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Secretary Email: abcfhasec@gmail.com MembershipEmail: abcfhasec@gmail.com Contact ABC Family History Association Submit Thanks for getting in touch! Secretary Email: abcfhasec@gmail.com Membership Email: abcfhamem@gmail.com Chairperson Email@abcfhachair@gmail.com

Projects Turning Knowledge and Interest Into Action Members of ABC Family History Association are encouraged to start their own family research projects and also respond to requests to participate in the projects of others, including those run by ABCFHA. ​ Should a member wish to start a project, please check to make sure that a similar project is not already underway or previously has been completed. ​ Requests for assistance with a project may be made by its owner. A member may also offer to help if they feel they can bring a skill or information to a project, but the owner will always remain in control of their project and may decide not to accept an offer of help, or may accept help for a period of time and then continue on their own. That must be their choice. ​ To start a project or participate in one, you must become a member of ABCFHA . ​ ABCFHA PROJECTS in which members are encouraged to participate ​ ABCP7 OUR FAMILIES IN WARTIME PROJECT This project began in September 2023 and will run until October 2024. The project i nvolves experts talks and visits related to wars in which our ancestors may have been involved or lived through, followed by our members writing stories about the wartime experiences of their ancestors. Stories will vary from 400 words long to whatever length they need to be, and will often accompanied by photos, illustrations and family trees. The important thing is that we have recorded these family stories of wartime and preserved them for future generations. B ooks will be available in softback and hardback versions in October 2024. ABCP6 EMIGRATION AND OUR FAMILIES PROJECT This project began in December 2022 and ran until October 2023. The project i nvolved experts talks and visits related to emigration, followed by our members writing stories about their ancestors who emigrated to anywhere in the world, including to England, Scotland, Wales, the Isle of Man, the Channel Islands or Northern Ireland itself. Stories vary from 400 words long to whatever length they need to be, and are often accompanied by photos, illustrations and family trees. The important thing is that we have recorded these family stories of emigration and preserved them for future generations. B ooks are now available in softback and hardback versions. ABCP5 OUR FAMILY STORIES PROJECT This project began in January 2022 and is now complete with the publication of our second book 'Our Family Stories' in October 2022. The project i nvolved our members writing stories about their ancestors, who could be from many generations ago who lived anywhere in the world, or they might be more recent family members living here in Northern Ireland. Stories are from 400 words long to whatever length they need to be, and are often accompanied by photos, illustrations and family trees. The important thing is that we have recorded these family stories and preserved them for future generations. B ooks are available in softback (£12 plus p+p) and hardback (£20 plus p+p). ​ ABCP4 OLD BOOK TRANSCRIBING PROJECT This project will be an ongoing one and focuses on transcribing any local 'people' information that might be found in old books - information which could help you find an ancestor from that time. Each transcription will only be a small piece of work, and members are encouraged to volunteer to help with this project. Email abcfhaprojects@gmail.com to get involved. ​ ​ ABCP3 ABC DNA PROJECT This project began in September 2021 and focuses on Ancestry DNA testing, because this is the largest database of test results available. Members are invited to attend talks about DNA, what can result from DNA testing, your ethnicity, analysing your results and seeing how many connections we will make between our members. We learn how to use My Heritage, GEDmatch DNA Painter and Family Tree DNA to assist in our research and analysis. Those taking part need to have purchased an Ancestry DNA test (watch out for any special offers!). This project will be an ongoing one. ​ ABCP2 BRACKAGH PHOTOGRAPHIC PROJECT This project is now complete, with over 30 images researched, with the help of specialist Zoom talks from various experts. Each photo served as a stimulus for a piece of writing around that subject and a book of the images, alongside articles written by our members, was published in October 2021. Orders are still being taken for softback (£12 plus p+p) and hardback (£20 plus p+p) versions of this book, 'Around Brackagh'. Email abcfhabooks@gmail.com if you wish to buy a book. ABCP1 GRAVEYARDS PROJECT We have a long term ongoing project to visit our Armagh City, Banbridge and Craigavon Council Area graveyards and cemeteries and record inscriptions and memorials to add to our database, in which members can ask for 'look ups'. This will provide an invaluable resource for our members in the future and is especially useful for Online Members and for those who are unable to visit graveyards. Members can register their interest in taking part in this project and are encouraged to do so, even if they can only record part of one graveyard. We must also seek permission from ministers to transcribe headstones in church graveyards - we now have permission from ABC Council for council managed graveyards. ​ ABCFHA MEMBERS' PROJEC T S ​ Family Tree Projects One Place Studies Family DNA Projects In-depth research of a family In-depth study of a location In-depth analysis of family DNA Members can click below for details of some of the Family Tree Projects currently being undertaken by members. If you are a member and have a project you would like to list here, please contact us. Learn More Members can click below for details of some of the One Place Studies currently being undertaken by members. If you are a member and have a project you would like to list here, please contact us. Learn More Members can click below for details of some of the Family DNA Projects being undertaken by members. If you are a member and have a project you would like to list here, please contact us. Learn More Transcribing Projects Making records available Members can click below for details of the Transcribing Projects currently being undertaken by ABCFHA. If you are have records which you would like to have transcribed, please contact us. Learn More One Name Studies In-depth study of a surname Members can click below for details of any One Name Studies currently being undertaken by members. If you are a member and have a project you would like to list here, please contact us. Learn More Other Projects Any other family history study Members can click below for details of other family history research projects currently being undertaken. If you are a member and have a project you would like to list here, please contact us. Learn More ABCFHA Projects Members' Projects

