Just a few questions

You ask why your ancestor might have left Ireland when he did. I am sure he left for the same reasons that 2 million others did. To find work. Ireland has very few natural resources (no oil, coal, iron ore etc) and so did not benefit from the industrial revolution in the 1800s, the way Scotland, England, the US, Canada & Australia did, which created hundreds of thousands of comparatively well-paid new jobs in new industries (coal mining, steel making, ship building etc). So that was a big pull factor. There had also been a huge population explosion in Ireland going up from about 3 million people in 1750 to 8 million in 1830. There simply weren?t the jobs for all those people. In much of Ireland the only employment was subsistence farming topped up in Ulster and one or two other areas with a bit of linen weaving. And then the straw that broke the camel?s back, along came the famine, numerous times throughout the 1800s. The worst period was when the potato crop failed almost completely 3 years in a row in the late 1840s, and then partially several more years after that.

Approximately 8 million people left Ireland between 1801 and 1900 - the equivalent of the entire pre-Famine population. (The population today is only around 6 million).

With farmers in places like Co Down, the tradition was to leave the farm to the eldest son, and so younger sons had to go off and make their own way in the world. Other factors led to the continued emigration too, eg early mechanisation on farms. With new machines to turn the soil and plant seed, farmers no longer needed an army of agricultural labourers to help on the farm. So those jobs were rapidly disappearing. Likewise mechanisation had led to linen factories being set up in places like Belfast. These made home weaving uneconomic and so also upset the labourer?s family economy. Agriculture was the biggest single employer in Ireland, but it was mostly a barter economy. Few people had any ready cash save what they could make from weaving or any government sponsored work such as building new roads. So when the opportunity arose to get jobs with a regular wage packet, as opposed to a few pence from your father each week, the decision to migrate wasn?t really all that hard to make. So it was as much about economic betterment as anything. The famine wreaked havoc in most of Ireland but in Co Down, a comparatively wealthy county, it wasn?t so severe, at least for farmers who had not been one crop dependent, so, if they were farmers, I would say it was less of a reason for your particular ancestor leaving than it was for others elsewhere in Ireland. Agricultural workers with small plots of land were the ones who were hit hardest by the famine in Co Down. If you want to read a little about the famine in Down, I suggest Ros Davies site:

http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.ancestry.com/%7Erosdavies/WORDS/Fam…

There was a massive tide of migration all through that century, including long before the famine. Years after the worst of the famine it?s impact was still being felt, and there were still plenty of much better job opportunities in Australia and the USA. (After Scotland and England, the USA was the most popular destination for emigrants with about 40 to 50% choosing it. Only about 5% of Irish emigrants chose Australia and New Zealand, possibly due to the costs and length of the voyage).

So to summarise, people had been pouring out of Ireland long before the worst of the famine. All the famine did was speed the tide up.

By the late 1800s when steam ships had replaced sail and brought down the cost and length of a transatlantic crossing, it was common for people to go to the US and then return. Most would have had some contact to go to. That could be a relative or just someone from their townland who had written to say ?there?s work where I live?. Stay with me for a few nights till you get sorted. I don?t think there would have been any particular pattern of travelling alone or travelling with others. Both occurred and I suspect it was just a matter of your own circumstances.

Regarding the property in Finnis. I see that Adam Henry Martin acquired plot 71 there in 1868. It consisted of a farmhouse, outbuildings and 16 acres 2 roods. He rented it from the Maginnis family. So if he bought it, then what he bought was the outstanding lease, plus the cattle and machinery on the farm. The owner was shown in 1868 as Richard Maginnis, then later Colonel Maginnis and finally General Maginnis. It was still rented in 1923. Previous occupant before Adam was James Colbourne.

If you want to see what Annesley estate papers are held in PRONI, search under Lord Annesley on the PRONI e-catalogue. (It came up with 704 matches when I did it).

http://applications.proni.gov.uk/LL_DCAL_PRONI_ECATNI/SearchPage.aspx

PRONI have also produced an information leaflet setting out what they hold on the Annesley estate: http://www.proni.gov.uk/introduction_annesley-3.pdf

If you trawl through those and see any that interest you, let me know. As you know I can copy them for you if you want.

I haven?t studied it in any great detail but there seems to be a fair bit of material there.