Apologies that this is both handwritten and difficult to read. Why any tree programme pretends it need 4-6 pages to show a simple tree is beyond me! What it shows is 3 generations of descendants from Robert McKee of Poagsburn and Eliza Little. They married in 1846 and both civil and church records exist for…

I had high hopes that I could connect the murdered Hugh McKee clearly to the McKees of Poagsburn, the McKees of Poagsburn in 1798 to those of the 1880s (and by marriage to my wife’s Carricknaveagh ancestors) and from my wife’s ancestors back to both those earlier branches and thus to Linen Hugh McKee. I…

My apologies, everybody! I was actually work-working a couple of weeks ago and as I opened my computer there was an almighty CRACK. This was a hinge breaking. With difficulty finding a replacement part and the discovery of a cracked screen as well it has taken this long to get my wee friend back. Obviously…

I spent a few hours yesterday at PRONI reading original documents from the time of the 1798 rebellion in County Down. As one speaker at the conference I attended recently noted, the rebellion and its aftermath provide a wealth of material about ordinary people and particularly the voices of women. Thus, I found myself reading…

I have two giant family templates (10 generations each) from My Family Tree on the go at the moment. One is working downward, using Professor James Y McKee’s book, A History of the Descendants of David McKee of Anahilt. Obviously I want to verify wherever possible what he claimed, given te negative comments of Rev…

Last week I was privileged to attend a two day conference about the 1798 Rebellion in County Down, featuring new perspectives and information from a range of speakers. One speaker focussed on how the vast majority of Presbyterians did not take part and the majority of Presbyterian clergy were not agitating for rebellion. This was…

I am excited about the two day conference about the 1798 Rebellion in County Down to be held next Thursday and Friday. Day One is at Bangor Castle and Day Two is at Downpatrick Museum (I think- I’d better check!). I’m particularly excited about the second day because there will be a session about the…

I have begun to add maps to the McKee page to show farms and houses occupied by McKees in 1864. This is a work in progress, not least because my computer has decided not to let me add typed text to the images.

Well, I made my first visit to PRONI since July today. For once I wasn’t focussed on a specific branch or even a specific tree. The other morning I found myself looking at the PRONI online catalogue and found reference to a letter from Mrs Mary Ann Brown of Gilnahirk in 1930. I thought it…

I paid a visit to the lovely Linenhall Library in Belfast yesterday. It is a lovely old building which evokes the distant past but I learned only a few weeks ago that it is not actually from the end of the 18th century as I had supposed. In fact, te building was a warehouse and…