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Archiver > IRL-MONAGHAN > 2002-08 > 1030412575


From: Sally M <>
Subject: [MON] Re:McQuey/McQuay/etc.
Date: Mon, 26 Aug 2002 18:43:48 -0700
References: <200208262201.g7QM1htl006350@lists5.rootsweb.com>


Robert E. Matheson's official 1901 guide, "Official Varieties and Synonymes [sic]
of Surnames and Christian Names. . . ." (the title goes on and on), gives McQuay
(rendered in the book as M'Quay) as a variety of Mackey (others are Mackay,
M'Cay, M'Gee, M'Hay, M'Kee, M'Key), with M'Quay reported from the Cootehill Poor
Law Union, and only in the case of a marriage. It also was reported as M'Quey, as
a variant of M'Kay, with no PLU listed, but likely the same area. Unfortunately,
the booklet does not list the location of the PLUs, but the town of Cootehill is
in Co. Cavan, almost atop its border with Monaghan, southwest of Monaghan Town,
and PLUs were not limited by county borders.

Note that often "Mc" names are listed this way in Irish indexes, with the
apostrophe standing in for the "c".

This is an excellent little book compiled 100 years ago by Ireland's then
Registrar-General from "surname" reports solicited from registrars in the various
Irish Registration Districts. It was republished in 1995 in paperback by Heritage
Books, Inc., in Bowie, Maryland, US (it has a web site). Mine cost $13 US, plus
shipping, a couple of years ago. Highly recommended, especially if you have a
sort-of-unusual surname, as it often lists from which PLU the name was reported,
and that might be the vicinity from which an ancestor came or lived. Also
excellent for suggesting alternative spellings for even relatively common
surnames.

Good to note is that while an ancestor may be "from Monaghan" (or wherever), a
birth, marriage or death might be found in civil or church records in a PLU whose
market town (which is where the registrar would be found on market day and when
such statistics were collected from the family) is not only in an adjacent
county, but perhaps was where the nearest church of choice was situated.

It is obvious that unlike some countries, the reporting of vital statistics in
Ireland, at least in earlier times, was up to the family, and was not
automatically done by someone else, such as the officiant at a marriage, for
instance. In my family, the birth of my cousin's 99-year-old father was not
recorded, nor were the births of his siblings, nor was even his parents'
marriage. They apparently felt the rites of the church were sufficient, or
perhaps even distrusted the English-appointed civil authorities enough to
overlook that civil requirement.

Sally M





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