McCONAGHEY, Michael younger, in Annaloist (DNA Linked) ²

   Other names for Michael were CONAGHEY, Mich,⁴ McCONAGHY, Michael,^{3 5 6} McCONNACHIE, Michael ⁷ and McCONNOTTY, Michael.⁸

   User ID: L219.

  General Notes:

No birth or baptism records have been found as yet for Michael McConaghey. His marriage record does not state an age for him, nor have any census entries been unearthed. The death record (below) of 1872, that seems a likely record of Michael's death, recorded an age for the deceased of 67 years. This points to a birth year between 1804 and 1805. Assuming that to be the case, Michael's marriage age would have been about 30 years in 1835. None of this is inconsistent with what we know about Irish men and marriage. If he was not actually 30 years old, he would match the average male of that time if he was approaching it, say about 27-28 years of age.

The Index to Griffith's Valuation 1848-1864 recorded a Michael McConaghy occupying property in Ireland between the dates given. This Michael McConaghy was resident in County Armagh, in the civil parish of Seagoe, in the Townland of Annaloist.

"Church Burial Record

Name: Michael McConaghy
Date of Death: 29/07/1872
Age:
Parish / District: SHANKHILL
Address: Analoist
County: Co. Armagh
Status: Denomination: Roman Catholic
Notes: AGED 67 YRS

© 2024 Copyright Armagh Ancestry"

from www.rootsireland.ie

Michael's son Henry McConnachie's marriage certificate of 10 March 1884 recorded Michael's trade as 'labourer'.

In the death certificate of his son Michael McConnachie in 1885 Michael senior was recorded as having been a weaver, and this record was repeated on the death certificate of his son Edward McConnochie in 1910. Since Michael's son Henry was the informant in both cases, this may have some weight.

In the 1904 death certificate of Michael's son, James McConnachie, Michael was recorded as having been a farmer. It was an in-law, Patrick Donnelly, who provided his information.

In the death certificate of his son Henry in 1934 Michael McConnachie was recorded as a farmer. The source of this information was Henry's son, Michael McConnachie. ^{3 9 10 11 12}

  Research Notes:

COUNTY ARMAGH

This county is small in area but very fertile. named for one of the ancient Irish deities, it is a translation of Ard Macha 'High Macha' or 'the Height of Macha'. After the ancient religions were displaced, Armagh remained an important religious centre for Christians. It has boundaries with several other Irish counties, and as result has been, at different times, in 1798 and in the recent troubles for example, at the hub of political conflict.


SEAGOE AND SHANKILL

The civil parish of Seagoe is near the northeastern corner of county Armagh, and includes the eastern part of the town of Portadown (which lies principally in the civil parish of Drumcree). The southeastern boundary of Seagoe is part of the western boundary of county Down. Shankill, in which is located the town of Lurgan, adjoins Seagoe to the northeast, forms the northeastern corner of county Armagh, and one of its townlands in county Down, Kilmore, a strip of land connecting county Down with Lough Neagh.


ROMAN CATHOLIC BACKGROUND FOR SHANKILL AND SEAGOE

"The Parish of Shankill and the Parish of Seagoe occupy a considerable portion of the southern shore of Lough Neagh. Until the formation of the modern Parish of Moyraverty, Shankill and Seagoe were the only parishes of the Dromore Diocese located in County Armagh. Until c.1750, Seagoe was considered the more important of the two under Catholic aegis.

The origin of the Parish of Shankill is by no means as clear-cut in historical documents as might be assumed. That there was a pre-Reformation church in Shankill townland not far distant from the heart of Lurgan town, is affirmed by its inclusion in the Plantation maps of 1609. Therefore, the subsequent foundation of Lurgan town by the incoming colonists, the Brownlow's, undoubtedly gave Shankill its prominence. Yet, one hundred years later, at the Registration of Catholic Priests at Lurgan courthouse, on July 10th 1704, no priest came forward to represent Shankill. The Reverend John Byrne, parish priest of Seagoe, represented both parishes.

