looking for info on ancestors

Hi there,

Well done on having reached that many generations back! I was going to suggest some church records, but these do not go that far back for Annagh. I will give you the information anyway, just in case you are unaware of it.

There are Roman Catholic church records available for the diocese of Annagh (Kilmore). These date from 1845 for baptismal records and 1847 for marriage records. You can find these at the National Library of Ireland (NLI), Pos. 7505, 5342, or the Public Records of Northern Ireland (PRONI), MIC.1D/76. If you have any difficulty, you could try writing to the parish priest for more assistance.

Do you know anything about their immigration to Canada? Have you checked for information in the Canadian records? Usually most information was given at the place of arrival rather than the place of departure.

You might find more information about the Protestant side of the family.There is a chance that records for this area go back to that period. Church of Ireland parish registers for the period up to 1870 are public records. Registers are available for about one third of the parishes, however many were destroyed in the Public Records Office in Dublin in 1922. Most are still held by the local clergy, although some are in the National Archives of Ireland and others are in the Representative Church Body Library in Dublin. A list of all surviving registers is available in the National Archives. http://ireland.anglican.org/about/42

1796: Spinning Wheel Premium Entitlement Lists This was part of a government scheme to encourage the linen trade, free spinning wheels or looms were granted to individuals planting a certain area of land with flax. The lists of those entitled to the awards, covering almost 60,000 individuals, were published in 1796, and record only the names of the individuals and the civil parish in which they lived. The majority, were in Ulster, but some names appear from every county except Dublin and Wicklow. A microfiche index to the lists is available in the National Archives, and in PRONI. There were 2,400 names for County Cavan.

'The Volunteer Companies of Ulster 1778-1793', lll Cavan, The Irish Sword: the journal of the Military History Society of Ireland, 7, 1906.

Estate records: Landlord: Annesley: Maps, with tenants' names, 1805-17, NLI Ms. 2730. Covers areas including Annagh.

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)

Hi there,

I'm a descendant of Joseph Armstrong and Catherine Smith. I have heard (family lore, nothing documented) that Joseph Armstrong was a Protestant (Anglican?) who converted to Catholicism in order to marry the RC Catherine Smith. Do you have any more info on his religious affiliation(s)? 

I have a fair bit of info on four of the children of Joseph Armstrong and Catherine Smith. The four children that I know of (James, John, Ann, and Catherine Armstrong) were all Catholics who married other Irish Catholics in Canada. But did Joseph Armstrong and Catherine Smith have any other children? and if so, did these other children all remain Catholic and marry other Catholics? There were a number of Anglican/Church of England Armstrongs in March township in the early- to mid-19th century. I'm trying to figure out whether (and if so, how) Joseph Armstrong was related to these other March township Armstrongs.

Did Joseph Armstrong have a sibling William Armstrong (born about 1797, religion Anglican), for example? Both Joseph Armstrong and William Armstrong can be found at Concession 2, Lot 12 in March township, which suggests a familial connection.

What little information I have on Joseph Armstrong can be found at my family history weblog/genealogy database at ottawavalleyirish.com: http://www.familytree.ottawavalleyirish.com/getperson.php?personID=I853&tree=Moran

Any further info would be greatly appreciated.

M.C. Moran