Judyk,
I checked rootsireland for children to James and Jane born pre 1840 but did not find any. You haven’t said what denomination the McClarty & McElheran families were. I had a look at the 1901 census for the Layd area and both surnames were a mix of Church of Ireland and RC, plus 1 Presbyterian McElheran. The Church of Ireland records start in 1826, and RC in 1838, Presbyterian (Cushendun & Cushendall) in 1854. All are too late for someone born in 1782. They would have surely have married and had their children before 1826.
I think you may struggle to find anything on the McElheran family without some additional information to identify precisely where they lived. Without her parents names you would never be sure if you had found the right Jane. The area was fairly compact, especially in the 1700s and late 1800s. You’ll likely get there by driving up the scenic Antrim coast road, but that hadn’t been built when your ancestors lived in Layd (the road was completed in the 1840s), and the area was largely cut off from the rest of Ireland. Folk could get to Scotland much more easily than over the hills to Ballymena. Supplies often came from Campbeltown not Belfast. And of course many of the folk around Layd originated in Scotland anyway on the MacDonald estates there, having come over in the 1400s and 1500s. So the historical links were always strong. Except perhaps for sailors, folk around Layd nearly all married locally. Courting was done on foot and so you married someone who lived nearby. But nearby could be several miles, as well as the girl next door. There was a hint in the McClarty research that they came from either Layd townland or Tavnagharry. So, if correct, the McElherans were probably from within a few miles of that. But that’s a large area with a lot of families. (The spelling will vary so always check McIlheran as well as McElheran).
Be sure to take the minor road from Cushendun around Torr Head for the views. Hope you enjoy your visit.
Brief history and photos of the coast road: https://www.ice.org.uk/what-is-civil-engineering/what-do-civil-engineer…
