morrison family from Co Cavan n. Ireland
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sharn8
- Posts: 8
- Joined: Thu Jul 14, 2011 5:05 am
morrison family from Co Cavan n. Ireland
How do I find where our Morrison ancestors came from origionally: I have traced them to Co Cavan 1850 . Name can be spelt MORRISSON. Surly this is a scottish name. thanks sharn8
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Elwyn 1
- Posts: 212
- Joined: Sun Sep 05, 2010 8:34 pm
- Location: Co. Antrim, Ireland
Re: morrison family from Co Cavan n. Ireland
Griffiths Valuation has 13 Morrison entries for Co Cavan. (Griffiths was a valuation of all land with a rental value of £5 a year or more. Given the destruction of most of the Irish censuses prior to 1901 it acts as a census substitute). www.askaboutireland.ie/griffith-valuation/index.xml
As an example, in 1857, a John Morrison was renting a house, offices (ie outbuildings) and 25 acres of land in Lackan Upper townland (plot nos 3 & 4 on Griffiths). You can see a contemporaneous map of that townland which shows the 2 plots of land either side of the old railway from Mullingar to Cavan town and there is a slider bar which overlays a modern map. It’s just off the N55 road near Pottahee. If you thought that this, or one of the other 12 Morrison entries, might be your family, the next step would be to search parish records. (Statutory recording of births and deaths started in Ireland in 1864. Protestant and nonconformist marriages were registered from 1845, RC from 1864. Prior to these dates you have to rely on church records if they have survived.). Most of the surviving parish records have been copied and are held in PRONI Belfast. They are not on line but you can order copies in to your nearest LDS library.
Looking at the 1901 census for Cavan the name Morrison occurs 16 times. Most are Church of Ireland (ie Anglican) or Methodist. There’s one Presbyterian. There was still a Morrison family in Lackan Upper in 1901.
http://www.census.nationalarchives.ie/p ... r/1060658/
The location and the religious denominations would suggest that their ancestors probably went to Cavan, from either Scotland or England, as a part of the Plantation of Ulster, sometime from 1610 onwards. Most Scots settlers would have been Presbyterian but over the years it wasn’t unknown for some to change to Church of Ireland. See this link for background to the Plantation:
www.ulsternationalist.freeservers.com/custom2.html
So quite probably your Morrison ancestors originated in Scotland and went to Cavan in the 1600s only to return to Scotland around 1850 because of the famine and the fact that the industrial revolution in Britain (which wasn’t replicated in Ireland) offered much better job prospects. Thousands of people came from counties like Cavan to Scotland at that time.
As an example, in 1857, a John Morrison was renting a house, offices (ie outbuildings) and 25 acres of land in Lackan Upper townland (plot nos 3 & 4 on Griffiths). You can see a contemporaneous map of that townland which shows the 2 plots of land either side of the old railway from Mullingar to Cavan town and there is a slider bar which overlays a modern map. It’s just off the N55 road near Pottahee. If you thought that this, or one of the other 12 Morrison entries, might be your family, the next step would be to search parish records. (Statutory recording of births and deaths started in Ireland in 1864. Protestant and nonconformist marriages were registered from 1845, RC from 1864. Prior to these dates you have to rely on church records if they have survived.). Most of the surviving parish records have been copied and are held in PRONI Belfast. They are not on line but you can order copies in to your nearest LDS library.
Looking at the 1901 census for Cavan the name Morrison occurs 16 times. Most are Church of Ireland (ie Anglican) or Methodist. There’s one Presbyterian. There was still a Morrison family in Lackan Upper in 1901.
http://www.census.nationalarchives.ie/p ... r/1060658/
The location and the religious denominations would suggest that their ancestors probably went to Cavan, from either Scotland or England, as a part of the Plantation of Ulster, sometime from 1610 onwards. Most Scots settlers would have been Presbyterian but over the years it wasn’t unknown for some to change to Church of Ireland. See this link for background to the Plantation:
www.ulsternationalist.freeservers.com/custom2.html
So quite probably your Morrison ancestors originated in Scotland and went to Cavan in the 1600s only to return to Scotland around 1850 because of the famine and the fact that the industrial revolution in Britain (which wasn’t replicated in Ireland) offered much better job prospects. Thousands of people came from counties like Cavan to Scotland at that time.
Elwyn