Articles Here we print articles of interest contributed by our members: ​ Seapatrick Co Corner, Then and Now Cherryvale Football Club, Seapatrick That Name! Dad's Memoirs The Cigarette Case The Grandfather Clock Seapatrick Co Corner, Then and Now This article was written by Tommy McClimonds, Member FM43 ​ The above photos of Seapatrick village show what is known locally as the “Co Corner”. The original Co-Operative shop was opened by F W Hayes & Co around 1900 and traded up until the late 1960s. As a youngster in the late 60s and early 70s I still remember a very high counter with associated tall backed chair. My Mum used to lift me onto the chair so I could see what was going on. I remember sugar being weighted out on a set of ancient scales and then packed in shiny cardboard greaseproof paper with the four ends neatly tucked inside. The hand operated bacon slicer was the only machinery I remember in the shop and the muslin-covered side of bacon hung on a hook behind the counter. No health and safety legislation back then! Through the double doors on the left hand side of the shop was the coal yard, I remember I collected small drums of paraffin there for use in my Mum’s stove. The stove was kept in her outside shed specifically so she could bake her soda, wheaten and treacle farls on the oversized large cast iron griddle that she always swore by. During the 60’s and 70’s the proprietor was Johnny Matier, who lived with his wife in the first house to the immediate right of the shop. The shop was then taken over and modernized by Arthur Kerrigan who ran it successfully for a number of years. It then passed through a number of hands, including the legendary Walter Orr, assisted by his son Maurice, who continued to run a grocery/provisions store and had moved from their earlier shop which was located further up the village. It eventually was taken over by Gillian Close in 1995 who ran a successful antiques business there as Mill Court Antiques, until taken over by its present owners, Comb & Bark Grooming. ​ ​ Seapatrick Co Corner Cherryvale Football Club This article was written during lockdown by Tommy McClimonds (Member No FM43) for the Banbridge Chronicle and was published on 26th May 2021. ​ The picture is of a long forgotten local football team from Seapatrick village, Cherryvale Football Club, along with some interesting snippets of local social sporting history to match. ​ Cherryvale Football Club took the name from the area in which they played. This was located to the east of what is now Nesbitt’s Farm, the “White House” or as it was originally called “White Hill”. Although the name “Cherryvale” has been well and truly expunged, just like our local townland names, from the current digital maps of the Ordnance Survey of Northern Ireland (OSNI), the name Cherryvale is very clearly shown on the earlier OSNI maps. ​ Indeed the relatively flat meadow in which the team played is still there today. Back in 1912, it belonged to Henry (Harry) Templeton and ran alongside the lane down to the then Templeton farm, which is just a ruin today. [As a young teenager in the late 1930’s, my late mother Sarah McClimonds (nee Bingham) remembered well being sent to collect buttermilk from Templeton’s farm.] Thanks to information from Jackie Sneddon, another Seapatrick stalwart and font of local Seapatrick knowledge, apparently Harry Templeton charged the team members one penny each or a shilling for the whole team each time they played a match. How does Jackie know this? Well, Jackie’s late father Fred Sneddon, although not in the picture as he was slightly too young in 1912, later played for Cherryvale and it was his job to actually collect the match fees for Harry Templeton! ​ Apparently Ellen Giles - a mill worker/yarn spinner who worked for Hayes Mill in Seapatrick and lived in the village at the time - made the shorts for the team from white linen flour bags, which were in very common use at the time. Despite further research, I have been unable to unearth any other information on Cherryvale Football Club. The only current reference to Cherryvale in the Banbridge area that I have been able to find is Cherryvale Gardens, a short terrace of houses directly opposite the entrance to Havelock Park on the Lurgan Road. It would be interesting to know if this terrace of houses had any connection to the Football Club. ​ The picture was taken in 1912 and unfortunately there are no names, but I am indebted to the late Roberta McCauley (nee Fyvie), originally from Milfort Terrace, who gave me the picture a number of years ago. Should anyone recognise any of the lads in the photograph, please email abcfhasec@gmail.com Cherryvale FC That Name! ​ “So what is your third Christian name?” she said. “Never you mind!”, said I, laughing. “My mother inflicted a name on me that I don’t know where she found. I just want to forget about it!” We continued to work on my family tree, something I hadn’t really had any interest in before. ​ I live in a house on our family farm, built after we got married, more than 20 years ago. I never really thought much about the history of the farm and the area and the families who lived here, until after my Mum passed away. I began to renovate the old family farmhouse and found a 'logie hole' window which had been hidden in the wall. I wondered just who would have looked through that window in the past. I chatted to my friend, Joy, and she suggested doing a bit of research on the family and the farm and putting it all into a book for future generations to enjoy, and dedicating it to my Mum and Dad. What a great idea! ​ I didn’t know where to start, but we met up regularly and gradually we found out more and more. I was just entranced with all this wonderful information. We uncovered maps showing that the old farmhouse had been there from at least the early 1800s and we found that many of the families who lived around us had also been here for generations and, of course, had