Beyond the ordinary
From a starting point of family memories, some old photographs and our grandfather’s birth certificate, we were able to build a bigger picture of our family’s ancestors using various sources.
Our Research Journey
Demonstrating and evidencing the links between the various individuals in our story was a formidable task and the story is unique in its own way. Retracing these steps has immersed us in so much history and understanding as to ensure the story is not dismissed as sheer fantasy and will survive for years to come.
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My grandparents were all dead before I was born. By the time I was 4½ (August 1969), Northern Ireland had descended into a war-zone and the last thing on anyone's mind was finding out about dead people or genealogy. Everyone around me was just struggling to stay alive or immigrating to more peaceful places.
However, as the years past and I reached my late 20s, I became curious about our strange surname and how we all ended up living in North Belfast. I started quizzing my father, and with some clues and a lot of unanswered questions, we soon got the "itch" to find out more. Soon, we sketched out a rough "plan of action" and the search began!!! My brother Michael led the charge and carried out sterling early work that helped us piece the missing jigsaw clues together over the next year.
Our initial research was based locally between the Family History Library, the Public Records Office, and several libraries in Belfast. The next stage was to rebuild on accounts and reflections from living family members, collect as many photographs and documents as possible, and to visit any known family graves. The final stage was to search online census, military, birth, marriage and death records and eventually DNA mapping.
Starting Point 1992
So it was, with a certain amount of trepidation, that my father Paul, my brother Michael and myself (Ciarán) first entered the Family History Library of the Church of the Latter Day Saints one morning in 1992 to begin the search for our roots. All we had by way of genealogical information consisted mainly of anecdotal family accounts supported by our grandfather’s birth certificate.
This was like trying to re-attach an umbilical cord, a procedure that could theoretically reconnect us to a family history of which we were unaware.
Further research was conducted at the Belfast Linenhall Library. The earliest record found was the marriage of a Margaret Liggett to John Porter on 20th September 1655 listed in the Registry for the parish of Templemore in Co Tyrone. Also found was the record of William ”Legget” who married Katherine Adams in the town of Derry on 10th May 1687.
A certain Patrick Legate was one of the Dutch King William of Orange’s army who defeated King James 2nd during this period. These people were no doubt of ‘Planter’ stock and this meant that they had come to Ireland from England and most likely from the Scottish lowlands shortly before these events.
Newtownbutler, Co Fermanagh
My father (Paul Liggett) could remember going to visit the O’Donnell’s (his grandmother's people) in Newtownbutler, Co Fermanagh when he was a boy in the 1940s. Maggie O’Donnell had a son, (our grandfather) “William Liggett” in 1897. She died when William was 2 years old in 1899 and he was subsequently reared by her family (the O’Donnell’s) before he left Newtownbutler around 1913.
Given this information, Michael contacted the local parish priest in Newtownbutler, and he put him in touch with several elderly residents in the village who would have been alive during this time.
After several false starts, we struck lucky when my brother Michael telephoned 92 year old Mr James McLoughlin and related our story. It was a fantastic break. Not only did James McLoughlin know our grandfather, he was his step brother!! James’s mother Ellen McLoughlin (nee O’Donnell) had reared young William (our grandfather) with her family (including James) after her niece, Maggie O’Donnell (our grandmother) had died in 1899 when William was a boy. James asked "Is he still alive?"...my brother responded "sadly not...he died in 1958, but I am his grandson, and would like to learn more about his early life and anything else you can remember about him".
James Mc Loughlin
In July 1993 myself, Michael and my father met with James and his wife in an old railway cottage in Newtownbutler. He told us that William’s father Robert John Liggett (our great grandfather) was a labourer in nearby town-land of Crossan and joined the army around 1901. He was never heard of again. One month later James McLoughlin died of old age.
This was an amazing turn of events in our investigation. We could now begin to trace the male bloodline back even further.
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