McCloskey , Bradley 1840s townland Craigmore, near Maghera, co Derry

Colleen,

There are no RC records for Maghera before 1841. Baptisms and marriages start that year, burials in 1848. Those records are on-line free on the national library site:

https://registers.nli.ie/

But if David & Elizabeth married in Maghera parish before 1841 (as seems to be the case) then there are no records to find. You may struggle to find any additional records of David & Elizabeth, especially if he was a labourer, or some other trade where he did not have any land. Such folk tended largely to live their lives below officialdom’s radar.

1828 tithe applotment records list 2 McCloskey farms in Craigmore that year, held by Alexander & John:

http://www.irishgenealogyhub.com/derry/tithe-applotments/maghera-parish.php

Alexander in Craigmore in the 1831 census, when his household consisted of 2 males and 3 females, all RC.

http://www.census.nationalarchives.ie/pages/1831/Londonderry/Loughinshollen/Maghera/Craigmore/67/

No sign of John or any other McCloskey in the townland in the 1831 census, so possibly he had left the area, or died. No David McCloskey as head of household in Maghera parish in the 1831 census so I would guess he was unmarried and still at home with his parents.

The only McCloskey I can see in Craigmore, Maghera parish in Griffiths in 1859 is John who had plot 29 which was outbuildings and around 20 acres. But no house on that plot, suggesting he lived elsewhere. There were a couple of John McCloskey tenants listed in Maghera town, so he may have lived there and just farmed the land on the edge of town. A distance of barely half a mile. Possible death with informant his brother Alex(ander).

https://civilrecords.irishgenealogy.ie/churchrecords/images/deaths_returns/deaths_1882/06396/4836790.pd

Another John here who ran a pub in Maghera:

https://civilrecords.irishgenealogy.ie/churchrecords/images/deaths_returns/deaths_1874/020655/7247700.pdf

Alexander, publican:

https://civilrecords.irishgenealogy.ie/churchrecords/images/deaths_returns/deaths_1891/06066/4729556.pdf

The Valuation revision records on the PRONI site show the Craigmore land remaining in John’s name till 1875 when it changed to Hannah McCloskey. She was deleted in 1888 and replaced by Alexander McCloskey. (Can't find a death for her. Don't know what became of her). That changed again in 1892 when the land was noted as “reps of” indicating Alexander had died. In 1901 the tenant was James O’Neill. That land today is on the modern Tirkane Rd. Some of it has been built on and Craigmore Heights and Cluaine Ghlas Crescent are both on it. The rest of plot 29 mostly remains farmland.

Possible graveyards in the area that any family might be buried in are Maghera Old, Lavey & Glen.

Possibly DNA testing may be a way of matching with others who have additional information about precisely where the family originate. Family Tree DNA reportedly has more people with Ulster roots than any other company. That obviously increases the chances of finding a match. You might want to try them or, if you have already tested, you can transfer your results to them for no fee.

The North of Ireland Family History Society is running an Ulster DNA project in conjunction with FTDNA and can offer testing kits at a reduced price.  http://www.nifhs.org (Go to DNA project on the website).

Researchers in the PRONI area: http://sgni.net

Thanks so much for your help, Elwyn!
It's given me something to discuss with my research partners.

Colleen McCloskey
cmcc@mccloskey.org