intermarried. ​ I started to visit a few elderly neighbours to see what stories I could glean from them. One very elderly neighbour told me about his memory of standing with his family at the end of his lane, aged 8, and watching the funeral of my Great Grandmother, which was in January 1925. He described the funeral procession, led by two big black horses, with plumes on their head, pulling the hearse. What a sight that must have been and it certainly made an impression on that 8 year old boy! ​ I knew that my paternal grandmother’s second name was the same as my dreaded third name and that I had been named after her, but I'd no idea of its origin beyond that. As we developed the family tree higher and wider, we found that name cropping up time and time again. We eventually counted 7 girls given THE name, the earliest having been born in 1852. Where on earth had it come from? ​ We had been researching the working of the land by my ancestors, looking at Freeholders’ Records and Tithe Applotments and also the history books. We had found that the farm had once been part of the Rathfriland Meade Estate of the Earl of Clanwilliam. The lands had been in the hands of Donal Og Magennis, Lord of Iveagh, but then King Charles II granted the whole of the lands to an Alderman Hawkins, of London, to thank him for his services in the parliamentary war. The lands passed through the hands of the Hawkins and Magill families and eventually to the Earl of Clanwilliam through marriage. I was able to send to the Norfolk PRO in England for a CD which had all the maps drawn of the lands and named the tenants in 1776 – a wonderful coloured map, a copy of which now hangs on our wall. ​ And the mystery of the name was finally solved! The first Countess of Clanwilliam, who had married Sir John Meade, was named Theodosia Hawkins-Magill. Yes, that’s my third name. Theodosia! Now I wear my Theodosia with pride! The Countess of Clanwilliam died in 1817, but her name has lived on for many years in the surrounding families. It means ‘Divine Gift’ or ‘Gift of God’. Now Emma, my daughter, we need to talk about your name. You only have two Christian names, and I think we should really add a third….a distinctive, historical nod to your ancestors and their landlords….. ​ Article Contributed by Member No FM14 That Name! Dad's Memoirs My Dad was Henry Robinson, known as Harry and he was the youngest son of Isaac Robinson and Ann Elizabeth (also know as Liz-Ann) McAdam. The McAdams were from Cloncore and Ballynarry in Portadown and belonged to St Paul's Tartaraghan. Isaac and Liz-Ann and their young family moved to Belfast for work reasons in the early 1900s. Harry recorded his memoirs and the following is an excerpt from his 1982 memoirs, contributed by Harry's daughter. Article Contributed by Member FM21 Excerpts From Dad's Memoirs The Cigarette Case I remember hearing that during the 1st World War Serviceman were given free cigarettes. I don’t remember who told me. Maybe my Father? ​ This cigarette case inscribed SS Tuscania has always been in the house, I can’t remember ever asking my Father about it. He like many others never spoke about the war. ​ Recently I delved into the internet and found a website in memory of the SS Tuscania. ​ I quote from it as follows “Journey back into the time of the Gilded Age, whose time has come and gone. This was an age known for great Transatlantic Ocean Liners. The Titanic, the Lusitania and the Tuscania were some of the famous lost Liners during this era. The Tuscania was a luxury Ocean Liner built in Glasgow in 1915 for travel to and from New York via Liverpool. In 1916 it was requisitioned by the British Admiralty for war service as a troop ship. It made four journeys before it was sunk on February 5 1918 between the Island of Islay and Rathlin Island.” As I write I just realise it is February 5 2021! ​ The following account is by a newspaper reporter who was travelling in another ship in convoy with Tuscania and others in 1918, some of whom were on guard. ​ “Winter twilight was drawing in when we sighted land, Northern Ireland. Far away we saw the revolving light of a lighthouse winking. About an hour later we heard against our side a queer knocking sound like a boy dragging a stick along a picket fence. ‘I suppose that’s a torpedo knocking for admission’ said one. Then an Officer came to say that Tuscania was in trouble. She was not more than a mile from us. We were under orders to get away and knew that guardian destroyers would be hurrying to the rescue. Next morning when we arrived safely at an English port we were told that the torpedo was meant for us but our Captain had taken swift action and missed it by inches.” ​ Sadly 200 American and 9 British soldiers were lost on the Tuscania, some on the rocky shore of the Island of Islay. A Memorial was erected there in1920. I have a newspaper report of a special ceremony held on Islay to mark 100 years since the event. The wreck of the Tuscania lies 7 miles north of Rathlin Island Lighthouse and was discovered in 1996 by a team of divers including Tommy Cecil from Rathlin Island. He sadly died in 1997, I remember hearing about it at the time but did not make the connection with the Tuscania, a sad happening on both events. ​ Did my Father travel on the Tuscania during the War and was this when he was given the cigarette case and cigarettes? In later years he crossed the Atlantic several times but on other ships. Did he know about the tragic event of 1918? I can only wonder. Article Contributed by Member FM10 Cigarette Case Grandfather Clock What happened to the Grandfather Clock? The grandfather clock referred to in the map above was made by Samuel Carrick of Portadown, probably in the late 1850s or early 1860s. Samuel Carrick was born around 1837 and had a successful jewellery and clock making business in West Street, Portadown. He was a regular advertiser in the local paper. He married Anne Eliza Fulton in June 1859 and in the early days of Samuel's business the family lived in Woodhouse Street in Portadown. Daughter Susan Elizabeth was born in 1860 and son William Fulton in 1861, both of whom died in infancy. Samuel James was born in 1865 (he was a jeweller, married and then emigrated to Australia in 1884), daughter Annie Elizabeth was born in 1867 and David George in 1869. In 1870 another son was born who sadly died in infancy. Four more boys followed - William West Fulton in 1871, Charles Henry in 1873 (he was also a jeweller and emigrated to the USA in 1895), Alfred Ruddell