Trying to find the marriage

Trying to find the marriage of William Rogan and Mary McKevitt in Ballela Garvaghy County Down about 1850 Thanks

Hi Des,

Ah, you have a bit of a mystery here! For Garvaghy the marriage records from 1845 to 1925 are online, but there is no marriage recorded between William Rogan and Mary McKevitt. There is a marriage record in 1845 for a William Rogan, whose father's first name was Daniel, is that perhaps possibly your William?

Do you have any other information on William and Mary? Perhaps dates of birth or places of birth? Even if only handed down the family in the form of stories, they may be a great help in finding them.

Another good place to start is our resources page, where you can follow the various links to sources of documents and information on genealogy research.

Warm regards,
Cornelia

Hi Cornelia, this is the information I have Mary McEvatt Date of Birth1835. Date of Baptism:01-Jul-1838 Address:KillenyParish/District:DROMORE ROMANCATHOLIC Down Denomination: Father:John McEvatt Mother:Rose: Sponsor 1 /Informant 1:John Budan Sponsor. William Rogan born abt 1831 had a garden in Down,Garvaghy, Killaney Griffith’s Valuation, 1848-1864 possible first son Edward Rogan born 1851  Born in Ballela Garvaghy,  They lived in Ballela Garvaghy Thanks for the help yours Desmond Rogan

Hi Des,

Thanks for getting back to us so quickly! There is indeed a birth record for a William Rogan whose father is John in the archives, it may be worth your while obtaining that record.

There is no marriage record though, which can mean that either they weren't legally married, or they married outside of Co. Down (or that that particular record was lost or course). Is there any way that the might have been married outside of Co. Down? Hopefully one of our experts will be able to shed some light on this matter.

Do you have any further information on their children? With these records it's always possible that there were misspellings, errors in dates or places, or even simple ommissions that are making it harder to find more and if you have any of their childrens' birth records we may be able to compare them to see if they are consistent.

Warm regards,
Cornelia

Hi Cornelia,  their children are Edward Rogan born 1851 baptisms 24May 1851 • Ballela Garvaghy COUNTY DOWN
William Rogan born abt 1856  Ballela Garvaghy COUNTY DOWN my 2nd  great grandfather. James Rogan born 1857 Baptisms 22 October 1857 Dromore   
 Mary Rogan REGISTERED AT BANBRIDGE COUNTY DOWN IRELAND. NO 290 13 MARCH 1867 BALLELA. FATHER WILLIAM ROGAN MOTHER MARY ROGAN FORMERLY McKEVITT   all RomanCatholic 
Yours Desmond

Hi Des,

One of the things I'm seeing is the two different spellings of Mary's last name. That will make your search a little bit harder as well, since misspellings can send you on wild goose chases.

Do you have copies of the actual birth records or is this information from entries into online family trees? What with the two different spellings I wouldn't be at all surprised if Mary is recorded under a slightly differently spelled last name as well.

That still doesn't clear up the mystery of no record of their marriage of course, but we may have another opening if you can find copies of Mary's records themselves, either scanned online or directly from the source. I would be very interested in seeing them, to see if there is anything we can do with Mary's last name!

And as I said, I think it's worth your while getting the birth record of William that is present in the archives.

Warm regards,
Cornelia

Hi Cornelia, this is Mary Rogans BIRTH RECORD 

Hi  Cornelia, I got the birth record that you said to get for William Rogan
WILLIAM  ROGAN1834 JOHN Down Parish/District NEWRY Address 2NEWRYAddress 3Newry & MourneSexMaleDate of Birth29/1/1834Date of Baptism/Registration29/1/1834Father's First NameJOHNFather's SurnameROGANMother's First NameBRIDGETMother's SurnameMAGUIREWitness 1MICHAEL MOONEYWitness 2BRIDGET KEENAN.
Yours Desmond

Hi Des,

That's lovely, does that confirm that he is your William?

Now of course for the mystery of the missing marriage certificate! It looks like William's presence in Garvaghy was quite constant, and William and Mary were born not very far apart and still in the same county, so it would have been strange for them to have married elsewhere.

It is entirely possible that this particular certificate is missing. The archives cover virtually all, but not every last one, so I would at this point say an email to the Ulster Historical Foundation would be a good bet to ask them to advise you and what might have happened to their marriage certificate.

I'd be curious to know if they have any ideas!

Warm regards,
Cornelia

Hi Cornelia, I will see what they say Thanks 
Desmond