Charles Gribben and Mary Donegan, my g-g-grandparents, who were married in the Catholic parish of Aghagallon and Ballinderry on 19 September 1829 (image at National Library of Ireland website).  A week later they emigrated to the United States, leaving Belfast on the Minerva on 26 September 1829 (shipping advertisement in The Belfast Newsletter, at the Irish Emigration Database website), arriving New York City on 30 October 1829.  The New York ship passenger list says that Mary was 21 and a seamstress, Charles was 25 and a manufacturer (later records in the United States suggest that Charles may have been born as early as 1798).  The passenger list also mentions that both came from Aghagallon (it is very unusual for passenger lists of this period to mention a specific town of origin).  Mary and Charles settled initially in the State of New Jersey, where sons John and George were born, then moved in the early 1830s to the Town of Yates in Orleans County, New York (west of the City of Rochester), where they acquired land and became prosperous farmers.  The following additional children were born in New York:  Mary Ann, Julia, Michael William, Thomas, Ellen, Margaret, Sarah, Eliza and Charles.  The family attended a Catholic church in Orleans County and the children were baptized Catholic, but several of them married Protestants.  Charles died in Orleans County in 1871, Mary in 1873.

Any information about Charles and Mary, and their siblings and parents, would be greatly appreciated.

Peter Bush (Rochester, New York)

 

 

 

 

 

BushTracker

3 replies

Peter,

Aghagallon RC parish records start in 1828. Tracing earlier than that may be very difficult.

Though most Irish censuses pre 1901 have been destroyed, part of the 1851 for Co Antrim has survived and includes Aghagallon and Ballinderry. One Gribben in 1851 in the parish, on a farm in Tamnyvane:

http://www.census.nationalarchives.ie/pages/1851/Antrim/Upper_Massereene/Aghagallon/Tamnyvane/21/

George Donegan, the only Donegan in the parishes had been living nearby in the townland of Montiaghs but had died in 1850 of old age, aged 83:

http://www.census.nationalarchives.ie/pages/1851/Antrim/Upper_Massereene/Aghagallon/Montiaghs/50/

Given that there appears to be the only one example of the Donegan surname, it’s possible the Montiagh family might be related to your ancestors who left in 1829.

The tithe applotment records for 1834 list George Donegan in Montiaghs. He was the only Donegan household listed in the parish. There were 5 Gribben households though:

Gribben, Francis Townland: Derrycloan Year: 1834

Gribben, Hugh Townland: Derrycloan Year: 1834

Gribben, John Townland: Derrymore Year: 1834

Gribben, Owen Townland: Ballykeel Year: 1834

Gribben, Widow Townland: Derrymore Year: 1834

http://www.irishgenealogyhub.com/antrim/tithe-applotments/

Looking at Griffiths Valuation for 1862, I see James Brankin (son in law of George Donegan) listed on plots 21 & 22. 2 Separate pieces of land, on either side of the modern Boghead Bridge Rd, they totalled just under 7 acres.

http://www.askaboutireland.ie/griffith-valuation/index.xml

Elwyn, IrelandXO Volunteer ☘IrelandXO Volunteer

Hi Elwyn,

Thank you very much for your information and suggestions.  The possibility that George Donegan was the father of Mary is something I will pursue.  Mary named her second son George, which provides support for that hypothesis assuming that she and Charles followed the conventional naming system.  I'm looking now through the Aghagallon RC parish records to see if I can find anything else that would help.

The first son of Mary and Charles was named John, which suggests that Charles' father was John Gribben.  There is a John Gribben in the Aghagallon RC records who was buried on 25 June 1829 at age 60.  That was only three months before Charles and Mary were married and emigrated to the United States.  So it's possible he was Charles' father and that his death was somehow a factor in the decision of Charles and Mary to marry and emigrate. 

What a shame that the Aghagallon marriage records don't give the parents of the bride and groom!

Thanks again.  Peter

BushTracker

Hello Peter,

I was curious to come across your post the other day when hunting information on the Gribben family of Aghagallon.  I had been prompted by a record that came to light in an old ledger held at a small church in Glenavy Parish, Antrim.  The record stated that on 29 August 1819, Sarah Gribben of Aghagallon Parish had licence to marry Abraham Totten of Glenavy Parish.  (This was a fortuitous find as it proved my ancestor's brother, Abraham, likely had an earlier marriage, and that Charles Totten, who I previously couldn't place in my family, was likely to be a son of this couple, Abraham and Sarah Gribben.  Charles was not a common Christian name in my Totten clan, and the name made me wonder as to the family origins.)  There is an old tombstone at nearby Ballinderry, in the old Moravian Churchyard erected by the son, Charles Totten and his wife, to the memory of their daughter who died young.  I know we are mixing denominations here, but it looks as if several folk in my Totten family, who were Protestant, married into local Catholic familes.  Sarah Gribben, who married Abraham Totten, would be about the right age to be a cousin or even a sister to your gtgt Grandfather, Charles Gribben.  I don't know if this is a help to you at all, but wish you luck with your ongoing research.  It is food for thought at least.

Regards,

Rosemary Totton (Auckland, new Zealand)

treeseeker

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