My uncle Jack McGilligan died in a tragic road accident in Walsall, England before I was born. Jack worked as a commercial lorry driver and died on November 11th, 1972 while transporting an extra load from Stranraer, Scotland to the south of England. He was buried on the November 21st, 1972 at the Market Street Cemetery in Ballymoney, Co. Antrim.
This is the McGilligan ancestral home at Lisbuoy near Aghadowey, Co. Londonderry. The family moved into the house around 1954. The home along with the field in front is owned by my Uncle James Reynolds McGilligan who currently lives in India. Hard to believe this modest home housed a McGilligan family of ten. The home was given to Eliza McGilligan by her brother John McGilligan I. Apparently she never lived in the home but at some point a Mr and Mrs Toy, labourers for John McGilligan I & II, occupied the home.
Faughan Vale Presbyterian Church near Eglinton, Co. Londonderry. My grand-mother Mary Lavina Walker attended this Church before she married. David John Walker, Mary Lavina Riddles, Thomas Stewart Elder and Mary Lavina Walker are buried at Faughan Vale (See Thomas Stewart Elder & Mary Lavina Walker). Thomas Stewart Elder and Mary Lavina Walker were also married at Faughan Vale.
St. Guaire’s Parish Church of Aghadowey, Co. Londonderry. John McGilligan I was a rector’s wardin for St. Guaire’s. My parents were married here on September 21st, 1968. My Uncle John “Jack” McGilligan III and all of my mother’s sisters were also married at St. Guaire’s.
My mother’s parents, John McGilligan II and Elizabeth “Lily” Doherty, are buried in St. Guaire’s Parish Church near Aghadowey, Co. Londonderry.
My father’s parents, Thomas Stewart Elder and Mary Lavina Walker, are buried in Faughan Vale Presbyterian Church near Eglinton, Co. Londonderry. The flowers on the left marks their grave. The grave on the right with a marble border is where Mary Lavina Walker’s parents are buried.
On the 9th of April 1896, John McGilligan arrived in Boston, Massachusetts onboard the S.S. Scandinavian. The Boston Passenger List states he was 21 years of age and accompanied by a friend/cousin named Thomas White. He was a farmer and able to read and write. Last place of residence in Ireland was Swatera (Swatragh, Co. Londonderry). His final destination in the United States was Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
Source: Boston Passenger Lists, 1891-1943 via Ancestry.com
Irish Flax Growers List, 1796
Given Name: James
Surname: McGilligan
County: Londonderry
Source: Ancestry.com
Elizabeth Elder married John Owens in 1811 at Ballymoney, County Antrim, Northern Ireland.
Source: Z. Mettam. Northern Ireland Marriages, Volume 2 (Manuscript found at the Family History Library in Salt Lake City on microfilm 824282, item 3).
Frances Elder married Thomas Ransford on February 25th, 1740 at St. Audeon, Dublin, County Dublin, Ireland
Source: D. A. Chart. Marriage Entries from the Registers of the Parishes of St. Andrew, St. Anne, St. Audoen, & St. Bride (Dublin), 1632-1800. Exeter and London: William Pollard & Co. Ltd., 1913. 185 pages.