The Creggan region has a long tradition of family ties stretching across generations, parishes, and oceans. For many people, tracing their ancestry to this historic part of south Armagh and north Louth is more than a genealogical pursuit — it is a journey into identity, memory, and belonging. The Creggan History Society has long supported individuals and families in researching their roots, providing local knowledge, historical insight, and access to valuable resources.
Whether you are a lifelong resident or a descendant now living halfway across the world, this page is a gateway to understanding the people, places, and lives that make up your heritage.
A Landscape of Lineage
The Barony of the Upper Fews and the Creggan Parish contain a wealth of ancestral information. Townlands — the smallest traditional land divisions in Ireland — are key to unlocking many family histories. Each townland holds stories of farming families, tradespeople, clergy, poets, emigrants, and rebels. Surnames such as Murphy, O’Hanlon, McCreesh, Finnegan, Lennon, and many others recur across generations and townlands, often with subtle changes in spelling or pronunciation.
This region experienced centuries of social upheaval, from the Plantation of Ulster to the Great Famine, and these events left deep marks on family movements, land ownership, and records. Understanding your ancestry here often involves piecing together fragments from civil, church, and oral sources, which the Society helps to interpret.
Church and Civil Records
Church records are among the most valuable tools for tracing ancestors in the area. The Creggan Parish was an important centre of religious life for centuries, and both Catholic and Church of Ireland registers contain baptisms, marriages, and burial entries dating back to the 18th century in some cases.
Civil registration of births, marriages, and deaths began in Ireland in the mid-19th century, and these records can be used in conjunction with older church documents to construct detailed family trees. The Society holds or can direct researchers to many of these sources, including microfilm records, transcript collections, and local archive holdings.
In some cases, gravestone inscriptions provide additional clues. The Society has been involved in surveying several cemeteries in the region, and transcriptions of headstones are available for many older burial grounds.
Emigration and the Diaspora
The history of Creggan is in many ways a history of departure. From the late 1700s onward, waves of emigration carried local people to North America, Australia, Scotland, and England. Some left in search of opportunity; others fled poverty, eviction, or political repression. As a result, countless families around the world now trace their lineage to this small but storied part of Ireland.
Emigration records, ship manifests, and overseas census data can be powerful tools when combined with local knowledge. The Society often receives enquiries from people abroad seeking help in locating the birthplaces of their ancestors, or understanding the lives their forebears left behind. We are always glad to assist where we can and encourage members of the diaspora to share their findings, which in turn help build a fuller picture of our collective past.
Oral History and Memory
Genealogy is not only a matter of documents — it is also about stories. Many family traditions, sayings, and memories contain valuable historical hints. Who was said to have fought in a particular rebellion? Who emigrated to Canada and sent letters back? Who kept an old family Bible or a handwritten letter?
The Creggan History Society values oral history as much as written records. We encourage local families to record conversations with older relatives, collect family photographs, and share their stories with us. In many cases, these memories help fill gaps in the official record and offer unique insight into daily life in the region across different periods.
Society Support
We welcome genealogy enquiries and will do our best to point you in the right direction. While we are not a professional genealogy service, our local expertise can often help break through research barriers. We have knowledge of lesser-known resources such as estate papers, school registers, newspaper notices, and land valuation records, all of which can provide key details about ancestors from the area.
If you are just beginning your search, we recommend starting with the following:
-
Your oldest known ancestor’s full name (including maiden name, if applicable)
-
Approximate dates of birth, marriage, or death
-
Known townland, parish, or county associations
-
Any family stories or traditions that might point to a specific place or event
You can share your information through the Messages page or by contacting us directly. Please allow time for a response, especially during busy periods.
Contributing Your Research
If you have already completed research into your Creggan ancestry, we would love to hear from you. Contributions of family trees, memoirs, or short articles are welcome for potential inclusion in our Journals or Archive. You may also wish to add a message to our Noticeboard, connecting with others who share your family name or townland.
Your story is part of our shared story. Every family connection recovered helps deepen our understanding of how the people of this area lived, loved, worked, and moved through history.