An Irish ancestor, Malcom McNeal; son Robert moved to America

Malcolm John McNeal was born ABT 1714 in Ballymascanlon, County Louth, Ireland, and his death is recorded in Dublin in 1783.

I'm reposting this from an older blog...

Melifont Abby, County Louth, Cistercian monks 1142-1743

  We can find a little bit of history of Ballymascanlon in Wikipedia:

In 1185, during the Norman-English period, the district of Ballymascanlan as far north as Carrickarnon was donated by Hugh de Lacy to the Cistercian Abbey of Mellifont.

Following the dissolution of the monasteries by King Henry VIII the lordship of Ballymascanlan was granted to Sir Edward Moore, ancestor of the Marquis of Drogheda. Sir Garrett Moore inherited the title and estates in 1600 and was a friend of Hugh O'Neill, the Earl of Tyrone, who was a frequent visitor to Mellifont and Ballymascanlon. It remained in the hands of the Moore family until the middle of the 18th century.

We know Malcolm McNeal's wife by the lovely name, Christian Kennan, (born around 1721 in Dublin.)  They married when she was 18, on 12 January, in 1739 (at Ballonascanlan Castle Knock, Ireland.) This name place doesn't seem to exist.  If it did, Wikipedia thinks it's just a mispelling of Ballymascanlan Castle.


A marker is recorded of a grave saying:
"HERE Lyeth NEAL McNEALE, age 63 years. Also Malcolm, his son, and Briget, his daughter." Date given is 26 February 1785.  This grave is at St. Audoen Church in Dublin Ireland, though the markers on the graves are no longer legible.  And on another note, Malcolm has a father listed on Ancestry as Archibald McNeal.

Not the McNeal grave, but an earlier one at St. Audoen's Church, Dublin, Ireland

St. Audoen's Church, Dublin, Ireland

Their son Robert McNeal was born in Dublin on 12 Feb, 1741, and he took off to America after marrying Jane around 1765.

They had perhaps 8 children.  Again Ancestry is giving two people's birth dates in the same year.  And some of the children were born in New York state, and some in Pennsylvania...with the earlier births in PA, and the later ones in NY.  Since Robert and his wife, Jane died (yes, in the same year, but different dates) and there are markers on their grave sites in 1818 in Livingston County, NY,  I can assume they had children or grandchildren living nearby.  

Mt. pleasant Cemetery, Livingston, NY

Robert McNeal was a veteran of the Revolutionary War.

Their daughter Elizabeth "Betsy" McNeal married William McElhany, and the following speaks of their marriage.

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On May 1, 1787 in Paxtang Presbyterian Church, William McElhany married Elizabeth "Betsy" McNeal who was born in 1768, Dauphin County, Pennsylvania.  William McElhany fought in the War of 1812, and I blogged about that HERE.

Elizabeth "Betsy" McNeal McElhany was the daughter of  Robert McNeall who was born in 1738 and died Sep. 23, 1818, in Livingston County, New York (see above) and his wife  Jane McNeall  was born in.1741 and died Mar. 28, 1818, and is buried also in Geneseo, Livingston County, New York.

The Paxtang Presbyterian Church, PA (located in Harrisburg PA)  is the building where the McElhaney-McNeal wedding took place.

Built in 1740 the church is the oldest Presbyterian Church building in continuous use in Pennsylvania, and the second oldest in the United States. The present stone sanctuary was erected in 1740, replacing a log meeting house which had previously served as the place of worship. A stone marker south of the sanctuary indicates the site of the log building. A replica of the log meeting house was erected north of the present sanctuary.

When Betsy McNeal McElhany died Oct. 30, 1849 she was buried in Lyme, Huron County, Ohio.

Betsy and William McElhaney's daughter, Jane McElhaney (see HERE for her post)  married Isaac Booth, who had his blog post HERE.  

And their son William Lewis Booth, was my grandmother's great grandfather, and he is honored in his son's posting, Richard R. Booth, (richard-r-booth-my-murdered-great-grand)

I'm squeezing these people into one post, so we can branch out to others along this tree...