Thomas Faulkner Mooney, Craigs (Finvoy) Antrim

Thomas Mooney was born in the townland of Craigs. That’s about 7 miles south of  Ballymoney. (There is another townland named Craigs, in the parish of Craigs, not far away and so it’s possible to get the 2 mixed up quite easily). 

The father’s name only appears on an illegitimate birth certificate if he was present at the registration and acknowledged paternity. Evidently Thomas’s father didn’t do that.  The name on the birth certificate is simply Thomas Mooney but if he later went by the name of Thomas Faulkner Mooney, with an illegitimate birth, that middle name can often be a clue as to the father’s identity. 

https://civilrecords.irishgenealogy.ie/churchrecords/images/birth_returns/births_1894/02253/1847455.pdf

Here’s the family in the 1901 census:

http://www.census.nationalarchives.ie/pages/1901/Antrim/Dirraw/Craigs/945722/

The census information tells you that the house was almost certainly single story, it probably had a thatched roof (or similar perishable covering), 2 to 4 rooms and 2 windows at the front. The immediate landlord was Thomas Mooney, and there was another family living next door who appear to have been Bridget’s brother John plus wife and children:

http://www.census.nationalarchives.ie/pages/1901/Antrim/Dirraw/Craigs/945721/

This looks to be Thomas in the 1911 census:

http://www.census.nationalarchives.ie/pages/1911/Antrim/Dirraw/Craigs/129451/

Here’s his marriage certificate from 1901. His father was named Thomas, so I’d assume he’s Bridget’s brother:

https://civilrecords.irishgenealogy.ie/churchrecords/images/marriage_returns/marriages_1901/10305/5751336.pdf

Thomas junior is listed in the Valuation revision records for Craigs (parish of Finvoy) as having plot 27 which was a 10 acre farm. Looking at Griffiths Valuation for 1861 the farm was originally plot 31 but in 1867 the plots were renumbered.  Plot 31 looks to be on the modern Mullan Rd.  The farm was evidently still there in 1936 but the buildings look to be gone now. It is still all farmland though. There’s a lane up to Craigs wood that passes alongside the land (which was in 2 separate plots).

Griffiths Valuation (1861) lists a Bernard & Sarah Mooney in 2 labourer’s cottages nearby. They are probably related. Sarah was probably a widow.

Thomas senior died in 1888 as you know. Here’s his probate abstract:

Letters of Administration (with the Will annexed) of the personal estate of Thomas Mooney late of Craigs County Antrim Farmer who died 4 August 1888 at same place were granted at Belfast to Jane Mooney of Craigs Widow a Legatee.

The above will is on-line on the PRONI wills site and mentions his 4 children, and wife Jane. There is provision for splitting the farm up between the children, excluding Jane who was just left half a crown (2 shillings & sixpence).

Thomas, junior’s widow’s probate:

Mooney Rosetta of Craigs Finvoy county Antrim widow died 4 December 1936 Probate Belfast 5 July to James McHugh farmer. Effects £29 18s. 4d.

The above will is not on-line but PRONI should have a copy in Belfast.

I don’t see any Mooney farms in Craigs in the tithe applotment records for 1834. That doesn’t mean the family weren’t living there, just that they weren’t farming. So they may have been there as labourers and weavers.  However Thomas at least had acquired some land by 1861.

http://www.irishgenealogyhub.com/antrim/tithe-applotments/finvoy-parish.php

Thomas Mooney jr was reported in the Northern Whig of 19th September 1922 when he was fine £1 for having a firearm without a permit. Ballymoney Free Press 21.9.1922 also reported the case: An old man named Thomas Rooney, Craigs, was prosecuted for having 3 muzzle loading guns and other parts of guns in his possession. John Boyle, solicitor, said his client was 80 years of age and lived with his wife in a small house to which 2 acres of rough ground was attached. The defendant had eked out a living for himself and his wife for 40 or 50 years by repairing guns in the neighbourhood, and acted in complete ignorance of the law. The police stated that they were thoroughly satisfied there was no illegal intent. Fined the defendant £1 and ordered that the conviction was not to affect his old age pension.

