[4qd-bannvalley] KILPATRICK marriages, 1845-1872

[4qd-bannvalley@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx (Alison Causton)]

Hi, Linde --

On Wednesday, January 19, 2005, at 05:15  pm, Lunney Family wrote:

> Dear Alison,
>
> well, I did find a relative in  your records; one of the brides was=20
> Sally Leitch, who is my great great great aunt. And since she married=20=

> a Kirkpatrick of Rasharkin,  this adds another Kirkpatrick family  to=20=

> my ever growing list of Kirkpatrick relatives; three in different=20
> areas now. Is anyone descended from  these Rasharkin people? I'd like=20=

> to contact anyone who's interested.

This is great news, Linde ... finding a relative amongst a few=20
transcriptions!

But now I must tell you of an odd Kilpatrick-ian twist:  our=20
KILPATRICKs (often known as KIRKPATRICK, too) were of Lislea townland,=20=

(as I've said many times, sorry).  The line bearing this surname=20
eventually died out in Kilrea parish, with two bachelor brothers and=20
one spinster sister, by the 1940s.  While the KILPATRICKs lived in=20
Lislea townland, they occupied the north side of what is variously=20
called "Burial Hill" or "Kilpatrick Hill".  Very specifically, they=20
lived just north of the site now occupied by the LOL Orange Hall (which=20=

itself was originally the parish school).

At some point, however, another KILPATRICK came along, to live on that=20=

very site.  When I was in Kilrea in Autumn 2003, I spoke with a=20
KILPATRICK descendant who was quite adamant that his lot and my lot=20
were not the same:  his lot, he said, were from Rasharkin parish, some=20=

long time ago.

So, look at the marriage record found, below, from the 2nd Kilrea=20
Presbyerian church records:

1863 Feb 6, Robert KIRKPATRICK, full age, bachelor, Farmer, Gortahar=20
Rasharkin, Fa: William, Farmer; married =96 Elizabeth DUNLOP, a minor,=20=

spinster, Magheraboy Rasharkin, Fa: Hugh, Farmer; witnesses: Robert=20
Kilpatrick, Mary Maybery.

And who, I must ask, is the Robert Kilpatrick, one of the witnesses?  I=20=

strongly suspect he's one of "our" Lislea townland Kilpatricks ...=20
which leads me to a rather wild and completely unsubstantiated=20
speculation ... that Robert KIRKPATRICK of Gortahar was some distant=20
cousin of the Lislea townland KILPATRICKs.  I have a lot of foot work=20
to do on this speculation ... namely, delving into the Rasharkin=20
Presbyterian records (which I already know do not date back as far as=20
the First Kilrea Presbyterian records) and the civil registrations of=20
marriages 1845ff and of births 1864ff.  Even so, the speculation that=20
the Gortahar/Rasharkin KIRKPATRICKs were related to the Lislea/Kilrea=20
KILPATRICKs might never be solved, as I intuitively believe that there=20=

is inevitably a relationship but one that predates any of the church=20
records available to us today.

> Very many thanks for posting this information; I didn't know about=20
> Sally at all. It's been quite interesting; my knowledge of these Leech=20=

> or Leitch siblings has been built up almost entirely through=20
> information posted by descendants or on the  internet, rather than=20
> through family tradition or trawling through records myself. I knew my=20=

> great great great grandmother, and her parents; then through the North=20=

> Antrim list, I was contacted by a descendant of her brother's; I knew=20=

> about her sister Bessie who married McLister, and I found them in a=20
> Pennsylvania census online. Now Sally has turned up. Very satisfying!

OK, and here's another potential twist, Linde:  the eldest surviving=20
daughter (Mary) of our Samuel Kilpatrick and Jane n=E9e M'Kay (who=20
emigrated to Canada in 1847) married Archibald (Archy) McLister in 1858=20=

at Prescott, Ontario, Canada.  Archy's parents were Daniel & Mary of Co=20=

Antrim ... nothing more specific known about the parish/townland origin=20=

of these McLISTERs.  However, there were McLISTERs in parishes in and=20
around Kilrea ... is it possible, then, that Mary and Archy knew of=20
each other's families back in Ireland?  Perhaps that's a stretch, but=20
who knows.

Musings for a cold winter evening ;-).

Alison=