Brickwall

   Hello,  it is likely that your ancestor William North was part of the North family who are buried in Newtownlow Graveyard, as North is not a common surname in the area.  The names of those buried in the graveyard are:      Jeanette Gertrude who died on 7/4/1832, David John who died July 7th 1877 age 9, perhaps Rev. Joseph of Kilduff and Garryduff though the wordng says "this burial ground was prepared by Rev, Joseph North" in 1869. There is also Roger North of Newcastle and his second son Joseph who died 1769.   There is also a gravestone for the families of the Norths of Newcastle and Clonfad.  There is more information on the North family in "Brief Lives" by Kathleen Flynn and Maree Kelly.  Apparently some of the North family also were associated with Maine, New Hampshire and Boston, USA.  If you think this might be your family  I would be delighted to transcribe the North information for you.  By the way, Newtownlow is between Tyrrellspass and Kilbeggan, and I am fairly sure that Newcastle is between Tyrrellspass and Rochfortbridge in the Meedin direction.   Best wishes, Ina Kelly 

Thank you for your reply. I am aware of that Graveyard and those Norths as I am a major contributor to the 'irish Bomfords' which you can see on line. My William and his wife are buried in the little graveyard on the edge of Dunboden (towards the back) while some other Norths are buried more forward of them near the entry to the cemetery.  My cousin John North, formally of Gibbonstown, arranged for us to visit the cemetery, Whitewell House and Farview (Fairview ) House. I have seen and copied the plaque in the Tyrellspass Church. If that book is about the families in the graveyard I have a copy. I also have a copy of the history of Tyrellspass. . I have lots of circumstancial eveidence pointing toward our connection to this family but no proof. My great grandfather married a Keough from Rahnine. That branch of the Keough family seems to be extinct now. We are not related to the other Keoughs in Rochfortbirdge itself.  Should you trip over any information that would be helpful I would appreciate you letting me know.

Thank you for the link to the North family online.  I notice that while there is a lot of detail on some branches, there is very little on the branch of Caleb North (2b) of Newcastle.  It is possible that his son Roger is the Roger buried in Newtownlow graveyard, and that the records of this branch of the family were held at the Church of Ireland in Newtown.  The church has been sold privately but the Rev. Gerald Field in Tullamore may have births, deaths and marriages recorded in this church.  I will make enquiries locally.

We had been told that a lady in the Pilkington line had donated 'family' records to the Church. I tried contacting the minister who 'visited' at the Church and asked if the records still exisited. I offered to pay for expenses for copying anything available but never had a reply. Apparently there is a Roger buried behind the Church too but the stones are so bad I could not find him. Because so many branches had overlapping names it is hard to tell. We thing that the Roger in the  TP Cemetery was Roger of Cappa who moved to TP when he married John North's (Ann Bomford his wife)daughter Deborah. We thing the Roger in Newtown is the fellow of the famous murder.

I am a bit mixed up about which church and which graveyard we are talking about.  Would you like to email so that we can discuss in more detail about what sources you are looking for - if I can help I would be glad to.

Sorry if I confused you. There is one church, the Tyrellspass Church. Is that the one you were talking about? There is a small graveyard behind that church itself which is not the same as the Newtown Lowe cemetery. The book you mentioned in the first response is about  Newtown Lowe. The North family attended the Tyrellspass Church. There was a small non Catholic church in Rochfortbridge but that is long gone (as is its records). I certainly would be willing to talk on the E mail.

I am wondering if you know where the North's of Ireland came from originally & when & where they first settled in Ireland. I have an ancestor Emma North b. c1836 who married a Robert Stewart at St Nicholas Church of Ireland, Carrickfergus, Co Antrim but not sure when. Her father was Edward North, an innkeeper apparently.

As far as I know there are two origns for the Irish Norths. The first, for the always Catholic branches, is that they came to the South from the Northern Counties and that the name was changed to North from their gaelic name.

The non Catholic Norths came from England at various times. In lieu of a definitive genetic one name study it appears that there are a number of unrelated family of the same name. A majority of those in the northern counties do not appear to be related to those in the South. The best current guess on when most of the Irish North arrived is 1650.I am sure there were some in Ireland before that but early records are spotty at best.

There are  considerable amounts of records available for the northern counties on PRONI, Emerald Ancestors etc. Non Catholic marriages were recorded from 1845 but you will need the church records for births. I would check the Griffiths Valuation for the townlands around where Emma was married. You have her father's name and as an innkeeper it would be on those resords.

Hope that helps.

As far as I know there are two origns for the Irish Norths. The first, for the always Catholic branches, is that they came to the South from the Northern Counties and that the name was changed to North from their gaelic name.

The non Catholic Norths came from England at various times. In lieu of a definitive genetic one name study it appears that there are a number of unrelated family of the same name. A majority of those in the northern counties do not appear to be related to those in the South. The best current guess on when most of the Irish North arrived is 1650.I am sure there were some in Ireland before that but early records are spotty at best.

There are  considerable amounts of records available for the northern counties on PRONI, Emerald Ancestors etc. Non Catholic marriages were recorded from 1845 but you will need the church records for births. I would check the Griffiths Valuation for the townlands around where Emma was married. You have her father's name and as an innkeeper it would be on those resords.

Hope that helps.