This is a Message Board Post that is gatewayed to this mailing list. Author: DaveBoylan Surnames: Classification: queries Message Board URL: http://boards.rootsweb.com/localities.britisles.ireland.ulster/2967.1/mb.ashx Message Board Post: Hello Mans149, I found indexes of marriage and birth, plus an Irish tax record which I believe may pertain to your particular branch of the Montgomery-McEliney family in County Donegal, Ireland. You'll have to do more research to confirm this however. For instance, the first item you will see below is a 23 January 1862 marriage index for George Montgomery and Mary McElhenny. This index was found on the British Isles Vital Records Index (BIVRI) on CD ROM, produced by the Latter Day Saints (LDS). The index comes with an LDS microfilm number: MONTGOMERY, George Marriage Wife: Mary MC ELHENNY Marriage Date: 23 Jan 1862 Recorded in: Clondevaddoch, Donegal, Ireland IN GARTAN CIVIL PARISH SPELLED CLONDAVADDOG Collection: Civil Registration Husband's Father: George MONTGOMERY Wife's Father: Robert MC ELHENNY Dates: 1862 - 1862 Source: FHL Film 101439 ____ The above is a civil registration marriage index rather than a church marriage index. >From the index however, I can tell that George and Mary were married in a Protestant Church, as the government in Ireland began civil registration in April of 1845 with the recording of Protestant marriages only. Registration of births, marriages, and deaths in Ireland for all religious denominations did not occur in Ireland until 1864. The marriage is shown to have been recorded in "Clondevaddoch" Registration District. This place is not necessarily the place where George and Mary had lived before they were married. The correct spelling of the townland is Clondavaddog, which was located in the Gartan Civil Parish, County Donegal. The index further shows that George's father was also named George and Mary's father was named Robert. A copy of the full marriage record will give the same information. Like the index above, the full marriage record will not name the mothers of George and Mary. The full marriage record can be found on LDS microfilm number 101439, which you can order from your local Family History Centre. There may also be a church marriage record for George and Mary in the parish of their religious denomination. I suspect they may have been married in the Presbyterian Church. If you order the LDS microfilm containing their civil marriage record, check to see if their church is mentioned. Next is the birth index for George Montgomery. This too was found on the BIVRI CD collection. This index shows that George's birth was recorded in the Rathmullen Registration District and that he was born on 6 August 1869. This is earlier than the 1873 birth you have for George, but I believe it still may pertain to your ancestor. Again, more research will have to be done to confirm this, however. Rathmullen, where the birth was recorded, was in the Killygarvan Civil Parish. The full birth record will tell you where George's father and mother were living at the time of the birth. As you will see the index shows that George's father and mother were George Montgomery and Mary McElheney. The index comes with LDS microfilm source information: MONTGOMERY, George Birth Gender: Male Birth Date: 6 Aug 1869 Birthplace: 262, Rathmullen, Don, Ire IN KILLYGARVAN CIVIL PARISH Recorded in: Donegal, Ireland Collection: Civil Registration Father: George MONTGOMERY Mother: Mary MC ELHENEY Dates: 1869 - 1870 Source: FHL Film 101191 = Quarterly returns of births in Ireland ____ The full birth record for George can be found on LDS microfilm 101191. I also found the birth indexes of other children of George and Mary Montgomery in Donegal. I believe these would have been the siblings of George. All of these indexes were found at the LDS website at www.familysearch.org The first index below is for Robert Montgomery, born in 1865: ROBERT MONTGOMERY Male Event(s): Birth: 22 JAN 1865 0273, Fannett, Donegal, Ireland FANNETT = PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH, TULLYFERN CP Christening: Death: Burial: Parents: Father: GEORGE MONTGOMERY Mother: MARY MCELHENNY Messages: An extracted birth or christening record from Irish civil registration records. The place listed is the county, registration district, and page number of the birth entry; it may not be the actual birthplace. Source Information: Batch No.: C701257 Date: 1865 Film Number: 0101106 = Quarterly returns of births in Ireland ____ The full birth record for Robert will be on LDS microfilm number 0101106. The birth is shown to have been recorded in the Fannett Registration District. Fannett was located in the Civil Parish of Tullyfern. The townland of Milford was also located in the Tullyfern Civil Parish. The full birth record for Robert should tell you where his parents were living at the time of his birth. The following is the 1866 birth index for Mary Montgomery, showing that her birth was recorded in the Rathmullan Registration District: MARY MONTGOMERY Female Event(s): Birth: 03 NOV 1866 0265, Rathmullan, Donegal, Ireland = KILLYGARVAN CP Christening: Death: Burial: Parents: Father: GEORGE MONTGOMERY Mother: MARY MCELHINY Messages: Extracted birth or christening record for the locality listed in the record. The source records are usually arranged chronologically by the birth or christening date. Source Information: Batch No.: C701298 Date: 1866 Film Number: 0101136 = Quarterly returns of births in Ireland ____ The full record of birth for Mary Montgomery will be found on LDS microfilm number 0101136. Below is the 1873 birth index for Catherine Montgomery. This index, unlike the ones previously, does not show where her birth was recorded, though the index does come LDS microfilm source information: Catherine Montgomery Female Event(s): Birth: 27 JUL 1873 , Donegal, Ireland Christening: Death: Burial: Parents: Father: George Montgomery Mother: Mary Mc Ilhinny Messages: Extracted birth or christening record for the locality listed in the record. The source records are usually arranged