The court were obviously sympathetic to Mr Mooney because others facing similar charges were typically being fined £3. At that date you had to be 70 or over and of good character to get an old age pension. So the order that the fine wasn’t to affect his pension was a decent thing to do, in my opinion.

Ballymena Telegraph of 31st July 1915 mentions a bazaar and dance at Rasharkin branch of St Olcan’s Gaelic Association. Tea was served at the interval by Miss Rosetta Mooney (and others). Dancing to music supplied by Hugh Mooney (and others) and a demonstration of Irish dancing was given by the Misses Mooney of Craigs (and others).

Ballymoney Free Press of 23rd March 1916 reports John Mooney of Craigs had applied to the Rural District Council renewing his application for a labourer’s cottage mentioning that one was vacant at Craigs.

Coleraine Chronicle of 29th November 1902 reports John Mooney of Craigs was fined 10 shillings for being drunk and disorderly on the public street at Moneyleck on 1st November.

Such a wealth of information - thanks, Elwyn!   Some of the information I was aware of from the censuses and birth registries, but much of it was new to me and very interesting.  I would love to find out more of what happened to my great grandmother's siblings, Thomas, John and Jane.  Do you know how I can find descendants of any of them?  I haven't been able to find any information at all on Jane.  I would love to see if we might have second or third cousins in the area - this part of the family tree was always such a mystery to me.

Thomas Faulkner Mooney (1894-1950) was my grandfather.  We know that his father was one of the Faulkner brothers that lived in the same neighborhood.  The brothers were Thomas, James, Adam and Hugh.  In 1903 my grandfather's mother died, and he was taken in by two aunts, the unmarried sisters of his father.  The 1911 Census shows that he was living with Catherine and Mary Faulkner/Falconer, although his name is mis-transcribed as Moorey, and he is listed as a servant rather than a nephew.  About that time, their last name was changed from Faulkner to Falconer - would be very curious to know why.

Any other tips or direction you could provide, I would very much appreciate.  We are hoping to reschedule our trip to Ireland in 2022, and would love to visit the area.

Many thanks!   Linda

Linda,

You ask what happened to Thomas, John & Jane. Thomas looks to have died on 10th July 1928 aged 75, regd Ballymoney. (Ages on death certificates then were usually just guesses. That might be out by 10 years or more).  You can view the original certificate on-line on the GRONI website, using the “search registrations” option: 

https://geni.nidirect.gov.uk

You will need to open an account and buy some credits. It costs £2.50 (sterling) to a view a certificate. 

Thomas only married in 1901 and according to the 1911 census did not have any children.  His wife Rosetta died in 1936 as you now know.

As far as John & Rosann are concerned, according to the 1911 census, they had 5 children all of whom were still alive, so you have a full list of their children. None was married in 1911. John Mooney looks to have died in 1921. He was living in Ballymoney then, and son Charles was the informant.

https://civilrecords.irishgenealogy.ie/churchrecords/images/deaths_retu…

A likely looking death for Rosanne Mooney was 5th March 1936 aged 76 regd Ballymoney. The informant might be one of the children so that might give you a clue as to where they were living.

You know that Rosetta Mooney left a will. She was a widow with no children so it would be interesting to see who she left her estate to. You might expect her to mention her nieces and nephews, so you might get a clue as to where they were from that will. On the other hand the executor was a McHugh and her maiden name was McHugh so possibly she left it to her own family. You would need to get the will to find out.

I had a look on Ancestry but I don’t see any trees for John & Rosann’s family. I searched for marriages in the Ballymoney area 1911 to 1936 but did not see any that might be for the 5 children.

I think Charles followed his father and became a watchmaker.

Ballymena Weekly Telegraph for 24th April 1942 reports that Charles Mooney, Main St Ballymoney had been fined 3 shillings & 5 shillings for not having his bicycle lit correctly. (Presumably 2 separate instances).

