My great great grandfather Alexander McCullar was born in Island Magee, Antrim, Ireland and I am looking for information on any family that might still be in Ireland. He arrived in America in 1771.
The name McCullar isn?t found in Ireland with that exact spelling (there?s none in the 1911 census for example). However it is found as McCulla, McCullough, McCullogh etc which is the same name. (It's a Scottish name obviously, and most of the families in Islandmagee originated in Scotland).
Here?s 2 in Islandmagee in 1901:
http://www.census.nationalarchives.ie/pages/1901/Antrim/Islandmagee/Castletown/989979/
http://www.census.nationalarchives.ie/pages/1901/Antrim/Islandmagee/Car…
Patrick Magee, born 1756 on Island Magee, and Alexander McCullar (McCullough) born December 24, 1758 on Island Magee, are both relatives of mine, They seem to have come to America around the same time and the families intermarried. Do you have any information on the Magee family?
Unfortunately there are no church records for the Islandmagee area before 1829. Very few records exist generally from the 1700s. So you?ll find it very difficult to trace back to the 1700s. Probably impossible.
There were no Magees in Islandmagee by the time of Griffiths Valuation in the mid 1850s nor in the 1901 census.
You could try searching the Registry of Deeds records for Islandmagee in PRONI to see if the Magees had any leases, or the PRONI general database, but as I say research for that period can be difficult.
Dr William Roulston?s book: ?Researching Scots-Irish ancestors? is also a useful source for the 1700s in Ulster.
A good general description of the times around the late 1700s in Islandmagee can be found on the PRONI website on document D2095/18 which (as I recall) is a lecture given in the 1920s by a local Minister and which captures the mood well. http://www.proni.gov.uk/index/search_the_archives/ecatalogue.htm
Elwyn