I am interested in finding the marriage of William McEvilla, (possibly McEvilly) in the early to mid 1800s.
I have church baptism records from Montreal Qc which state that the parents William McEvilla and Mary Foy were from Co. Mayo, ireland, but I have been unable to find any trace of the family in ireland. The spelling of the name changes a lot, McEvilla, McEvilly, Mc Evilley, McEvila. I assume them to be the same family.
Chris:
I looked at www.rootsireland.ie for the 1856 Griffiths Valuation head of household listing for Co. Mayo. There were 35 entries for McEvilly and variants. McEvilly was the most common surname. i could not tell from your note if William and Mary stayed in Ireland or went to Canada. If they stayed in Ireland and William was still alive in 1856, he may be one of the two Williams listed in the Kilgeever civil parish Griffiths data. See link below.
Most McEvillys were in Kilgeever and Ballyhean civil parishes. The Mormon Church has microfilmed RC records for two churches in the Kilgeever civil parish area. (See below). You may want to order these films online www.familysearch.org and view the films at a local Mormon Family History Center.
Roger McDonnell
http://www.failteromhat.com/griffiths/mayo/kilgeever.htm
https://familysearch.org/search/catalog/427975?availability=Family%20History%20Library
https://familysearch.org/search/catalog/425395?availability=Family%20History%20Library