in 1875 and Thomas Edwin in 1877 - and the family was complete. However, Samuel died from cancer in 1893, aged just 56. ​ David George followed his father and became a jeweller. In the 1901 Census he was 32 and still living at home with his mother and Elizabeth, West, Alfred and Thomas, all of whom belonged to the local Methodist Church. They must have been quite well off as they had a live-in servant. In the 1911 Census the family were still living in West Street, but now only David and William were at home with their mother. David was still unmarried and a jeweller, while William was a grocer. David died of pneumonia in 1931, aged 61 and still working as a jeweller. The face of the clock which Samuel Carrick had sold was cut from a sheet of steel with a chisel and the well-crafted mahogany case has simple lines. It is a 7 day clock which strikes the hours. The clock face also has a date dial. ​ The clock face has beautiful rural scenes of Northern Ireland painted on it, presumably painted by a local artist. The painting shows cottages in the upper left and lower right of the clock face, which are mirror images of each other. There is also a hay cart and wooden hay rakes in the painting. ​ The first owner of the clock was a farmer named William Hampton, son of Seth Hampton. From information received, research suggests that William lived in a townland in Kilmore Parish called Drumard (Primate), which is on the Loughgall Road from Portadown. If this is the correct person, William was a widower when he married Mary Rountree on 11 October 1851 at Kilmore Church of Ireland. We don't know what ages they were, but Mary was recorded as being a minor, which meant she was under 21 years of age. As birth records don't begin until 1864 and there is no record of any baptisms online, we don't know what children they had until after 1864. Leonard was born in 1866, but died as a baby, and we've been told that he had a brother named Joseph, who must have been born just before recording of births began. When William died (we don't know when), Mary emigrated to New Jersey, USA - along with the clock! But she must have been homesick, as she returned to Ireland just a year later, again bringing the clock with her. ​ Mary remarried (we think to a man named Lindsay) and later lived in Belfast. We're told that the Hamptons were related to the Redmonds and the Lees families in the Portadown area. The Redmonds are said to have had a strawberry farm around 1900 and their son became a doctor, having graduated from Trinity College, Dublin. ​ William and Mary's son, Joseph Hampton, married Sarah Boyd, daughter of James Boyd, in St Anne's, Belfast in 1891. Joseph was working as a fitter and living at 27 Bellvue Street in Belfast, while Sarah was working as a stitcher, living at 28 Drew Street. Joseph and Sarah had 5 children - William John b 19 Dec 1892; Joseph b 11 July 1897; James Boyd b 3 Feb 1900, Henry Nicholl b 31 Mar 1901 (died Jan 1902); Mary b 9 Aug1903. The grandfather clock found its way to Joseph in 1896 and we are told that Joseph gave the clock case a French polished shellac finish around 1900. ​ The family were living at 5 Isoline Street in Belfast when s adly Joseph died of pneumonia on 4 Jun 1906, aged just 39. His eldest child, William John, who was 13 years old at the time his father died, inherited the grandfather clock. In 1913, Sarah and the family emigrated to Montreal, Canada and the clock went too, but minus its original cast iron weights which were left behind in case they came loose on the journey and would damage the case. Before leaving Belfast, the original weights were weighed and in Montreal, new ones were made from brass tubes and filled with lead to the correct weight. Somehow the second hand was lost in the move to Montreal and so William John made a new one from memory. ​ The weights were originally hung on some type of cord and then later the family used fishing line. The only problem was that this would eventually break, inevitably in the middle of the night, waking everyone up! Eventually they changed to using stainless steel woven wire cables. ​ The family moved from Montreal to Chicago and then on to Cleveland, Ohio and the clock came too. William John married Marion and they had two children, in 1929 and 1934. Another move was made to Boston and then to Rhode Island and yes, the grandfather clock came too. ​ How do we know all this? Because William John and Marion's son wrote a letter from his home in Rhode Island on 16 April 1979, to a fellow clock enthusiast in Portadown. That letter has now turned up amongst a collection of photographs. At the time he wrote his letter, the clock was in fine fettle. We found out that he still lives at the same address, managed to trace his son, on Facebook and sent him a message. His parents, Don and Sylvia, are well and have sent us these photos of Don and the clock - if you happen to be related to the Hampton family, who were originally from the Portadown area and then Belfast, or the Carrick family from Portadown, do please get in touch . ​ ​ Article Contributed by Member FM07

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Online Courses via Zoom The main purpose of ABC Family History Association is the advancement of education in family history, with particular reference to the geographical area covered by Armagh City, Banbridge and Craigavon Borough Council and Northern Ireland itself. We also want to promote religious and racial harmony, equality and diversity, including lessening conflict and eliminating discrimination, and the advancement of peace and good community relations. ​ We offer the following online Zoom courses and hope that you will find a course or two to interest you in your family history journey and to enable you to start or participate in our local projects . Full details are found below the course listings. ​ Courses, which last around 1 hour including discussion, are a mix of ‘B’ courses to deliver the 'Basics' of family history research and ‘X’ courses for those 'Extra' courses which add to knowledge and understanding. A handout is provided after each course. ​ Each 'Basics' course has a list of suggested tasks at the end, to further your own family research. ​ Members can book our courses FREE of charge. Non-members may pay to attend courses, provided we have space to accommodate you. ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ GIFT VOUCHERS AVAILABLE for any course(s), membership or amount - just email us ​ ​ Join Now! Gift Vouchers Information about Courses Purpose of ABCFHA Courses We Offer ​ Courses will be offered for individual bookings on various days, dates and times which will be advertised through this website and you can email us for latest dates and availability. ​ If you are a family history, local history, church, community, school or youth group or other organisation and would like to book a course for your group, please get in touch and we can arrange a suitable time. If you are in a different time zone, an appropriate time can be arranged. Just email abcfhasec@gmail.com with details. ​ Student members are very welcome and the courses will enable them to develop a new skill of genealogy for Duke of Edinburgh Award Skills or Gaisce - The President’s Award Skills or for Rangers Genealogy Interest Badges. Should any youth organisation want a bespoke course for their young people, that can be arranged. Just e mail abcfhasec@gmail. com with details. ​​ Payment by non members in the UK is currently via Bank Transfer and those outside the UK only may use the PayPal donate button. Email : abcfhasec@gmail.com to book your place on a course and receive payment instructions. Upon receipt of payment, you will be emailed a link to the course, the day before the course. Only those whose names are registered will be permitted entry to the course. Group Bookings Student Bookings Individual Bookings Payment How to Book

Useful Links Helping to make connections Births, Deaths and Marriages irish genealogy.ie This is a free website from the National Archives of Ireland which enables you to search civil birth, death and marriage registrations for both Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland. For Northern Ireland, these are available from 1845 (Protestant marriages only) until around 1921, when partition of Ireland occurred and Northern Ireland the Republic of Ireland became separate countries. More details are on the site. GRONI This is a free to search website from the NI Direct which enables you to search civil birth, death and marriage registrations for Northern Ireland. These are available as follows: Births - 1864 up to 100 years before the present day Marriages - 1845 (Protestant marriages) and 1864 (All marriages) up to 75 years before the present day Deaths - 1864 up to 50 years before the present day However, if you want to see the registration details, then you have to pay. Full details on the site. Roots Ireland This is a subscription website from Armagh Ancestry which allows searching of baptisms, marriages, deaths, gravestones and more from both Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland. Full details on the site. Its major value is in church records from before the period when civil registration took place. PRONI Historical Maps Land and Property Records townlands.ie This free website enables you to identify townlands, parishes and baronies all over Ireland, providing you with a location map and other details. PRONI offers an historical maps viewer with Ordnance Survey maps of Northern Ireland from the historical First Edition (1832 - 1846) right to the present day. This is a great resource in conjunction with Griffith's Valuation maps, enabling you to see what buildings there may have been on your ancestor's land at that earlier period, and to see how the area has changed over time. Estate Records PRONI has an extensive collection of estate records which record details on landholding, tenants, farming, towns, transport, emigration, politics and local administration, as well as the building of schools and churches. During the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries the majority of the population in Northern Ireland lived on large estates. The administration of these estates produced a large quantity of records, including maps, rentals, and account books. Rent rolls, leases and maps listing the tenants on the estate may be the only source available for the period before 1830. None of these are online, however, and must be searched at PRONI's building in Belfast. Freeholders' Records Freeholders were men who either owned their land outright or who held it in a lease for the duration of their life, or the lives of other people named in the lease. Freeholders' records list freeholders who were entitled to vote and those who did vote at elections and they are identified by townland. These records in some cases go back into the 1700s. Tithe Applotment Books The Tithe Applotment Books were compiled between 1823 and 1838 as a survey of land in each civil parish to determine the payment of tithes to the established church, which was the Church of Ireland. They are now available for Northern Ireland on PRONI's e-catalogue and can be searched either by parish or by townland name. Griffith's Valuation This is part of a free website from Ask About Ireland and enables you to search Griffith's Valuation for either a name or a place anywhere in Ireland. Griffith's Valuation was the primary valuation of Ireland carried out between 1848 and 1864 and gives detailed information on where people lived in mid-nineteenth century Ireland and the property they possessed. You can see on a map exactly where the Head of a Household lived and also get details of the value of the property and land that they leased. No other family details are given. Valuation Revision Books PRONI holds valuation records relating to the valuation of property in Northern Ireland from the 1830s to 1993. The original purpose was, and remains, the assessment of every building and every piece of land and an estimation of its financial value. These records enable you to trace forward from Griffith's Valuation to see who takes over the lease of someone recorded in Griffith's Valuation, which may aid in working out relationships, approximate dates of death and so on. Census Records Ireland Censuses This is a free website from the National Archives of Ireland which enables you to search by name or by townland and more, the two complete censuses which still exist (1901 and 1911) and also search whatever fragments remain of the other censes of 1821 to1851 - it is only in 1851 that anything relating to Counties Armagh or Down may be found. Wills PRONI Will Calendars This free website enables you to search by surname or full name and you can also add a location and or a date of death. Some of the entries have an image of the actual will attached and these can be so valuable for family names and relationships. Index to The Prerogative Wills of Ireland 1536-1810 and Supplement 1914 Sir