chronologically by the birth or christening date. Source Information: Batch No.: C701539 Date: 1873 Film Number: 0255884 = Quarterly returns of births in Ireland ____ Catherine's birth can be found on LDS microfilm number 0255884. Following are the 1876 and 1878 birth indexes for John and Fanny Montgomery respectively. Neither comes with LDS microfilm source information, and only one gives an indication of either the registration district where the birth was recorded, or the actual birthplace. This is for John, which mentions a place called "Anny." The full name for Anny would be Anny Far and Near, an actual name of a townland in the Killygarvan Civil Parish. You'll again see reference to Anny Far and Near, a little later: John Montgomery Male Event(s): Birth: 09 APR 1876 Anny, , Donegal, Ireland = ANNY FAR & NEAR IN KILLYGARVAN CIVIL PARISH Christening: Death: Burial: Parents: Father: George Montgomery Mother: Mary McElhinny Montgomery Messages: Extracted birth or christening record for the locality listed in the record. The source records are usually arranged chronologically by the birth or christening date. Source Information: Batch No.: C020848 ____ Fanny Montgomery Female Event(s): Birth: 30 JUN 1878 , Donegal, Ireland Christening: Death: Burial: Parents: Father: George Montgomery Mother: Mary Montgomery McIllheny Source Information: Batch No.: C006006 ____ Because there is no source information accompanying the two indexes seen above, I'm not sure how accurate they are. But, if you would like to see if you can obtain the birth certs for John and Fanny, you can send away to the General Register Office (GRO) in Roscommon Town, County Roscommon. The cost for each cert is ?10.00. GRO birth application forms can be downloaded from the following link: http://www.groireland.ie/docs/BirthsEnglishAppform.pdf And, for more information about birth, marriage, and death certs, go to the GRO website at: http://www.groireland.ie/ In the indexes above you saw that the marriage and birth indexes named registration districts or townlands, while I gave the names of the civil parishes in which these places were located. These include Clondavaddog in the Civil Parish of Gartan; Rathmullan and Anny Far and Near in the Killygarvan Parish; and Fannett and Millford in the Tullyfern Civil Parish. All of these Civil Parishes either joined one another or were close to one another in County Donegal. To see a map of the all the Civil Parishes of Donegal, and the townlands in these parishes, go to the FreePages link at: http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~bhilchey/DonegalMain.html#Civil Parish Map Concerning birth records, keep in mind that George and Mary may have had more children than shown in the BIVRI or on the LDS website. The BIVRI and LDS website do not contain all the possible birth indexes for any county or Civil Parish in Ireland. For instance, George and Mary could have had a child in 1863, a year after their marriage, but a year before the government began to record births. Records of children born before 1864 would have to be found in church parish registers. Even at that not all births occurring in 1864, when civil registration for all religious denominations commenced, may have been recorded by the government. Earlier I had mentioned that I found a George Montgomery in an Irish tax record. This is actually an Irish property tax record called Griffiths Valuation. Griffiths Valuation was recorded in the 32 counties of Ireland between the years 1847 and 1864. The valuation for County Donegal took place in the year 1857. This George Montgomery could have been the father of the George Montgomery in the marriage index, or the George Montgomery who married Mary McEliney. In any event, only one George Montgomery is found in Griffiths Valuation in County Donegal. The valuation shows he leased a house, outbuildings and land in the townland of Anny Far & Near, in the Civil Parish of Killygarvan. Unlike a census record, Griffiths Valuation does not give the names of members of the household. Griffiths Valuation gives the names of the occupiers or heads of households and also provides the names of the people the occupiers leased the property from. The Griffiths Valuation entry shown below was transcribed from the Origins.net subscription website: No. and Letters of Reference to Map: 10 Occupier: George Montgomery Lessor: Burton Irwin County: Donegal Poor Law Union: Milford Barony: Kilmacrenan Parish: Killygarvan Townland: Anny Far & Near Description of Tenement: House, Office, and Land Area of Land: 30 Acres, 2 Roods, 5 Perches Rateable Annual Valuation of Land: 4 Pounds, 5 Shillings Rateable Annual Valuation of Buildings: 10 Shillings Total Annual Valuation of Rateable Property: 4 Pound, 15 Shillings ____ The Griffiths Valuation record shows that George Montgomery leased over 30 acres of land, a house, and outbuildings, called "Offices," from a man named Burton Irwin. Buton Irwin may have been the owner of the property or the middleman who leased the property on behalf of the owner. The land that George had leased was worth 4 Pounds and 5 Shillings. The house and outbuildings were valued at 10 Shillings. The total valuation of George's leasehold was 4 Pounds and 15 Shillings. The map reference number (10) at the top of the Griffiths Valuation record, is from an Ordnance Survey Map indicating where George's property was located in the townland of Anny Far & Near. To recap, if you believe the indexes shown above refer to your George and Mary McEliney Montgomery and their children, order the microfilms indicated from your local Family History Centre. If you haven't already done so, obtain George's death record to see if it tells you where he was born in County Donegal, and then compare that place with the place of birth given in his 1869 birth record found on LDS microfilm number 101191. Best Wishes, Dave Boylan Important Note: The author of this message may not be subscribed to this list. If you would like to reply to them, please click on the Message Board URL link above and respond on the board.