Armagh Ancestry

  Armagh, United Kingdom
Tuesday, April 29, 2008

Today we set out in search of our ggggGreat Grandpa George Davison (add one more g for me).  We know that he was born in 1747 near Armagh town and married Nelly Allen (born 1748) in 1765.  They had a son in 1770 and left for the New World when he was 6 weeks old.  We believe our ancestors were among the first Methodist in Armagh. 

We took this information to the Armagh Ancestry office/Tourism office.  They sent us to St Marks Cathedral where we met some very nice people.  Caroline looked up our dates and pulled out the church record book from that time peoriod.  We were actually able to touch and handle the book that baptisms, marriages, and deaths were recorded in in the mid 1700's!  We did find a George Davison but the dates were wrong so I don't think he was our George.


Next we set off for the Methodist Church.  It was built in 1835.  This is too late for our George to have attended but perhaps his nieces and nephews went there?  It was beautiful inside

We also toured the St Patrick's Cathedral of the Church of Ireland.  It sits on a hill across town from the hill where the Catholic St Pat's Cathedral is located.  Chruch of Ireland condiser themselves to be Catholic but not Roman Catholic.  They don't follow the Pope.  This church (C of I) is on the site where St Patrick had his first church in Ireland in 400 AD.  It is also the site where great hero Brian Boru is burried.  He is the Irish King who defeated the Vikings in 1014 but was killed as he sat down to dinner by a fleeing Viking soldier after the battle was over.  There is an ancient Celtic cross in the cathedral from 11th century.  There was an ancient stone carving of a man in the catedral from 1000 BC just sitting there on the floor along the side.  Patrick even touched it!  No special measures to protect these things!

It's amazing the difference a day can make!  The city is transformed today.  The shops are open and the city is bustling.  Everyone is very friendly and helpful. Still a lot of English influence but things don't seem so bleak even though it is the first day we got rained on.


After our sight-seeing we went to Castle Leslie for horseback riding and a special birthday dinner for Dad.  He turned 75 today.  Happy Birthday, Dad!!!  He got his spankings earlier in the day at the Palace Stables in Armagh.


Then it was on to Dublin.  We spent the night here and will see the city on Tuesday.