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Holmes / Orr Families of Raphoe / Taughboyne

DonegalRaphoe (Donegal)

Greetings from New Zealand. My family migrated in 1873 to New Zealand, and originated in County Donegal. I have found several of the family members who were christened in the Raphoe 1st Presbyterian Church, and would very much like to make contact with living descendants. This is what I know:

Andrew HOLMES (b? d?) married Rebecca ALLEN (b? d?).

Their children:

Sarah HOLMES b. 25 May 1836, Lismontigly
Joseph HOLMES b. 21 Apr 1838, Lismontigly
Mary HOLMES b. 04 Sep 1840, Lismontigly, chr. 04 Oct 1840 (mothers name not given)
William HOLMES b. 24 Apr 1843 (address not given), chr. 07 May 1843, d. 11 Mar 1885, Christchurch, New Zealand
Catherine HOLMES b. 04 Sep 1845, Milltown Raphoe, chr. 02 Oct 1845

William, my great-great grandfather, married on 24 Dec 1868 at Monreagh? Presbyterian Church, Taughboyne, by Rev. Andrew Long. His wife:
Sarah Maria ORR, b.? d. 22 Jul 1922, Christchurch, New Zealand.
Father = James (or Joseph) ORR. Mother = Elizabeth HARPER.

William and Sarah had two children before arriving in New Zealand:
Andrew HOLMES, b. 18 Oct 1869, d. 1930, New Zealand
Mary Jane HOLMES, b. 6 Oct 1871, d. 1943, New Zealand

I would be happy to hear from anyone with connection to any of these family names mentioned. I would also be keen to find any connection to the Holmes Family tree held at the PRONI office.

Many thanks
Nick Holmes

IrelandXO member

4 replies

The current phone book has 10 people named Holmes listed in Co Donegal. Some in the Raphoe area. (You could try contacting them to see if they are related:

http://www.eircomphonebook.ie/

(Click on the residential  tab when searching).

Elwyn, IrelandXO Volunteer ☘IrelandXO Volunteer

Nick,

I'm so excited to find this post.  I think I may be related to your line of Holmes.  I hope you get this message.

Here is what I know.  My oldest known ancestor was a Moses Holmes.  He was a Loyalist in the American Revolution, was sent to New Brunswick, and had at least one son, also named Moses born abt 1790.  In the 1796 Irish Flax Growers list, there is a Moses Holmes and a William Holmes of Raphoe who received a spinning wheel.  If this is my Moses Holmes, he may have sold his military land grant, went home to Raphoe, but later returned to New Brunswick where he was granted another track of land.  Another interesting connection is that Moses shows up on a land petition with a John Kelly and an Abraham Long.  The land petition is for the New Jersey Volunteers, a Loyalist militia, and all men listed were granted land together in Kingsclear, New Brunswick.  Abraham Long may be related to the Rev. Andrew Long who married your William Holmes.

Please contact me so we can discuss this possible connection further.  If anyone on this forum can shed light on this I'd be eternally grateful.  I've been searching for my Irish origins for so very long.

Thanks and take care,

Ryan Holmes

IrelandXO member

Hello Ryan and thanks for replying!

You can see more about the Holmes family and their origins in this area and also contact me via this URL:

https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Holmes-5926

I can also put you in contact with some known authorities on the surname. You may also wish to pursue DNA testing which has helped me make some further connections.

Kind regards

Nick

IrelandXO member

Thanks, Nick.  I will check out wikitree and contact you there.  I've done both the autosomal dna test at Ancestry and Family Tree DNA and the y-dna test at Family Tree DNA.  I will be curious to know what dna testing you have completed.  Great talking with you and thanks again for posting here.

Ryan Holmes

IrelandXO member

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