Arthur Vicars indexed all Irish Prerogative wills up to 1810. It deals with over 40,000 Irish wills. Almost all of these wills were destroyed in the 1922 explosion at the Public Record Office in Dublin, so his work is often the only surviving evidence of what wills were processed by this court. This index provides the name of all those who left a will, their address, rank/occupation and the date of probate. Vicars' publication was based on the transcripts, abstracts and notes taken from the original wills by Sir William Betham, Ulster King of Arms (1779-1853) and is the only index available to his vast collection of genealogical abstracts. Furthermore, this online edition on Find My Past of Vicar’s publication is even more important, because Find my Past has incorporated an unpublished supplement compiled in 1914 that corrected all errors and inserted omissions. This additional typescript was compiled by Frank Marsh and includes over 1,200 further entries. It's important to realise that this is only an index - the actual wills themselves are unlikely to have survived. Find My Past is a subscription website. Ireland Diocesan and Prerogative Wills and Administration Indexes 1595 - 1858 If your Irish ancestor left a will when they died before 1858, it would have been proved before one of the ecclesiastical courts of the establishment Church of Ireland. These handwritten indexes and will books can give you your ancestor’s name and their occupation, and even details of what they left in their will and to whom. This index is provided by subscription website, Find My Past. W.P.W. Phillimore & Gertrude Thrift, Indexes To Irish Wills 1536-1858, 5 Vols (1909-1920) This is another collection at subscription site, Find My Past. The well-known English family history publisher W.P.W. Phillimore, along with the tireless Irish genealogist Gertrude Thrift published a 5 volume series of indexes of Irish wills between 1909 and 1920. These were compiled from the finding aids then in use at the Public Record Office in Dublin (PROI). The volumes record surviving wills, then in existence at the PROI, which had been proved at local diocesan courts. The series does not cover every diocese because the project was cut short by the destruction of the PROI in 1922. Following that disaster, this index represents often the only evidence that a will was left at all, and as a consequence is vital for researchers. The index includes entries for over 32,000 wills for many diocesan consistorial courts in Ireland.

Choose Your Membership Full Membership £ 0 0£ Perfect for those who live close enough to attend events Free Plan Select Join our Local and Online Community Enjoy FREE places on Basics (B) Family History Courses Book Discounted Places on Other Courses and Workshops Start or Take Part in Family History Projects Access Members Only Area with Resources Access One-To-One Support Have Articles Published in Our Members Only Area Book Discounted Places on Group Visits Vote at General Meetings of ABC Family History Association Be Nominated for General Management Committee (18+) Be nominated as an Elected Officer/Trustee (18+) Online Membership £ 0 0£ Perfect for those who live anywhere in the world! Free Plan Select Join Our Online Community Enjoy FREE places on Basics (B) Family History Courses Book Discounted Places on Other Online Courses and Workshops Start or Take Part in Family History Projects Access Members Only Area with Resources Access One-To-One Online Support Have Articles Published in our Members Only Area Vote at General Meetings of ABC Family History Association Joint Membership £ 0 0£ Perfect for 2 adults living locally at the same address Free Plan Select Join our Local and Online Community Enjoy FREE places on Basics (B) Family History Courses Book Discounted Places on Other Courses and Workshops Start or Take Part in Family History Projects Access Members Only Area with Resources Access One-To-One Support Have Articles Published in Our Members Only Area Book Discounted Places on Group Visits Join ABC Family History Association Private Facebook Group Vote at General Meetings of ABC Family History Association Be Nominated for the General Management Committee (18+) Be Nominated as an Elected Officer/Trustee (18+) Student Membership £ 0 0£ Perfect for those living locally and in full-time education Free Plan Select Join our Local and Online Community Access FREE places on our Family History Courses Book Discounted Places on Other Courses and Worshops Start and Take Part in Family History Projects Access our Members Only Area with Resources Access One-To-One Support Have Articles Published in or Members Only Area Book Discounted Places on Group Visits Vote at ABC Family History Association General Meetings Be Nominated for General Management Committee (18+) Be Nominated as an Elected Officer/Trustee (18+) Develop New Skills for Duke of Edinburgh or Gaisce Award Learn the Skills to get your Rangers Genealogy Badge Learn the Skills to get your Rainbows Family Tree Badge Corporate Membership £ 0 0£ Perfect for any organisation which supports our purposes Free Plan Select Join our Local and or Online Community Organisation enjoys 1 FREE place on Basics (B) Courses Organisation can book Discounted Places on other Courses Organisation can collaborate on Family History Projects Organisation can book Discounted Bespoke Courses NAFHS Full Member £ 0 0£ Special 50% offer for NAFHS Members only Free Plan Select As for Full Membership NAFHS Joint Member 1 £ 0 0£ Special 50% deal for NAFHS Joint Members Only Free Plan Select As for Joint Membership NAFHS Joint Member 2 £ 0 0£ Special 50% offer for NAFHS Joint Members only Valid for one year Select As for Joint Membership - Payment made by Joint Member 1 NAFHS Online Member £ 0 0£ Special offer for NAFHS Members only Free Plan Select Joint Member 2 £ 0 0£ Perfect for second joint member Free Plan Select

