Martin family of Co. Tyrone

Hi there,

The Roman Catholic church records for the diocese of Langfield (Derry) only begin in 1846, so too late for you.

If you like, you could check the 1901 and 1911 census records to see the frequency of the family surname still living in that area. You can access the census records here: http://www.census.nationalarchives.ie/search/

Have you tried checking the Ellis Island records (www.ellisisland.org) or the Castle Garden records (www.castlegarden.org)? Generally, more information was given at the port of arrival rather than the port of departure. If you knew which city they arrived at, this could be a good place to find more information.

You could also try checking the land records called the Tithe Applotment Books (1823-38). Griffith's is freely available here: www.askaboutireland.com or here: www.failteromhat.com Failte Romhat has lots of other useful links you could try looking at.

There are some County Tyrone websites you could look at: http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~tyrone/ and http://cotyroneireland.com/

Please make sure you link anyone else in your family who is interested in their Irish heritage to our site - and indeed anyone else you know of Irish heritage.

Kind regards,

Sinead Cooney

Genealogist (Ireland XO)

Thank you Sinead for your reply. .

 I have searched Ellis and Castle Garden both, with no luck The ship John states he was on was the St. Patrick but I have not found his name on any passenger lists... I found a death cert. for a Roseana Martin dated December 1865, Coolkeerah, C0. Tyrone. She died at age 82 and was widowed. The informant was a James Martin ,but no relation was given.

I neglected to mention in my initail post that the information on John Martin's family came from a bank record from the Emigrant Savings Bank in Brooklyn,NY ;dated 1851 ,where he states the names of his parents and siblings. He also said that THOMAS,his father, had been dead fourteen years making the DOD 1837. John and his brother Miichael and their families lived and died in Brooklyn,NY and are buried in Calvary Cemetery there. They were members of St. Anthony of Padua.

 I also have a tithe applotment  for a Thomas Martin dated a year before Thomas' death, but I don't know what to do with it and what more info.it might lead to.

Unfortunately ,the bit of information from the bank record is all I have to go on regarding anscestors/ descendants there in Tyrone .I am told the years I need information from are basically non existant. My only hope seems to be a long lost descendant of some of these folk. Thank you again for your suggestions.

Carolyn  

Hi Carolyn,

I have taken a look at the 1796 Spinning-Wheel Premium List and found two Martin's mentioned:

Martin              Owen                  Longfield East         Tyrone
Martin              Owen, Jr.             Longfield East         Tyrone
 

Perhaps they are your ancestors or related to you in some way?

What information did the Tithe Applotment Books give you?

Kind regards,

Sinead Cooney

Genealogist (Ireland XO)

Thank you Sinead for your help. I have not found a Owen Martin in any branch of my Martins .

The Tithe applotment list I found on the County Tyrone site and ordered a copy.

It reads..Diocese of Derry; Parish of Langfield;  Co. of Tyrone;Townland of Coolkeeragh

name of occupier is Thomas Martin

Quantities in Detail       Quality        Total of Quantity iin Holdings    Total Quanity in Townland       Real Acreable value            

  13                                    1              blank                                          28  blank  30                            2 - -                       

     9                                   2                                                                                                                 1 10 -  

  10 2                                3                                                                                                                1 - - 

    2  3                               4                                                                                                                   15 -

    2  2                               5                                                                                                                    10 - 

        130                           9                                                                                                                         1                         

Quantities in Holding; Quantities in Townland;Quality;Amt. of Composition for tithe in holding;Amt. of composition for tithe in T'land

 130                                     130                        blank                     blank                                                       2-10-0              

Other than being beautifully written I have no idea what all that means!

Many thanks for your time

Carolyn

Hi Carolyn,

I thought perhaps that Owen Martin was connected to you. Who knows, perhaps he was a relative in some way?

The Tithe Applotment List will be useful to you, or at least interesting for you. These lists constitute the only nationwide survey for the period, and are valuable because the heaviest burden of the tithes to the Established Church, the Church of Ireland, fell on the poorest, for whom few other records survive.

The information in the Tithes is quite basic, typically consisting of townland name, landholder's name, area of land and tithes payable. Many Books also record the landlord's name and an assessment of the economic productivity of the land. the tax payable was based on the average price of wheat and oats over the seven years up to 1823, and was levied at a different rate depending on the quality of land.

For Parishes where the registers do not begin until after 1850, this information can be useful, as they are often the only surviving early records. They can provide valuable circumstantial evidence, especially where a holding passed from father to son in the period between the Tithe survey and Graffith's Valuation.

Hope this information helps!

Kind regards,

Sinead Cooney

Genealogist (Ireland XO)

Thank you Sinead.,  What suggestion might you have for locating descendants left in Co. Tyrone . I am sure not all of the families remained there in the townland . I feel very limited by the sparse knowledge I have and just how very long ago it was that these records were, naming the parents and siblings. 

There were two daughters of the sisters ELLEN and ROSANNA who also came to Brooklyn,NY. Ellen's daughter was named ELLEN McKINNEY and Rosannas' daughter was named ROSANNA McKINNEY. Neither married, but when ELLEN died in 1904 she left a will naming her neices and nephews in Co. Tyrone, along with street addresses.

Would there be anyway to track from that? I freely admit to being a novice at this but how great it would be to finally know some of my family there.Thank you again for your help.

Carolyn 

Hi Carolyn,

Posting your message on the parish profile page is the fist step to locating living relatives. Someone from the area might know of members of the family currently living in the area, and they can then help to get you in touch with them.

As I mentioned earlier, you could also check the 1901 and 1911 census records to see the number of families living in the area during that period. You can check this here: http://www.census.nationalarchives.ie/search/

Perhaps you could write to newspapers in the area and ask them to publish it. It's worth trying and hopefully you will receive a response.

I hope these few suggestions will help you.

Kind regards,

Sinead Cooney

This is crazy I have been researching about my family and got all the way back to john Martin but can't find out who his parents were but who are you?