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Johnston family - Castleblayney

Muckno (Monaghan)

Help,

 Ive hit a brick wall in searching for my great-grandparents, William JOHNSTON b c 1819 Clones?.  and  Rose Ann HENRY baptised 7-Feb-1828. (catholic Parish registers, 1740-1900..They married on 25 Jan-1847, Castleblayney.

Their children, Robert born c 1852, George born c 1853, Susan born c 1857, Eliza Jane born c1859, Mary born c 1863 and Maggie c 1865, all born in Castleblayney. However, maybe be to my lack of understanding how the Irish records work, I can not find any definite records of the actual dates of birth, OR where they lived in Castleblayney.

Sometime before c 1881 the family moved over to Liverpool, England as they appear in the UK 1881 Census. Rose Ann Henry's parents are shown as John Henry & Rose McGINNIS

William Johnston's father is said to be Robert Johnston,  Mother ?

Can anyone please advise more 

Johnc

4 replies

Here’s the 1847 marriage for William Johnston & Rose Ann Henry. Note that it was in Castleblaney 1st Presbyterian church. (So not a Catholic ceremony). Tradition was to marry in the bride’s church so you may just find Rose Ann’s baptism and any younger siblings in that church’s records, which start in 1827. Bride and groom both lived in Castleblaney at the time of their marriage.

https://www.irishgenealogy.ie/files/civil/marriage_returns/marriages_1847/09325/5376535.pdf

There’s a copy of the church records in PRONI in Belfast.

Robert Johnston’s occupation was blacksmith. There’s a Robert Johnston blacksmith listed in Noble St, Castleblaney in Slater’s Directory 1846. I’d guess that’s him.

https://www.failteromhat.com/slater/0169.pdf

You have found a Rose Ann Henry baptism in the Catholic parish records. Given the bride here appears to have been Presbyterian, that may not be the right Rose Ann, unless she changed denominations at some point.

Many Presbyterian & Church of Ireland records are not on-line which is possibly why you are not able to find them. Statutory birth registration only started in Ireland in 1864 so the only child likely to have a birth certificate is Maggie born c 1865. However I did not find one for her, which suggests she may actually have been born before 1864.

Elwyn, IrelandXO Volunteer ☘IrelandXO Volunteer

Wow, many thanks, Elwyn

Johnc

Elwyn,

Just a follow-up thought, on my next trip to GB, would it be better to visit PRONI in Belfast or spend some time locally in Castleblayney, looking for records of this era?

I find it confusing, as some maps I've seen show Monagram in Ulster, yet Castleblayney is in Eire.

Best regards

John  (Chiang Mai, Thailand)

Johnc

John,

I would visit PRONI. All the available records for the Monaghan area are there together. And free to view. If you go to Castleblaney you’ll have to make appointments with each church (they’ll all be locked up except when there’s a service on) and some Ministers are not very keen on genealogical enquiries as they get rather a lot. You might find it difficult to see the original records.

If going to PRONI for the first time take your passport to get your Reader’s ticket. Issued at reception, takes 2 minutes, free and valid for 10 years.

Ulster has 9 counties. 3, including Monaghan, are in the Republic of Ireland, 6 in Northern Ireland. PRONI has records for them all. I would check the records for Castleblaney 1st Presbyterian, Castleblaney 2nd and Castleblaney Church of Ireland.

Elwyn, IrelandXO Volunteer ☘IrelandXO Volunteer

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