I’m beavering away in my spare time trying to uncover more about the Cochrane family from Mountnorris in Co Armagh.

Currently I’m exploring the school records as the Presbyterian records (I want to check them out just in case) are still unavailable at PRONI. Apparently they are being digitised.

I have a found what may be my ancestor, Mary Jane Cochrane, baptised in 1840 and the baptism of her brother from whose descendants I have several demonstratable DNA connections.

The problem is that the mother to both is recorded on church records as Jane whereas the death recorded in 1881 is of Mary Cochrane. Now given that Mary Jane was called “Mary Jane” it is quite possible that her mother was, too, with the church using one name and the family another. I think this is likely but as I cannot prove it for sure it does mean a gap still exists.