Cunninghams

Can you give us a little information? Where and when did Robert Cunningham marry Eliza Ann McAlister? What were their townlands (addresses) on the marriage certificate? What were their occupations and their father’s occupations?

What denomination was the Cunningham family?

The full marriage certificate contains more information. You can view the original certificate on-line on the GRONI website, using the “search registrations” option:

https://geni.nidirect.gov.uk

You will need to open an account and buy some credits. It costs £2.50 (sterling) to a view a certificate.

If you post the information here (ie townlands, occupations etc) I’ll see if I can find more on your family. I can see from the GRONI indexes that the marriage took place on 14.1.1881.

 

There were no Cunninghams listed in Iderown in the 1803 Agricultural census, nor any in the 1827 tithes, so presumably they arrived in the townland after that. Or if they were there in the early 1800s it was as weavers and labourers, rather than as farmers. Nearest farmer in 1827 was John Cunningham of Lisnagatt.

http://www.irishgenealogyhub.com/antrim/tithe-applotments/derrykeighan-parish.php#.WNEM_RR2ug0

Griffiths shows William Cunningham on plot 2a in Iderown in 1861. The tenant changes to Robert in 1876 suggesting William died around then.

 Family in 1901:

http://www.census.nationalarchives.ie/pages/1901/Antrim/Drumtullagh/Iderown/922822/

And in 1911:

http://www.census.nationalarchives.ie/pages/1911/Antrim/Drumtullagh/Iderown/114098/

I found this probate abstract. The file itself should be in PRONI in paper format:

Cunningham Robert of Iderone Stranocum county Antrim farmer died 18 June 1921 Administration (d.b.n.) Belfast 10 August to Mary Cunningham spinster. Unadministered effects £253. Former Grant Belfast 15 January 1923.

Cunningham Robert of Iderone Stranocuen county Antrim farmer died 18 June 1921 Administration Belfast 15 January to Eliza Ann Cunningham widow. Effects £268. D.B.N. BELFAST 10 AUGUST 1927

So Robert died intestate and the executors were twice unable to administer the estate for reasons beyond their control and it was 6 years after the death that it was finally wound up.

Presumably you know which church the Cunningham family attended? Have you checked the pre 1864 records for baptisms etc? Tradition was to marry in the bride’s church so the place that Wm Cunningham married Maria Cusack may not be the same church where their children were baptised. Cusack is not a common surname in Co. Antrim. And most of the Cusacks listed in the county in the 1901 census were RC. So this might have been a mixed marriage. In which case, in the 1830s, it may have taken place in the Church of Ireland as neither the RC nor Presbyterian churches would probably have married them. Unfortunately neither Grange of Drumtullagh nor Derrykeighan Church of Ireland has marriage records for the 1830s. Both sets were lost in the 1922 fire in Dublin.

A Mary Cunningham married Joseph Dallas on 30.9.1869 in Antrim town. Mary’s father was William according to the indexes I have looked at. Can’t say whether it’s your family but the marriage cert may tell you.

The couple had a son William James Dallas born at Shane’s Castle, Antrim on 21.5.1870. Joseph was a labourer. 

Cunningham is a fairly common name in Co. Antrim. There were 771 in the county in the 1901 census. You might need DNA testing to identify others of your family there today.  (Few families here would know their ancestry back to the early 1800s).

John,

There’s a copy of Moss-side Presbyterian records in PRONI in Belfast. This is what they contain:

Baptisms, 1842-1930; marriages, 1842-1936; burials, 1855-78; communicants’ roll, 1891-1921; census of membership, 1922-3.

I am not aware that the records are on-line anywhere, so a personal visit to PRONI is probably required to view them.

Presbyterians generally don’t keep any burial records, so you may need to rely on gravestone inscriptions. However this is the only Cunningham stone that I am aware of in the Moss-side graveyard:

Cunningham / In loving memory of / Robert / dearly loved husband of / E A Cunningham / who departed this life on / 18th June 1921 / also the above named / Eliza Ann Cunningham / died 8th May 1927 / their daughter / Margaret Anna / died 14th October 1956 / also their daughter / Mary Eliza / died 27th November 1960 / because I live ye shall live also

William Dallas was born 5.7.1894 in Kilrea, Co Derry to George Dallas & Hannah Mitchell. George was a watchmaker. Here’s the family in 1901:

http://www.census.nationalarchives.ie/pages/1901/Londonderry/Kilrea/Maghera_Street/1521157/

Hannah & George were married on 27.5.1886 at Kilrea 2nd Pres. George’s father was George, a farmer. Hannah was a spinster from Aghadowey. Her father Thomas was a farmer.

There are two possible William Cunningham deaths in Ballycastle, in the GRONI indexes. One on 18.5.1872 aged 70.  The other 21.12.1873 aged 47. The townland and occupation should tell you whether either is correct.