There were other church-sites close-at-hand which may have been as worthy of parish status as Shankill. In 1440, the income from Seagoe Parish was so small that it could not support a parish priest, so it was united to neighbouring Enachloisgy or Annaloiste, lying on the very shore of the great lough. Fifty years later, in 1492, further consolidation of northern parishes was approved and Kylilan, Tayagoba and Acadle were united. These three names are generally perceived as Shankill, Seagoe and Aghalee respectively. Additional licence is assumed by taking Kylmilan, Kilwilke and Shankill as referring to the same entity, an assumption which few really believe. The late Dean Bernard Mooney was in no doubt that the Church of Annaloiste was Kilwilke, derived from Kylmilcon and associated with an early saint named Micho or Milchu."

extract written by Frank McCorry, sourced from parish website


ANALOIST

The modern spelling is Annaloist. Its origin is outlined thus:

"Kneading trough. In former days when families generally made their own bread, a kneading trough was an article found in almost every house. Losaid, or in an anglicised form, losset, is the Irish word for a kneading trough; and curiously enough it is in very common use, as a component in local names. Here, however, the allusion seems to be not so much to shape, as to use and production; for the word is applied to a well tilled and productive field, or to good rich land. A farmer will call such a field a losset, because he sees it covered with rich produce, like a kneading trough with dough. The word is used in this sense chiefly in the northern counties....The genitive and plural form is loiste [lusty], and this gives name to all those places now called Lustia and Lusty - both signifying simply fertile spots.

There is one example of the genitive in the Four Masters, namely at A.D. 1597, where they mention a place called Druim-na-loiste, the ridge of the kneading trough ; which is situated near Inver in Donegal, and is now called Drumnalost....Annaloist near Portadown in Armagh, shows the word compounded with afh a ford." ^{13 14}

Michael married Margaret O'NEILL (DNA Linked), daughter of Bernard O'NEILL in Cornakinnegar, County Armagh and Mary? O'NEILL MS UNKNOWN, on 15 February 1836 in St Pater's RC Church. Lurgan, County Armagh, Ireland.¹ (Margaret O'NEILL (DNA Linked) was born about 1815 in Ireland and died on 29 November 1899 in Annaloist, Shankill parish, County Armagh, Ireland ^{9 11 15}.)

  Marriage Notes:

"Church Marriage Record

Date of Marriage: 15/02/1836
Parish / District: CRAIGAVON
County: Co. Down
Husband Name: Michael McConaghey
Denomination: Roman Catholic
Status: Not Married
Husband's Father Name: McConaghey
Wife Name:Margaret O'Neill
Denomination: Roman Catholic
Status: Not Married
Address: Cornikimega
Wife's Father Name:O'Neill
Witness 1 Name: O'Neill Atty
Witness 2 Name: Henderson John

© 2024 Copyright Armagh Ancestry"

from www.rootsireland.ie

The RC Church for Shankill parish was:

ST PETER'S ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH, LURGAN, CO ARMAGH

"The origins of this church began not far form where the present building stands in North Street. In the beginning of the 19th century the Brownlow family (landlords of the Lurgan area 1610 - 1884) donated to the Catholics of Lurgan, an old mill warehouse, near the Dougher stream, which was on the outskirts of Lurgan town. The mill house was converted into a Catholic Chapel. After the Catholic Emancipation Act of 1829 had come to pass, the Brownlow family donated the Dougher field next to the church to be used as a graveyard. In 1830, at the present site, in North Street, building started on St Peter's. Since then the Church has been remodeled and enlarged."

from http://www.lurganancestry.com/stpeters.


"1829 - Probably as a response to the passing of the Catholic Emancipation Act of 1829, Charles Brownlow granted an appropriate site in North Street, Lurgan, to the Very Reverend William O'Brien, Parish Priest, for the erection of a parish church.

1832 - Work on the new St Peter's Church is well under way. Alex Richmond's Map of Lurgan, 1832, shows two Catholic Churches close together, one in Dougher, and one in the Back Lane (North Street).

1833 - Dedication of the new St Peter's on September 1st 1833 by the Most Reverend Dr Blake, Bishop of Dromore"

from History of St Peter's Church by Frank McCorry< ^{1 16 17}