Coming to Visit Kilrea and Boveedy

Irnimer,

I am an Ireland Reaching Out volunteer and live about 15 miles from Kilrea. I would be willing to meet you and give you such advice as I can.

As far as research is concerned, many of the records are held centrally in PRONI (the Public Record Office) in Belfast, rather than in the Kilrea area. What research are you hoping to conduct, so that I can advise you? Key information is your ancestors denomination, occupation, the approximate time they left Ireland and their townland, if you know this.

Elwyn -- Thanks for that speedy response. My great grandfather was Robert Michael who was born in Kilrea in 1838 (according to his obituary). I am in possession of a copy of a letter that indicates that he may actually have been from Boveedy. The letter is written by a brother, James, and mentions another named Thomas and a Tommy Kinney who is referred to "Sally's Man" (from an Irish marriage record we know that Thomas Kinney was married to Sarah Michael who I believe was a sister to my great grandfather. There were a lot of Michaels living in the Boveedy area during the middle and late 1800's. Most of them were Presbyterians but I occasionally find some that are Church of Ireland but never Catholic. I am having a hard time finding the parents of my great grandfather and making a connection between him and his siblngs. So far I have had no luck in finding any paperwork that links them. According to the 1900 U.S. Census, Robert Michael immigrated to the U.S. in 1860, arriving perhaps in Philadelphia and moving to Illinois by 1867 where he marries my great grandmother, Nancy Ann Dowell. 

We do have a day to spend in Belfast at the Proni and will try to see if they have more records available than what I have found online. While in the Kilrea area, I thought it would be great to go see what is left of Boveedy and check out some of the surrounding cemeteries to see what can be found. I've had several compilations of gravestones/records sent to me, but there is nothing like going there and seeing it yourself. 

I know very little about my Michael family, but feel like they must have left some sort of footprint in the Kilrea/Boveedy area. Other towns/villages that I have found associated with them are: Drumagarner, Aghadowey, Magerafelt, Coleraine, Swatragh, Gorteade, Garvagh, Tamlaght O'Crilly, Ballymoney, Ballymena. Their are numerous Michaels living in the area in the 1901 and 1911 Irish Census.

Thanks for taking a look at the info and helping me to decide the next steps.

Irnimer,

You say that you hope to find details of Robert and his siblings parents. Robert’s sister Sally gave her father’s name as James Michael, a farmer, when she married in 1876, so that’s probably part of the answer.

I notice that Sally married in Kilrea Church of Ireland, so that could be her family church. Their records start in 1801 and there’s a copy in PRONI. So they would be worth looking at. Some of the other Michaels are Presbyterian and as you probably know there’s quite a few Presbyterian churches in the area, so you might need to look at several sets of records. Kilrea 1st, Kilrea 2nd & Bovedy in particular.

You mention trying to find these records on-line. The short answer is that they are mostly not on-line. There are many Irish church and other genealogical records that are not on-line (despite widespread belief that most are). You need to go to PRONI to see these records. You can also ask the Minster to see the originals but not all are willing to do that. They get too many genealogical enquiries and certainly the Minister at Kilrea 2nd is reported to refuse such requests. The Church of Ireland will allow you access but you have to pay £12 an hour. It’s a lot easier to view them all free at PRONI where they are gathered together.

I checked the tithe applotment records for Bovedy for 1833 and there were 2 James Michaels listed as farming there then. Which is your family, is not something the records tell us:

http://www.irishgenealogyhub.com/derry/tithe-applotments/tamlaght-o-crilly-parish.php#.Wn3ABBR2ug0

The 1831 census has 23 Michael houses in the townland, including 3 James, and 3 Mechael which is obviously the same name. Sorting the numerous families out may be quite a challenge. I see about 11 Michael families in Bovedy around 1901. Working out the connections between them all looks to be quite a bit of work. However locating the general area where these farms are is straightforward enough.  Most are near the Bovedy Rd.

I do know where Thomas Kinney & Sarah Michael lived in Gorteade. That’s easy to find. They had a 21 acre farm off the modern Kilrea Rd, at the junction with Ampertaine Rd.  I can show you where that is. It’s a couple of miles down the road from Bovedy.

Gorteade is famous to many Americans as the birthplace of Charles Thompson, the Secretary to the first US administration after independence. He was George Washington’s right hand man and organized the first Congress. His signature appears on the Declaration of Independence, and he designed the Great Seal of the United States. There’s a blue plaque to him on his former home in Gorteade, now occupied by Bruce Clark.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Thomson

Note that Monday March 19th is a public holiday in Ireland, so PRONI will be closed that day.

I am available Tuesday 20th, Wednesday 21st (afternoon only) and Friday 23rd.

You are amazing! Thank you for all the information. Your mention of Thomas and Sarah Kinney makes me think that I might be closer than I think in finding my great grandfather's family. 

I was just on the PRONI's website the other night and noticed the information about its closure on the 19th. We will be visiting there on Tuesday, March 20th. If you are available, we would love to meet up with you on Friday, March 23rd. Would the morning be OK? If you have time we would like to take you to lunch afterwards. 

Thank you for being a volunteer and helping those of us who are seeking our Irish families.

I have put the morning of Friday 23rd in my diary. Happy to stay to lunch if that suits you. E-mail me on Ahoghill@irelandxo.com and we can sort out where to meet and other details in due course.