McKeesick

This seems to be Hugh with his parents in the 1803 census of Ballintoy. The surname was standardized as Kissock:

 

Ballinlea Lower

4

Jos.

M'Keesac

Kissock

M

Head of Family

Dissenter

 

Probably a widower.

Ballinlea Lower

4

Danl.

M'Keesac

Kissock

M

Son

Dissenter

 

Ballinlea Lower

4

Hugh

M'Keesac

Kissock

M

Son

Dissenter

 

Ballinlea Lower

4

Jas.

M'Keesac

Kissock

M

Son

Dissenter

 

Ballinlea Lower

4

Joseph

M'Keesac

Kissock

M

Son

Dissenter

 

Ballinlea Lower

4

Cath.

M'Keesac

Kissock

F

Daughter

Dissenter

 

Ballinlea Lower

4

Ann

M'Keesac

Kissock

F

Daughter

Dissenter

 

Ballinlea Lower

4

Mary

M'Keesac

Kissock

F

Daughter

Dissenter

 

Ballinlea Lower

4

Janie

M'Keesac

Kissock

F

Daughter

Dissenter

Joseph senior is noted as “probably a widower”.

I can’t see the marriage for Margaret Ann to James Harper. Possibly they married outside Ireland. (Couldn’t see it in Scotland though).

Neither of the 2 Presbyterian churches in the Ballintoy area has any marriage records earlier than 1829 so you may not be able to locate Hugh’s own marriage.

Jane,

Presbyterian churches don’t keep burial records. The Church of Ireland does, but not for other denominations. Gravediggers didn’t keep records of who was buried where. (Most were illiterate and written records were of no use to them). Most families knew where their plots were and just pointed the location out to the grave diggers. Of course that information was lost if they moved away or died out.

The majority of the population were too poor to afford a gravestone but as a farmer, Hugh probably could have afforded one. So there might be one. Some graveyards in that general area have had their gravestones inscriptions transcribed but I am not sure about Ballintoy. Possibly not.  I searched for the surname on a couple of commercial Irish graveyard transcription sites but didn’t get any matches. You might need to get someone to go and check the graveyards. There’s 2 Presbyterian churches in the area – Toberkeigh and Croaghmore. I don’t know if they both have graveyards. I would also check Ballintoy Church of Ireland. Presbyterians were often buried in Church of Ireland graveyards, especially if their own church didn’t have one.

 

 

Marriages were only entered into the statutory records from 1845 onwards. Prior to that you need to search the church records. Not all have survived and of those that have, not all are on-line. You could try the Ulster Historical Foundation or Rootsireland sites (pay to view/subscription) to see if they have any records for this area. But many church records in this part of Ireland are not on-line at all.

Tradition was to marry in the bride’s church after which she’d normally attend her husband’s. So Rose McNeill, the second wife, might not have been a Presbyterian, nor been from the same church as Hugh. However, as a farmer, Hugh could not travel very far, and so he’s likely to have chosen a local wife.

Ballintoy Church of Ireland has no marriage records before 1845. Dunseverick Church of Ireland has marriages from 1833 onwards (copy in PRONI). Croaghmore Presbyterian has none before 1845. Toberkeigh Presbyterian has marriages from 1830 (copy in PRONI). There are no RC marriage records before 1864.

Looking at the 1803 census of Ballintoy (on Bill McAfee’s site: http://billmacafee.com) the majority of McNeills in the area were Presbyterian, followed by a fair number of Church of Ireland, plus 1 RC. (The 1 RC looks to be a lady who married a protestant family but kept her original denomination). So the choices seem to be Presbyterian or COI.

The general historical background for your ancestors is that they are probably descended from tenants of the McDonalds of Islay, who settled in the north Antrim coast area in the 1600s. They probably came across from Islay, Jura or Kintyre, or that general area, all being part of the McDonald/McDonnell estates in Scotland at that time.

Regarding accessing PRONI’s records, you either have to get a researcher to go and look them up for you, or you can pay PRONI to do it, but their charges are pretty hefty and a researcher could be cheaper. PRONI will generally only do simple look ups. So, for example, if you think that someone married at a given church around 1829- 1836, they will probably do that search. But they won’t do trawling searches eg all the churches in a specified area for all McKeesick marriages 1800 – 1850. That sort of thing. You have to pay in advance with PRONI too. (They’ll tell you the cost after they have assessed the initial enquiry).