Ballymena Weekly Telegraph of 12th December 1952 reports a civil case in the High Court in Belfast. It involved a notice to quit given to Charles Mooney, watchmaker of Main St Ballymoney. The landlord was Robert Joseph Harrison, cycle agent, and the issue appears to have been unpaid rent. The case was settled out of court with a court approved order to quit remaining in force but Mooney was allowed to remain in the premises till 15thNovember 1953 provided he paid his arrears of rent within 2 months and £30 towards the cost of the court case. Mr Justice Curran commented that the settlement was close to his own ideas but he would hardly have given so long a stay as plaintiff had agreed to.

I searched for deaths in the Ballymoney area up to 1970 (which is as far as the on-line records go). There was a Michael aged 49 who died 6.12.1939. Likewise a Charles on 10.1.1958 aged 70. You might want to look at those. I can’t guarantee any of them are your family, just that the names and ages roughly fit. I can find nothing for the 2 daughters Ellen & Anne.

John & Rosann and family evidently left Craigs sometime after 1911.  When children reached working age some headed to places like Belfast, Glasgow (fairly typical destinations) or further afield in search of work. Unfortunately with such a common name, and without some idea of where to look, it’s a bit of a needle in a haystack. The other thing to consider for Michael & William is that the First World War started in 1914. They might have joined the army. They were of the right sort of age. (There was no conscription but many young men from Ireland did volunteer).

Jane is a mystery. Reading Thomas senior’s will dated 7th July 1887, he makes detailed provision for Bridget, Thomas & John but just a token payment for his “eldest daughter Jane”.  That suggests to me that she was no longer living at home and, one way or the other, was independent of her parents. I had a look for a marriage for her but did not find one in Co Antrim. She too probably had headed off somewhere for work and may be difficult to find without some sort of clue.

The name change from Faulkner to Falconer is completely normal.  Spelling was never very important and names changed like that all the time. We have lots of interchangeable names eg Kilpatrick/Kirkpatrick; Robertson/Robinson, Kerr/Carr; Stewart/Stuart. Here’s an item about Falconer/Faulkner taken from Mathieson’s report on Irish surnames:

In his Special Report on Surnames in Ireland, published in 1909, Mathieson includes numerous examples of variation in the spelling of surnames which depended on the whim of the holder. “Some years ago the marriages of a brother and sister in the same family were solemnized in a Registrar’s office. The son gave his surname as “Faulkner” and his father’s name as “Faulkner.” The daughter gave her surname as Falconer, and her father’s surname as Falconer. Both marriages were subsequently re-solemnised in a place of worship, and the same orthographical differences were found to exist in the records kept by the officiating Minister.”

Your Falconer family seem to have had a fair bit of land according to the Revision records. They had plots 15,16, 18 & 19 which are all a quarter of a mile up Mullan Road from the Mooney properties. They are in a locality called Scotch Craigs (reflecting the fact that Scots settled there in the 1600s).  Looking at the property on google earth it still looks to be a functioning farm.

Hello Elwyn,

Thanks so much for all your work and insight into my family's history!  This will give me more avenues to research in the coming days.

Do you know if purchasing certifcates, such as death certificates, yields any more information than simply finding death registries?

I very much appreciate all you have done!

Linda

Linda,

The 1921 death certificate I gave a link to shows the information you will get.  The 2 areas that you might think justify it are finding out if the deceased was married.  For example, did Charles leave a widow and children or was he a single man? His death certificate should answer that. The informant’s identity can often be useful, if it’s a relative. Sometimes it’s the spouse or a child. And they usually give their address. You sometimes get a daughter’s married name if she was the informant. 

You mentioned in your original post that you were hoping to find family descendants. Tracing what happened to John & Rosann’s 5 children seems to he most likely way to do that.  Charles is the only one I have firm confidence stayed locally and died in 1958.  The Michael death in 1939 would be worth looking at too in case it’s his brother.  I have no idea what happened to William James, Ellen or Anne and they are going to be hard to find with such common names. (It’s unlikely that anyone in Craigs today will remember a family that left the townland over 100 years ago, so you may need to do a bit of detective work).

Elwyn,

Sounds good.  Thanks again for all your work on my behalf!

Best Regards,
Linda