The information on this page beginning with Matthew McNeary b1794, is built on work by Matthew McNeary b1910 and his son Matthew Wilson McNeary and Jane Green McNeary, most of which was done around 1980. Thanks to other relatives have contributed.  If you find mistakes or have suggestions, please contact me Bill McNeary

We are grateful to Richard Torrens for the  Bann Valley Genealogy Site where we learned of the Garvagh Presbyterian Church Visitation lists, including that of 1796, where we find, at Magheramore, our Matthew McNeary listed as Matthew JR, son of another Matthew.  In those lists we also find two other McNeary (McAnarry) families at the townland Magheramore in 1796 and later. With the visitation lists, the church marriage and christening records and graveyard records now conveniently available to us at the Bann Valley Genealogy site, I hope to be able to trace the descendants of Matthew, Nicholas and James McAnarry. Thank you also to Lavonne Bradfield and her husband Charles who gathered and transcribed most of the church and graveyard records on the Bann Valley site. This work and the the resulting involvement of, and sharing by many others is illustates the generosity and caring of the now widely dispersed Bann Valley Families who have in common much more than many realize. 

Bits and peices about McNeary from Magheramore and the Garvagh areas in general.

From Pykes Survey 1725 for Aghadowey Parish, Co. Londonderry, lists James Mackkenary as a tenant at Tirkeeran. Tirkeeran and Magheramore are adjacent townlands just south of Garvagh. This is the earliest McNeary we find (to date).

The next documented McNearys we find are seen in the 1796 1st Garvagh Presbyterian Visitation Lists
In 1796 we find three McNeary households at Magheramore, headed by Matthew, Nicholas and James. These families show up on several subsequent visitation lists. Magheramore and Tirkeeran are adjacent townlands.

Although we have no documentation that James Mackkenary of Tirkeeran is the ancestor of, it is reasonable to assume this is likely. Based on naming conventions of the time, it is possible and likely that Matthew, Nicholas and James were brothers, and that their father was named James who may have been born around 1730.

(Below is from- estimates are mine)
Magheramore -  Matthew McAnarry (est born abt 1760}
                 m Agnus, children Elizabeth, James, Agnus, Serah, Matthew Jr (ours)
Magheramore  - Nicholas McAnarry (est born abt 1760) 
                 m Margaret, children Serah, Elizabeth, James, Oliver 
Magheramore - James McAnarry 
                 m. Mary, children Agnus, Richard, Elizabeth Koyle
(marriage records show 1798 marriage of Richard and Elizabeth, but so far we do not see them again. Richard, in my opinion was probably a brother of James living with James and Mary in 1796. 

(note Matthew, Nicholas and James all had first  son James, and daughters  Elizabeth)
Source: 1st Garvagh Presbyterian Visitation Lists 1796, 1818, 1825 and 1840.  (Last name spellings change, Several family groups leave. In 1840, James and Mary are still on the list with children gone. Oliver has a family. Other McNearys are gone, but we know Matthew's Jr's descendants remained in Magheramore, and moved to the Moneydig Presbyterian Church near Garvagh which I think was established in approximately 1835. The Moneydig Presbyterian Church marriage records show a number of McNearys from Magheramore, Mettican and other nearby townlands. 

More on Magheramore 

(I'm not trying to do a newsletter - but the format below is one way to share some of what we learn, and to recognize and acknowledge what people do to help each other, frequently unsolicited)

Thank you to Kathleen Craig Mullan, great grandaughter of William John Craig and  Martha McNeary, daughter of James McNeary of Magheramore. (Martha's sister Margaret married Bob Morrison at Moneydig Persbyterian Church 28 Jan 1879). Can anyone help with parentage of Margaret and Martha?

Kathleen generously sent information from Griffiths Valuation of 1859, showing Matthew, James sen, James jr, and Oliver, each owning land. One owned a shop on Magheramore Road, Oliver owned a farm on Tirkeeran Road. Oliver had a sister Sarah who was a nurse in London in the 1940's and 50s.  She enclosed maps with some helpful markings.   She also transcribed records of the land owned by the four McNearys, all apparently in Tirkeeran or Magheramore townlands. 

Linda Gilmore, at or near Aghadowey and Colleen Ross in NZ land are both researching the Oliver McNeary - Catherine McCormick line from which they are descended. Colleen indicates a cousin Tom MacNeil in Scotland is also researching Oliver McNeary.  Nancy and Colleen have both volunteered helpful information on McNearys.   Thank you both. 

Kenneth V. McNeary of West Yorkshire, possibly born in Londonderry has shared information with me. His grandparents were James McNeary and Elizabeth McLoughlin are buried in Moville, Co Donegal. Their children were Matthew, Mark, Elizabeth and Mary. Matthew was born in 1874 and died 1937 in Londonderry. Matthew married Rebecca (Ruby) Kenna. Their children were Lennox Matthew b1905, Dorothy Elizabeth b1909, Thomas Ronald b1913, and Kenneth Vivian McNeary b1920.   I called Kenneth, and had a good visit with him.  It happened that a nephew of his had responded to a message I had posted on one of the genealogy boards about McNearys, where he listed a few family members, including Lennox.    We knew of Lennox, as my grandmother Anna Courtenay Lennox, a nurse,  who married William Wilson McNeary, apparantly was instrumental in his surviving a very difficult birthing, and as a result his first name was Lennox. From Kenneth, I learned that he remembers Dad and Grandad stayed with Matthew and Ruby in a visit to Ireland in 1931. We have a number of letters from Matthew to William Wilson McNeary beginning in 1912.  So the families had a bond, but we don't know of a genealogical relationship. Kenneth and his sister Dorothy died sometime between 2004 and 2006. I see that James and Elizaabeth McNeary were both alive in 1912 at Moville.  A listing of the descendants of James and Elizabeth, to the extent that I have them is on this site.
 
 
 

The descendant tree chart shows descendants of the progenitor. The numbers refer to the generations. The progenitor is generation number 1. His or her children are the 2nd generation and their children are the 3rd generation and so on. The chart is hard to follow unless it is printed and the overall generational layout can be seen. Each descendant's spouse is directly beneath him or her and is marked sp:                                               (Nov 30, 1999)