I'd like to find some physical traces of my grandpa's family

Hello,

I've been to Ireland in search of a physical place still remaining where my Pa and his family lived before leaving for Canada.  

I have Pa's birth cert plus the info about his parents marriage.  Apparently his parents were workers and servants at Camlin Castle outside of Belleek.  Nothing remains of the castle aside from the entry gate as the the land was flooded several years ago to make way for a power project on the Erne.

The church where gr grandpa and gr grandma were married was torn down and replaced with a modern building.  Only the steeple remains.  Apparently when the church in Canada was remodeled several years ago the gravestones of gr grandma and gr grandpa were built over obscuring the information about their parents in Ireland, the gr , gr's.

It would be lovely if a bit of land where they once walked or the remnants of a building in Belleek or Ballyshannon remained and was waiting for my visit.

Sharon

Hi Sharon, 

It would be wonderful if you were able to find evidence of your roots here, and I am more than happy to see if I can point you in the right direction for more information. When are you planning on visiting us? :)

It sounds like you've already been able to find out quite a bit about your ancestors. Do you happen to know around what time they worked in Camlin Castle? 

On the Buildings of Ireland page there are coordinates mentioned of Camlin Castle in County Donegal.

In 1864 civil registration was introduced in Ireland, which is when we started seeing the formal registration of births, marriages, adoptions and deaths. These records have been kept at the General Register Office of Ireland (GRO), to this day. 

Once Northern Ireland was created in 1921, we saw the creation of PRONI, the Public Register Office of Northern Ireland. This is important, because anyone who lived in one of the 6 counties that would later become part of Northern Ireland between 1864 and 1921 would have had their records stored with GRO, but if they were born or lived in Northern Ireland after 1921, then their records would be with PRONI. Have you by any chance reached out to them yet? 

Hopefully one of the experts will be able to help, and we're always here if you have any questions! 

Wishing you a wonderful weekend, 

Melin

Hi Sharon

From the mid-19th century, once you know the townland your ancestor lived in you can view maps and also identify all property holders of land and houses (including those of tenants). For example townland of Camlin is located in Kilbarron parish, County Donegal.

Mid-19th century Griffith's Valuation (which can be examined online at www.askaboutireland.ie/griffith-valuation by Family Name and Place Name) is a key source for identifying households and properties in the middle of the nineteenth century. The valuation not only lists the occupiers of land and houses in each townland, it comes with a map [scale 6 inches to the mile] which locates each property. For example, the online map on this website for Camlin clearly shows the castle and gate lodge.

Properties were valued periodically from 1860 and any changes were recorded in field notebooks which are generally referred to as the Valuation Revision Books. I believe Valuation Revision Books, dating from the 1860s until the 1970s, for Donegal can be accessed at the Valuation Office, Irish Life Centre, Lower Abbey Street, Dublin; email info@valoff.ie .

You could also check with Donegal County Archives, email archivist@donegalcoco.ie , as they hold Valuation registers for Donegal dating from 1880s.

For Melin and Brian

Thank you both for responding to my original post. I can't seem to find a way to respond to posts individually so have combined these.

For Melin: My gr grandparents were at Camlin Castle circa 1800 and the records show that my gr grandfather had a small plot of land = 1 acre.  They left around 1882, made their way to Liverpool with 7 of their children and landed in Canada 1883. Both gr grandparents were born prior to 1864, hence one of the challenges in finding records about them.  I will venture back once more to Donegal/Belleek in the fall of 2019.  I seem to get distracted along the way with the beauty of the west coast and often end up in Clare or Sligo when I should be more on task - finding the roots of the man whose smile came right from heaven. (smile) Thanks again for responding. Kindly, Sharon
 
For Brian:
Thank you!  I am probably looking at the maps incorrectly as I have accessed the Kilbarron Townland but wasn't able to find where the house was located.  All of the houses on the Camlin Castle property were destroyed and the remains of only two small houses are still standing. It does appear that my gr grandfather had a more prosperous brother who farmed 10 acres in Donegal.  To date I have not been able to trace the gr gr grandparents, who it seems had at least six sons, one of which was my gr grandfather.

The families as was the case back then, were large and followed the Irish naming conventions which incidentally was still used by my family until two generations ago.  I have over 30 cousins (2,3,and 4) named Denis/Dennis residing is a small town in Quebec. (smile) Who knows?  There many be dozens more in Ireland

I'll go back to Griffins again plus I appreciate the tip regarding the Valuation office in Dublin.  Again, thank you for your detailed and thoughtful reply.  Kindly, Sharon

Hi Sharon, 

Thank you for your kind reply! Brian provided you with some great resources, and I hope you will be able to find out more via the Valuation Office in Dublin. 

Before 1864 records were kept in the form of church and parish records, and you can find these at county based genealogy centres. Have you been in touch with the centre in Donegal yet? 

It's also very exciting that you are planning on visiting us again in the fall of 2019! If you're ever in need of some tips or suggestions for your trip, please don't hesitate to reach out. We're always here to help! :)

Best wishes on your search, and keep us posted on your findings! 

Warm regards,

Melin

Hi Sharon I live near Camlin Castle. Can you give me more info on who your people were. The Castle ruins are still there as the engineers got the flood levels wrong and it should never have been demolished. You can still see the original landscape when the river is down but pretty much all of the area your folks would have walked and lived in still remains. I know this post is old and I came across it by accident but if I can help let me know.

Regards Martin

Hi Martin, 

Thanks a million for sharing this super useful information! :) I hope it'll come in handy for Sharon, and that we get to welcome her to the area when we get to travel again. 

Thanks again! 

Melin

Hi Martin,

Lovely that you would respond to my post of two years ago.  Two years have passed and I have still not made progress.  Last Spring when I has in Sligo to I traveled up to Enniskillen to see the genealogists at the castle one more time and even though one of them lives in Belleek he knows of no Keenan history there.  I was referred to the library and the librarian did not have any information regarding the name or how to trace it.

Three genealogists (even one who is the head of the Tara Society here in Boston)  have told me that the family is impossible to trace as they were laborers and people of that class were usually not recorded. I searched the records that were suggested previously but no definitive information came up.

I have been in contact with Keenans from the Belleek area and they say that we are not related as there were several Keenan clans.  I have found few Keenans that have taken DNA tests and those who have don't appear to match.

 The records from the mid 1800s don't show that many Keenans in the Belleek/Ballyshannon area so I'm wondering if Keenan was really the family name but it was listed on the birth cert, marriage records and the immigration docs, so it's perplexing

I went back to Camlin again last spring and saw that the gatehouse and the property were for sale.  Perhaps it has been sold by now.

My great grandfather Denis Keenan married Jane (Mary Jane) Ovens and they had 7 children (including my Grandfather whose birth cert I have) before they left Ireland.  It was a mixed marriage with 6 of the children being registered in the protestant church although they were brought up Catholic.

I was in contact with a terrific family of Keenans in New Zealand but they don't appear to have the same ancestors.

If Covid ever goes away, I will be back to Ireland for an extended stay with my friends down in Sligo and would love to have some place in the Belleek/Ballyshannon area that I could feel the souls and walk in the footsteps of those who came before me, yet are always with me.

Thanks again, Martin.

Kindly,
Sharon