Kennedy Family

Lea,

You ask if Eliz McMaster may have been Presbyterian. The 1854 marriage cert seems to suggest she was not RC. That seems clear enough. However the RC church generally wouldn’t allow a mixed marriage then and so you could search the Rasharkin RC baptism records for around 1853 and early 1854 to see if she is listed as an adult baptism. (If Elizabeth wasn’t prepared to convert, then the couple would most likely have married in the Church of Ireland. But we know they didn’t). The baptism records for the RC parish of Rasharkin start in 1848, so you could search them for both her adult baptism and Archibald’s in January 1854. They are on-line free on the National Library site.

I think the townland that Elizabeth McMaster came from is certainly Killyless which is just to the east of Portglenone. (The modern Killyless and Lisnahunchan roads go through it). Marahoghill is a local variation for Ahoghill, and Killyless is in the parish of Ahoghill so that fits perfectly. As you say, Griffiths Valuation for 1862 lists half a dozen McMaster households there, as does the 1901 census. They were a mix of Presbyterian and Church of Ireland:

http://www.census.nationalarchives.ie/pages/1901/Antrim/Ballyconnelly/Killyless/

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

There are 7 probate files at PRONI for people named McMaster from Killyless. See:

http://www.proni.gov.uk/index/search_the_archives/will_calendars.htm

They include a Samuel McMaster who died intestate in 1900 but his widow was Rachel. However she appears to have been a second wife. Samuel was 70 when he died so not really old enough to be your Elizabeth’s father.

Administration of the estate of Samuel M'Master late of Killyless County Antrim Farmer who died 13 July 1900 granted at Belfast to Rachel M'Master the Widow

Here’s the household in 1901:

http://www.census.nationalarchives.ie/pages/1901/Antrim/Ballyconnelly/Killyless/924680/

You say that James Kennedy was born in Kilrea in 1844. Unfortunately Kilrea RC baptism records don’t start till 1846 so you may not be able to confirm that information (or that of his siblings if they happened to be born there too).

I can’t help you with Craby Hill, Portglenone. I have not come across that place name. Some older names have fallen into disuse and it certainly isn’t listed amongst the standard list of townlands for that area.

Part of the 1851 census for the parish of Rasharkin survives, but there is only a single Kennedy listed in it. He was a servant. So no sign of your family. The 1831 census for the parish of Kilrea has also survived. It contains two Kennedy families, both living in the same house in Kilrea town, and headed by a John, but they were all Church of Ireland.

What was John Kennedy junior’s occupation in Ireland? Do you know?

The information you got from the UHF is pretty standard. RC marriage records in the 1850s just contained the couples names, the date of marriage and their two witnesses. That’s all. No parents, addresses etc. So pretty limiting.

Lea,

The information on an Irish death certificate is: name, date and location of death, usual residence (if different), occupation, marital status, age, cause of death, informant’s details and address, plus date of registration.

Death registration started in 1864 in Ireland. Only the Church of Ireland routinely kept burial records. Few other denominations did.

I asked about John Kennedy’s occupation because that tells me a bit about him. Agricultural labourers often moved around. Typically they took tenancies for a year or less so as to be able to follow any available work. Their houses tended to be very small and often don’t show up in the surviving records from that period. They are notoriously difficult people to trace. Weavers and agricultural labourers go together. Most could be described by either occupation. Agricultural labourers did weaving in the winter months when there was no labouring work required. (They would have a hand operated loom in the house, which they’d dismantle and take with them if they moved).

Regarding possible Presbyterian churches in the area, Killyless is situated between Portglenone and Ahoghill. There were 3 Presbyterian churches in Portglenone (2 still survive) and there are another 3 in Ahoghill (all of which still exist).  The family might have attended any of them. In both the Roman Catholic and Church of Ireland parish systems, where you lived generally decided which church you attended.  However for Presbyterians, it’s just a matter of which church you prefer, and not necessarily the nearest to where you live. Presbyterianism would by far be the major denomination in Co Antrim and consequently there are far more Presbyterian churches than COI or RC.

If your ancestors were Presbyterian, then that generally indicates they are descended from Scots settlers who came to the Ahoghill area in the mid 1600s. According to the Ordnance Survey memoirs for Ahoghill, written in the mid 1830s, it was widely reported then that some had originally come from Scotland with General Monroe’s army in 1641 and settled in Ahoghill after hostilities ceased, and they were no longer needed.

http://northantrim.com/GeneralMunro.htm

Copies of the records for all 6 churches are held in PRONI in Belfast. The earliest (Portglenone 2nd) start in 1821, but some of the others don’t start till round 1850. The records are not all on-line and so you would need to get a researcher to look them up in PRONI, or in the Presbyterian Historical Society in Belfast. I would also advise you to check Ahoghill and Portglenone Church of Ireland records too in case the family attended either of those churches. (Some of the McMasters in Killyless were clearly COI).

For the probate files that are not on-line, PRONI may have paper copies. They’ll copy them for a fee, or you can get a researcher to access them free save for photocopying costs.

Most of the graveyards in that area have their older grave transcriptions on-line on the Braid site. I can see 2 graves for McMaster in Killyless, buried in Trinity Presbyterian graveyard in Ahoghill:

http://thebraid.com/genealogy.aspx

http://www.trinityahoghill.co.uk/618-2/

Lea,

You get death certificates from the GRONI site, not PRONI. You can view the certificates on-line on the GRONI website, using the “search registrations” option:

https://geni.nidirect.gov.u

(You will need to open an account and buy some credits. It costs £2 to a view a certificate or £16 to purchase a certified copy).

Death and birth registration started in Ireland in 1864. Non RC marriages were registered from April 1845. RC marriages from 1864.