Hello David, Thanks for your enquiry and condolences on the recent death of your father.
As Boyd (a professional genealogist) states, there is much in your post that poses many questions. Firstly, referring to “General Alphabetical Index to the Townlands and Towns, Parishes and Baronies of Ireland” there is no such place anywhere in Ireland, although there is a townland known as Ben Beg in Co. Galway. Your first port of call is to my indexes to the Co. Tyrone Tithe Applotment Books of the 1820s-30son the CoTyroneIreland website http://www.cotyroneireland.com/search.php searching for William Irwin (there are in excess of thirty in many parishes) . Parish maps are also on CTI http://www.cotyroneireland.com/maps/parish.html and a complete list of townlands http://www.cotyroneireland.com/townlands/townlands.html (I am assuming that you are familiar with the concept of the Irish townland?). It is also essential to ascertain the religious denomination of your forebear. It is also necessary to refer to Griffiths Valuation c1860 which records heads of households by parish and townland http://www.askaboutireland.ie/griffith-valuation/ where you will find in excess of one hundred and fifty WILLIAM IRWINS recorded in Co. Tyrone alone (none in Ardboe parish). While I am not a professional genealogist, I have been undertaking Irish research for almost forty years (I commenced at a VERY young age) and have researched in London, Dublin, Derry/ Londonderry and Belfast on numerous occasions; attendance at three Ulster Historical Foundation conferences in Belfast has given me a great insight into Irish genealogical research. Success is not really possible without considerable research. Good luck! Regards, Len Swindley, Melbourne, Australia Sent from Mail<https://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=550986> for Windows 10 ________________________________ From: Len Swindley <[email protected]> Sent: Monday, December 3, 2018 7:07:35 AM To: Len Swindley Subject: FW: [CoTyroneMailingList] William IRWIN Sent from Mail<https://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=550986> for Windows 10 ________________________________ From: CoTyroneList <[email protected]> on behalf of Boyd Gray via CoTyroneList <[email protected]> Sent: Monday, December 3, 2018 1:37:29 AM To: CoTyroneIreland.com Mailing List Cc: Boyd Gray Subject: Re: [CoTyroneMailingList] William IRWIN Hi David, I am currently researching the Irwins of Claremore, Parish of Clogher, County Tyrone, who also emigrated to Ontario. But since they came from Clogher, that means they are NOT your Irwins. Except for the fact that we are not 100% sure our Irwins did come from Clogher and you do not seem too sure that yours came from Ardboe (Arboe?) because Ardboe is not the same place as Castlederg and if they came from one, it is highly unlikely they also came from the other. (I live in this part of the world and my Grays are NOT related to the all the other Grays in County Tyrone!) I should also add that I have never heard of Benbeg and it is not in this list of townlands for County Tyrone: https://www.townlands.ie/tyrone/ So, the point of my response to you, David, is that you really need to work on the following points in order to make progress with your research: 1. You need something, anything, from their lives in Canada, to give you a place name to work with in your research. Why Ardboe? Why Castlederg? It is really unlikely to be both. What evidence do you have from Canada, or England, not just the discovery of similar names in Ireland? Canadian deaths, and especially Ontario deaths, often give the place where people were born and also, perhaps even more helpfully, the names of both parents including the mother's maiden name. English 19th century censuses may also be more helpful. 2. If the older William was born between 1820 and 1830, it is likely he married after 1845 and that is when Protestant marriages were first recorded by the civil authorities here in Ireland and those records are online. So, you need to know the name of his wife and look for that marriage. It is unlikely the younger William and his brother Robert were born before 1864, so you will not find their civil births because they only started being recorded in 1864. That is a task for church records and they are NOT online so cannot be researched at the click of a mouse. Incidentally, I am assuming they were Protestant (Church of Ireland, Presbyterian or Methodist typically). That is because most Irwins were Catholic but not all. So, you need to establish that first. Catholic church records ARE online. If you can answer these questions, then get back to us and I am sure people will be able to help. You might also consider checking with this group to see if they know of any Ardboes or Benbegs near Castlederg: https://www.facebook.com/groups/castledergfamilyhistorysociety/ (Actually, I did it for you so you can go there and see what they say.) Regards, Boyd https://www.westulstergenealogy.com/ https://www.facebook.com/westulstergenealogy/ http://familytrees.genopro.com/boydgray26/Boyd/ On Sun, 2 Dec 2018 at 12:58, David Irwin via CoTyroneList <[email protected]<mailto:[email protected]>> wrote: Please can you post the following on the Co Tyrone message board? I am researching William IRWIN, b1820-30ish near Ardboe in Co Tyrone. My understanding is that he had two sons, William and Robert who both emigrated to England in the late 1800s. However I think William (the father) emigrated to Huron County, Ontario Canada and died there in 1889. The family may also have spent the early part of their time in Northern Ireland in the Castlederg or Benbeg areas. I would be delighted to hear from anyone who can add to the story please, particularly as my father William (yes another one!) and a direct descendant has recently passed away. Thank you Many thanks David _______________________________________________ CoTyroneList mailing list [email protected]<mailto:[email protected]> http://mail.cotyroneireland.com/mailman/listinfo/ (_internal_name)s
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