Membership Form Membership Membership Application Form Download, complete and email it to us and we'll get right back to you - if you are accepted as a member, you can pay via bank transfer (UK) or PayPal (International) Corporate Membership Application Form Download, complete and email it to us and we'll get right back to you - if you are accepted as a member, you can pay via bank transfer (UK) or PayPal (International) Full Member Online Member Full Membership £20 per year* Perfect for those who live close enough to attend events - and can also be part of our online community Online Membership £15 per year * Perfect for those who live anywhere else in the world and can be part of our online community Join our Local and Online Community Enjoy free places on all Courses Enjoy free places on regular expert Talks Enjoy free Coffee/Tea and a Bun Workshops Post in our Members Only Forum Access One-to-One Support Access Members Only Area with Resources Add your writings to the Members Only Area Start or take part in Projects Publish your family stories in our annual books Vote at General Meetings Take part in discounted Group Visits/Events Be nominated for General Management Committee Be nominated as an Elected Officer/Trustee (18 years old +) ​ * Membership Fee may be paid in £5 instalments Join our Online Community Enjoy free places on all Zoom Courses Enjoy free places on regul ar Zoom T alks Post in our Members Only Forum ​ Access One-to-One Online Support Access Members Only Area with Resources Add your writings to the Members Only Area Start or take part in Projects Publish your family stories in our annual books Vote at General Meetings ​ Be nominated for General Management Committee ​ * Membership Fee may be paid in £5 instalments Back to Top Joint Full Membership Student Member Joint Membership £30 per year* Student Membership £10 per year* Perfect for 2 adults living locally at the same address Perfect for those who live locally and who are in full-time education Join our Local and Online Community Enjoy free places on all Courses Enjoy free places on regul ar expert T alks Enjoy free Coffee/Tea and a Bun Workshops Post in our Members Only Forum ​ Access One-to-One Support Access Members Only Area with Resources Add your writings to the Members Only Area Start or take part in Projects Publish your family stories in our annual books Take part in discounted Group Visits/Events Vote at General Meetings Be nominated for General Management Committee Be nominated as an Elected Officer/Trustee (18 years old +) ​ * Membership Fee may be paid in £5 instalments Join our Local and Online Community Enjoy free places on all Courses Enjoy free places on regul ar expert T alks Enjoy free Coffee/Tea and a Bun Workshops Post in our Members Only Forum ​ Access One-to-One Support Access Members Only Are a with Resources Add your writings to the Members Only Area Start or take part in Projects Publish your family stories in our annual books Take part in discounted Group Visits Vote at General Meeting Be nominated for General Management Committee Be nominated as an Elected Officer/Trustee (18 years old +) Develop a new skill of genealogy for your Duke of Edinburgh Award Skills or Gaisce - The President's Awar d Skills Learn the skills to get your Rangers Genealogy Interest Badge ​ * Membership Fee may be paid in £5 instalments Corporate Member Corporate Membership £20 per year Perfect for any organisation which supports the purposes of the Association and would like opportunities to collaborate on projects and events - nominate a representative who has many of the same benefits as a Full Member Join our Local and or Online Community Representative enjoys a free place on all Courses Representative enjoys a free place at regular expert Talks Representative can book a place on Workshops Organisation can book bespoke courses for its members Representative can access One-to-One Support Representative can access Members Only Area with Resources Organisation or Representative can start or collaborate in Projects Organisation or Representative can take part in discounted Group Visits/Events Back to Top

About Us ABC Family History Association is all about making connections! Our members have some connection with Northern Ireland, whether they live there or their family came from there, no matter how long ago. We run family history courses to teach people from our area and throughout the world how to find the connections between us and know who our ancestors were, where they came from, what they did and how they lived. We offer regular talks, workshops and visits. Members can also take part in projects to use those skills and share results. Each year we publish a book written by our members based on the results of our current project. We love to welcome those from overseas to our area and help them get the most from their trip to their ancestral homeland! Learn More About Us Join Us You can join ABC Family History Association as an Online Member who can enjoy our web page, online talks, family history courses and workshops and start or take part in projects, or you can take out one of our local Membership categories for individuals, couples and students who can also attend events we organise in Northern Ireland, which will be well publicised on this page. Organisations who support our purposes can take out a Corporate Membership. Come and join us! Learn More News News! Stay in the Know ABCFHA Programme from Jan - Jun 2024 UPDATED (download ) New Resources added to our Members Only area! We are working hard to increase the resources for our members and we have recently added transcriptions of tenant names from 1776 estate maps from the Rathfriland area of Co Down, and from 1831 maps of the Manor of Acton near Poyntzpass; some records from Cremore Presbyterian Church at Poyntzpass; and an article entitled 'Tandragee and the House of Montagu' by Jason Diamond. 'Seeking New Horizons' - our new book! 'Our Family Stories' Book - still available 'Our Family Stories' book is still available at £12 softback and £20 hardback, plus postage if required - Please email abcfhachair@gmail.com Back to Top Corporate Member Showcase Corporate Member Showcase Joss/Joyce Family Association Dedicated to the Joss/Joyce family of Scotland and Northern Ireland, the Joss/Joyce Family Association explores the genealogy of this family. Originally originating from Aberdeenshire, Scotland, this lineage settled in counties Antrim, Armagh, and Down, in Northern Ireland, where Joss turned into Joyce. More information can be found at Joss/Joyce Family Association . Armagh County Museum, Armagh, Northern Ireland A number of our ABC members are volunteers at the museum, helping to catalogue some of the many documents that await them. There is much to be found at this museum for those interested in family history, as we discovered on a visit there in August 2022. Read all about this superb museum at Visit Armagh - Armagh County Museum Cranberry Genealogy Club, Pennsylvania, USA Cranberry Genealogy Club is a corporate member of ABCFHA and an informal partner organisation. Read all about the club here: CranGenClub (cranberrygenealogy.org) CranGen is a vibrant, forward looking organisation which offers its members a wide range of Zoom talks and events and strives to help all to learn more about their ancestry. Should you be have ancestors who emigrated to Pennsylvania, we recommend membership, which costs $12.50 per year. Details on their website! Armagh Cultural Heritage Library NEW! Armagh Cultural Heritage Library has a new home at 1 Markethill Road, Armagh - familiar to some as this is where the Teachers' Centre is located. On our Resources for Research page within our Members Only area there are a number of lists of sources, newspapers, books etc available in the library to help with family research. Articles Articles by Members Here we offer articles of interest contributed by our members: ​ Advent Seapatrick Co Corner, Then and Now Cherryvale Football Club, Seapatrick That Name! Dad's Memoirs The Cigarette Case The Grandfather Clock Activities Activities ABC Family History Association is buzzing! SHORT COURSES AND WORKSHOPS Educational ABC Family History Association organises short family history courses and workshops which vary from 30 minutes online to 1 full day face-to-face. We also offer bespoke courses to other organisations for their members, with courses for beginners and more advanced researchers. REGULAR ZOOM TALKS Using the Technology ABC Family History Association offers regular talks, where members from anywhere in the world can join us on Zoom. Our talks, which last around an hour and are free to members, cover a wide range of topics in family and social history and are delivered by experts from around the world. COFFEE/TEA & A BUN WORKSHOPS Research Help and Support ABC Family History Association's goal is to help you with your family research, over a cuppa and a bun at Brownlow Community Hub. We give advice on the next steps to take, suggesting taking a family history course, telling you about various web sites, assisting with presentation of research - including topping up the necessary computer skills. RESEARCH PROJECTS Building a Community Local research projects in which members can participate are a great way of finding out how we connect and can lead to improved understanding and better community relations. A project may be building your own family tree, writing a story for one of our book projects, doing a One Place Study, a DNA project, transcribing church records and lots more. Back to Top VISITS AND TOURS Fun Trips! ABC Family History Association organises visits to a variety of places within Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland. Trips may be short local visits to a museum or heritage centre, for example, or a local guided walking tour. We may also venture further afield. Trips and visits, some of which include a meal together, require additional payment. ENCOURAGING DNA TESTING Using the Science ABC Family Hi story Association encourages you to consider DNA testing. DNA results can help to break down your 'brick walls' in research and find new family members, helping to connect us all. Our DNA project teaches you how to analyse your results and maximise your findings using Ancestry, My Heritage, GEDmatch + DNA Painter. ABC Area ABC Council Website Armagh City, Banbridge & Craigavon Borough Council Area Map showing Council Area Council Website This is our Gallery of Members' Images of the ABC area. Click on an image to 'like' it! Email us your own images if you'd like to have them featured her e Gallery Donaghcloney Village Scarva Bandstand Oxford Island Marina, Lough Neagh Lurgan Show Our Beautiful Countryside Corbet Lake, Banbridge Sinton's Mill, Tandragee Lurgan War Memorial Craigavon Lakes Jordan's Cottage The Mall, Armagh White Christmas! We'd love to show members' photos of places in ABC in our Gallery - please make sure you own the copyright of the image and email it with details to abcfhasec@gmail.com "We are as we are because they were as they were” Unknown Back to Top

Tours and Trips In this section we will publish details of walking tours and visits within our ABC Council area. Researched and written by Tommy McClimonds, these are the details of 11 of the war graves of Banbridge New Cemetery, Newry Road, Banbridge Based on the Historic Walking Tour of Rathfriland created by Rathfriland Historical Society, this is our shortened version which takes about an hour to complete and is all on level ground - have a cuppa afterwards in the Homeland Diner!

COVID-19 STATEMENT The vast majority of our local members are now fully vaccinated and those eligible have had their boosters and their annual 'flu vaccinations. Our services are therefore back to 'normal' but members are advised that they should not attend any event if they have any COVID, 'flu or other illness symptoms which could be contagious. Social distancing is still a sensible precaution and anyone who wishes to wear a mask to in-person events is welcome to do so. ​ ABC Family History Association - December 2023

Acerca de Lending Library ABCFHA Library Catalogue We have an ever growing collection of books, pamphlets, booklets, BMD records, news cuttings and more, donated by our members, all of which are available for members to aid their research or add to their knowledge of social history. ​ Members may peruse the excellent catalogue, shown above, produced by one of our members, Gerry Dunne, which gives great detail about each resource. ​ Local Members may contact abcfhachair@gmail.com if they wish to borrow one of the resources, which will be brought for them to a 'Coffee/Tea and a Bun' meeting at Brownlow Hub, or instead may ask to collect the resource. ​ All other members may ask for look-ups from these resources, which we are very happy to provide. ​ The catalogue is updated on a regular basis as we receive new resources. Should any member have a resource of any sort which they would like to donate to us, we would be delighted to receive it.

Members' Photo Galleries Here we feature five photo galleries which relate to family history - photos of people, buildings and articles from the past, contributed by members. These are only able to be accessed by our Members. ​ ​ ​ If you are a member and would like your photo featured, email it to abcfhasec@gmail.com , with a statement confirming you hold the copyright of the image and some details about the image. ​ ​ Family Photos Local Derelict Buildings Old Buildings in Use Locally Articles from the Past World War Photos ​ Join Now!

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