MrMagee62,
You say the family was Methodist in Canada. It’s worth understanding a little about Methodism’s origins. John Wesley (a Church of England minister) wanted Methodism to supplement the teachings of the Church of England/Ireland. He originally advised holding services on Sunday afternoon, so the congregation could still attend the Church of England/Ireland in the morning. He didn’t want it to be a separate denomination, though eventually it did become one.
Methodism took a lot longer to become established in Ireland as a separate denomination than in England. In Ireland there was considerable resistance to separating from the Church of Ireland. In 1816 the main body of Irish Methodists (the Wesleyans) took the decision to allow baptisms in their preaching houses or chapels, but it was a practice that was only gradually introduced so that it wasn’t until the 1830s or 1840s that it became fairly standard. Because of continuing loyalty and other factors, many - including Primitive Wesleyans - continued to use the Church of Ireland for years after this and it was 1871 before all Methodists routinely performed their own baptisms.
For Methodist marriages, the earliest I am aware of date from 1835 (Belfast Donegall Square, the first Methodist church in Ireland). However in the mid 1800s there were only a few Methodist Ministers (Methodism relied heavily on lay preachers). That shortage led to the continuing practice of marrying in the Church of Ireland. In addition, in the early years, many Methodist Meeting Houses were not licensed for marriages so that too contributed to marrying in the Church of Ireland.
So to summarise, you are unlikely to find many Methodist baptisms before 1829. Few marriages before the 1840s and only a handful for many years after that. If there are no Methodist records in the location you are researching, try the Church of Ireland records instead as that’s the most likely place to find them.
Not many Methodist Meeting Houses have graveyards and so many are buried in public or Church of Ireland graveyards instead.
Your family presumably married pre 1808. They are therefore likely to have used the Church of Ireland. Your information includes Portadown as a possible residence. Portadown is in 2 parishes - Seagoe & Drumcree. Methodists didn’t start baptising in either parish till 1830 and later. Seagoe’s Church of Ireland records start in 1672 and Drumcree’s in 1784. You might want to search them in PRONI (the public record office) in Belfast for the couple’s marriage and for the baptisms of their children. Seagoe's records have been indexed so they shouldn't take long at all. According to my guide to Church of Ireland records some years are on the rootsireland site. It doesn’t say what years are covered. I have searched it (it’s a subscription site) but did not find the family. You may do better with the actual records in PRONI.
Both surnames are definitely found in that general area. The tithe applotment records were compiled there in 1834. They were effectively a tax on land, so those listed are generally farmers. But you will see both surnames in those lists, together with the townlands where they lived.
Seagoe
https://www.irishgenealogyhub.com/armagh/tithe-applotments/seagoe-parish.php
Drumcree:
https://www.irishgenealogyhub.com/armagh/tithe-applotments/drumcree-parish.php
You mention the name regularly being mis-spelled. The idea of a single or correct spelling for a surname or a place name in Ireland is very much a recent phenomenon designed to meet the needs of modern officialdom. Before that there was no consistency. Names were spelled phonetically and each variation was down to the whim of the particular person recording the information. You will often see the spelling change as the records go back. This rarely indicates a deliberate decision to alter the name, nor even a mistake. Not everyone was literate, but even when they were, exact and consistent spelling simply wasn’t something they bothered about. In addition to varying the actual spelling, O’ or Mac prefixes were optional and were often omitted.
In 1899, the Rev Smith reviewed the early records of Antrim 1st Presbyterian church (covering the years 1674 to c 1736). He noted: “Even the same word is not always spelled alike by the same hand. Indeed spelling with most of the recording officials (and they must have been fairly numerous) was a matter of the most sublime indifference. The name William, for instance, is spelled 3 different ways in as many lines; while Donegore, a neighbouring parish, is spelled 10 different ways; but these extend over a good number of years. Many families names are spelled phonetically, while others are given in the most round-about fashion.”
So expect spelling to vary. That was the norm.
You are interested in life in the area. The Ordnance Survey memoirs give a detailed description of life in both parishes in the 1830s. Both are in the same volume. Volume 1 of the series includes both parishes:
https://ulsterhistoricalfoundation.com/assets/uploads/Ordnance-Survey-Memoir-Order-Form.pdf
Armagh City library has a local studies section which also has a lot of historical information. You might want to pay it a visit.
