Ireland XO
Back to Message Board

Armstrong William, Margaret ?

Sligo

William Armstrong, Margaret ? Sligo, Ireland (I originally posted this message in 2013. Still have not been able to located parish or townland where they lived!)

William (1819 1866) and Margaret ( Doris or Sully) Armstrong (1825 1887) are my gggrandparents who lived inSligountil moving to Dewsbury, Yorkshire, England to work in the Woolen Mills. Born inSligowere daughters: Elizabeth H. (1840 -1901) and Anna Armstrong (1843 - 1923) . The family left Sligo before20 Feb 1845 when a son Patrick (1845-1891) was born in Dewsbury. William and Margaret had other children born in Dewsbury: Frances "Fanny" (my ggrandmother), Catherine, William, Mary, and Margaret. Elizabeth, Anna, and Fanny came to the United States--the others remained in Dewsbury.

I am looking for information on the parents: William and Margaret--their parents, siblings, etc. Also, I am not sure of Margaret's maiden name as I have found Sally, Sully, Solly, Doris, and Reynolds on various records. I do not know the parish to which they belonged. I assume they worked in the Woolen Mills in Sligo. Where were the woolen mills located in Sligo? Greatly appreciate any help.

Mary Hingst

mhingst

3 replies

Mary,

There are no woolen mills in Sligo. Indeed the absence of decent paid employment in the Sligo area would have been a factor in their move to Dewsbury where there were mills and other new employment opportunities created by the industrial revolution (which largely passed Ireland by).

The births and marriage in Ireland are all before the start of statutory registration and so to trace the family you would need to rely on church records. You don’t say what denomination they were. If they were RC, the surviving records are on-line on ancestry and  fmp. However if they were Church of Ireland, not all the records survive and what does survive is not all on-line. You could try rootsireland (subscription) but if you don’t find them there, it'd be a matter of slogging through every parish in the county. (There’s quite a lot and it would involve going to the RCB library in Dublin and possibly elsewhere). 

Elwyn, IrelandXO Volunteer ☘IrelandXO Volunteer

Thank you, Elwyn, for your reply.  They were RC.  I have our tree on Ancestry and have a subscription to rootsireland but have had no luck in locating any records.  The records I have found in Dewsbury and the US have various names for Margaret:  Solly, Sully, Doris, and Reynolds.  I will keep looking.  Thanks again.  Happy Easter.  Mary

mhingst

Not all the RC parishes in Co Sligo have records for the period you need. For example, Killorans start in 1878, Drumrat 1843 & Geevath 1853. So that may be why you can’t locate anything.

Elwyn, IrelandXO Volunteer ☘IrelandXO Volunteer

Reply

Reply
One image file up to 2 MB.