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Gormans

AntrimRasharkin (Antrim)

Greetings from New York. I've written to Ireland Reaching Out before about my great-grandmother Rose Gorman who married my great-grandfather Joseph Dinsmore. They were married in Rose's parish in Finvoy in Ballymena in a Catholic Church on 6 February 1870. On Rose's marriage record, she is listed as being a servant from Glenbuck -- father is Alexander. Rose's brother John Gorman married Mary Drain in the same Catholic Church in Finvoy in 1873. He, too, listed his father's name as Alexander and his address as Glenbuck. When I was in Finvoy and then traveled to a section nearby called Glenbuck last summer, the folks I spoke with said that Gorman is not a name from that area. While they were pretty certain, it seems odd to me that both Rose Gorman and John Gorman would list Glenbuck as their address on their marriage licenses. Can anyone give me some guidance about the history of Gormans in Glenbuck. Both were married in a Catholic church so I assume that they were Catholic and did not convert to Catholicism for the marriage -- but I am uncertain. According to my web search, Glenbuck is a townland in Rasharkin Parish. Thanks in advance for your help. Best regards, Christine Dinsmore

ChristineDinsmore

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Christine,

Glenbuck is a townland of 1736 acres. It’s in Rasharkin civil parish and Ballymena civil registration area (ie where births, deaths and marriages would be registered) .

Griffiths Valuation for Glenbuck in 1862 lists 81 households. Not every family is listed in Griffiths. People sharing houses, servants, and those with a house of very low value are not shown. None was named Gorman (or Dinsmore). There were Christopher, John & Charles Drain all living there though. John & Charles had a 20 acre farm which they worked jointly (plot 33) and Christopher had 1 acre (plot 45).

http://www.askaboutireland.ie/griffith-valuation/index.xml?action=nameSearch

There were no Gormans listed anywhere in the parish of Rasharkin. So chances are Rose and John originated elsewhere and were working in Glenbuck where they met their respective spouses. They were possibly working on John & Charles Drain’s farm perhaps?

I checked the revaluation records for Glenbuck for the period 1863 – 1879 on the PRONI site and the 2 Drain properties remain in the same hands but there are no Gorman households. Consequently it looks as though Rose & John were lodging with someone in the townland. With or near the Drains seems the most likely possibility. John & Charles Drain left Glenbuck in 1884 and Christopher left in 1886.

https://www.nidirect.gov.uk/services/searching-valuation-revision-books

In the 1901 census there are 57 households in Glenbuck with a total of 260 people. No Gormans or Drains:

http://www.census.nationalarchives.ie/pages/1901/Antrim/Glenbuck/Glenbuck/

Rasharkin RC baptism start in 1848. If Rose or John were born there after that, you could search for their baptisms. The RC parish records are on-line free on the National Library site:

http://registers.nli.ie/parishes

I had a look for Alexander Gorman deaths 1864 – 1910. There were 11 in Ireland, occurring in Counties Monaghan, Cavan, Down, in Belfast and one in Antrim town. So, as you discovered from your visit, it is not a name local to the Glenbuck area. I suspect therefore that the Gormans originated elsewhere in Ireland and found work in Glenbuck, through a hiring fair or an advert or word of mouth.

I assume Rose & John were not still living in Ireland by 1901? (Their county of birth would appear in the census if they were).

Elwyn, IrelandXO Volunteer ☘IrelandXO Volunteer

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