McGlamery Family

Almost the only reference I can see to this name in that area is a gravestone in Aughnahoy Old cemetery for James McGlamry who died 4th March 1757 aged 54. No other information and no townland on that gravestone, but for him to have had a gravestone at all he was probably a farmer. No McGlamry (and variant spellings) in the tithe applotment records forAhoghill parish in the 1830s. It looks as though the name had largely died out by then.

Aughnahoy Old cemetery is a very old cemetery on the road from Portglenone to Ballymena. It's fairly overgrown. You usually need climbing boots, GPS and a scythe if going in there.

There was also a birth of an un-named illegitimate male child on 28.2.1865 to Robert McGlamery, farmer, of Galgorm Parks, and Ann Herbison. Galgorm Parks is between Ballymena and Ahoghill village. I searched Griffiths Valuation 1862 for a McGlamery in Galgorm Parks but did not find one. Can't find any other obvious references to Robert or his son.

Patrick,

Dunadry is about 25 miles from Ahoghill. Aughnahoy is tin he parish of Ahoghill (or it was till the 1830 when the parish was divided in 3 due to population chnages). Ballyclose/Ballyclosh is nearby a mile north of Cullybackey.

Only relatively wealthy people could afford a gravestone in the 1700s which is why, in a rural area like Ahoghill, I would expect the Aughnahoy burial to be a farmer. The term cottar/cottier was used in Ireland too. The definition varied slightly across the country but in general terms it was someone with a small amount of land (less than 10 acres) and often no real security of tenure. As in Scotland, they were gradully eliminated over time as farms consolidated and agricultural advances reduced the need for additional labour.

In Ireland in the 1700s there are very few records, particulalrly so for labourers and cottars. Very difficult to research. DNA might be a way of linking to others who know more about your family's origins. If you don;t really know where in the county the fmaily originated, you could repeat the post on the county board as that should get a wider readership.

Patrick,

We have had some technical problems with our notification systems and your message has only just reached me. Sorry for the delay.

Re McIlwraith in Ballyclose, I have no specific knowledge of them. MacLysaght’s “The Surnames of Ireland” refers you to the surname “Kilrea” which it says: “A Co Sligo for of Mac Giolla Riabhaigh (Riabhaigh = brindled) elsewhere MacIlrea. MacIlwraith, the Scottish form of this name, is now very numerous in north east Ulster.”

So it’s a common name in Ulster in general, and is found in the Scottish form, almost certainly linked to the fact that the families in Antrim will have originated in Scotland, probably in the 1600s.

According to the Ordnance Survey memoirs for Ahoghill parish (compiled in 1833), the majority of the population in the parish are descended from Scots, and some English who arrived between 1572 and 1690. The main settlement was in 1642 after General Munroe’s 10,000 strong Scottish army was disbanded in Carrickfergus. Many of the soldiers chose to stay in Ireland and many settled around Ahoghill.

Not sure if that adds much to your knowledge. You can obtain the OS memoirs from the Ulster Historical Foundation website for around £10. (They are not on-line anywhere). Ahoghill is in Vol 23, and has 50 pages of information.

Patrick,

You mention Dissenters and Covenanters. That's all familiar territory. Presbyterianism, like many other denominations, had many schisms and today in Ireland we have the Presbyterian church in Ireland (PCI), the Non Subscribing Presbyterian Church (NSP, or Unitarian), the Reformed Presbyterian church (or Covenanters), Congregationalists and Free Presbyterians. All Presbyterians.

In the 1700s and until the mid 1860s, the established church in Ireland was the Church of Ireland. Most other Protestants were regarded as Dissenters including the various forms of Presbyterianism.

Presbyterianism was brought to Ireland by Scots in the early 1600s (the denomination was established in Scotland by John Knox in the mid 1500s). Most Scots were what might be regarded as mainstream Presbyterian. A wave of Covenanters (who favour a stricter interpretation of the gospels) arrived in the late 1600s, escaping persecution in Scotland (the Killing Times) and also famine there too. In those early days they either attended mainstream Presbyterian churches or had occasional services by itinerant Covenanter Ministers from Scotland. The first Covenanter Minister based in Ireland was the Rev Wm. Martin. Educated in Scotland, he was licensed around the mid 1750s at The Vow in Co. Antrim. (There's a plaque there now to commemorate him).  He was based in Kellswater (near Ballymena) and for many years was the only Covenanter Minister in Ireland. He had no church and more importantly,left no records. And as you know he left in the 1770s along with many Presbyterians and other Protestants. (They weren't all his own congregation. He advertised in the Belfast newspapers for emigrants to join his 5 vessels). He didn't keep any records and we don't know their origins, at least from and Irish sources.

If your ancestors came from Ballymena (very close to Ahoghill), then as you probably already know, none of the Presbyterian churches in that area have any records for the 1700s, save for Cullybackey Presbyterian which has records from about 1729 when it was established. There were plenty of functioning churches there then but they either didn't keep records or they have been lost. Copy of the early Cullybackey records is held by the Presbyterian Historical Society in Belfast. Perhaps worth checking with them.

Not sure if any of this helps you really. Yes your more immediate ancestors probably came from Ulster. Yes they probably came from Scotland 100 years or so earlier but that's about it. Probably no records of them in Ireland and I can't say where in Scotland they came from save it was probably the southern part of the country. And no there are unlikely to be any records in Scotland that might help either.  Sorry if that's not all that helpful.

As mentioned previously DNA is the usual advice at this point in the hope that someone with more knowledge of the family will be able to tell you about their precise origins.