Tullamore McDonalds

Brenda,

I looked in the tithe applotment records (c 1820s). I did spot a John McDonnell farming 6 acres in Tullamore townland, which is in the civil parish of Kilbride, RC parish of Tullamore. McDonnell is of course a common variant of McDonald. In fact it’s more common in Ireland than the “ald” version.

http://titheapplotmentbooks.nationalarchives.ie/search/tab/home.jsp

In Griffiths Valuation 1854, there was Bridget McDonnell living there on plot 28b, which was a house and small garden, on Robert Devrell’s farm. There were no McDonald/ell households in the townland by the time of the 1901 census.

Tullamore RC parish’s records start in 1810 (with gaps). They are on-line free on the National Library site:

http://registers.nli.ie/parishes

Brenda,

Methodism took a lot longer to become established as a separate denomination in Ireland than was the case in England. In Ireland there was considerable resistance to separating from the Church of Ireland. It was 1816 before Methodists could conduct their own baptisms. However because of the continuing loyalty to the Church of Ireland and other factors, many Methodists continued to use the Church of Ireland for sacraments for many years after this date and it was 1871 before all Methodists routinely performed their own baptisms.

For marriages, the earliest ceremonies conducted by a Methodist Minister that I am aware of in Ireland, date from 1835 (Belfast Donegall Square). However in the mid 1800s there were only a few Methodist Ministers (Methodism relied heavily on lay preachers). So the shortage of Ministers contributed to the continuing practice of marrying in the Church of Ireland.

So to summarise, you are unlikely to find any Methodist baptisms much before 1830. Few marriages before the 1840s and only a few for many years after that. If there are no Methodist records in the location you are interested in, I would search the Church of Ireland instead, as that’s the most likely place to find the relevant event.

My guide to Church of Ireland records says that Kilbride, Tullamore baptism, marriages and burials start in 1805 and that the only copies are still held by the Rector of the parish. So you would need to contact him regarding looking for your family. Be aware that the Church of Ireland normally charges for such research.

http://ireland.anglican.org/information/dioceses/parish/15390

 

Brenda,

If William John spoke of being in Kildare as a child, and his father was in the army at that time, then my guess is he was stationed at the big army camp at the Curragh. I think the parish for that is Ballysax. Ballysax’s Church of Ireland baptisms start in 1830, marriages 1841 and burials 1834. According to my catalogue, there’s copies in the RCB library in Dublin and in the National Archives in Dublin. I don’t think they are on-line anywhere.

If you know which regiment William was in, you could check the regimental diaries to see if they were based in Ireland at the times you expect. It will normally tell you where too.

You could try GRO in Southport (in England) to see if they have any birth records for the children. Though statutory birth registration in England & Wales started in 1837, they do have army birth and marriage records prior to that back to the 1700s, for births overseas. I think they need to know the regiment to search that for you. Log on, and search for overseas and military births. It gives more information there:

http://www.gro.gov.uk/gro/content/

Also if you have been searching Scottish records, bear in mind the following: Birth registration there started in 1855. Prior to that, as with Ireland, you need to rely on church records. You say the family were Methodists. The Scotlandspeople site only has Church of Scotland (ie Presbyterian) and RC records. No Episcopalian (ie Anglican) or Methodist records. So if the MacDonalds were of either of those denominations, the records are not on-line. (And without a place of birth, I am not sure how you would go about searching for them).

Hello Brenda

My name is Geraldine Smith and I am originally from near Tullamore.  The good news is that Tullamore is full of McDonalds - business people and residential peoplle.  But I did come across this piece below about Methodists in Tullamore.  My one suggestion to you would be to cantact Offaly History which is based in Tullamore and they are very good for helping out with research.  Also when you visit Tullamore go to the County Library in Tullamore and they have extensive collections on Local History (complete section).  

The first Methodist Church in Tullamore was built in 1788 and Methodists have been in Tullamore since 1747 (I believe)

Link below to some information on Churches in Tullamore.

https://www.offalyhistory.com/reading-resources/history/tullamore-histor

Contact details fro Tullamore

Minister(s): Rev Clodagh Yambasu: 057 9120200

Address: 

Church Street

Tullamore

Co. Offaly

Services: 

Sunday worship at 12noon

This is some information on a book launched a few years ago in Tullamore

So civil a people
So civil a people – Methodists in the Midlands is the title of a book written by Rev Dudley Levistone Cooney inspired by the journals of John Wesley describing his many visits to the Midlands in the 18th century, particularly Offaly towns and villages. These are important chronicles from a period in our history for which there is limited source material available. The book was published by the Society. It retails at €15 and is available at the Research Centre and bookshops.
The launch was performed by Minister of State, Mr Tom Parlon T.D. in the Methodist church hall, Church Street, Tullamore. There was a particularly large attendance. Our thanks to the Methodist community for providing such a fine facility and for the refreshments afterwards.

Geraldine

www.offalyhistory.com

is the link for the Historical Society.

Geraldine