"Preserving Family History & Bringing It's Members Closer Together"
About Ballintra Ireland: Ballintra (or Baile an tSratha in Irish, which translates as 'Town of the Holm') is a village with a population of 217 (1996). It is located on the Ballyshannon to Donegal road about seven miles north of Ballyshannon. A swift stream from the hills has cut its way through the limestone, at some places forming steep cliffs. In other places (The Brown Hall Demesne) the stream disappears into caves and underground passages and again emerges to flow through a meadow. Finally it tumbles into a deep chasm known as The Pullins bounded on each side by precipitous limestone walls. There is an attractive waterfall at Argadullah Mill. In the vicinity of there are prehistoric remains including the fort of Ard Fothadh. A further three miles away on the "Two Mile Stone Ridge" is a recent discovery of pre-historic huts and allied antiquities have been made. (from Local Ireland) The "Mc Garrigle" Surname: It may be fair to say that the largest number of McGarrigle preside in the western region of the province of Ulster, Ireland. Currently, there appear to be four larger groups of McGarrigles in this area: 1) Strabane, Co. Tyrone area 2) Donegal Town, Co. Donegal 3) Ballintra & Drumholm Parish, Co. Donegal 4) Ballyshannon, Co. Donegal ...with many further families around Derry and Letterkenny. The family is spread out around the world. Scotland, northern England have many McGarrigle families. McGarrigle families appear in North America around the mid-1800s. This migration is mainly due due to the potatoe famine in Ireland. Families can also be found in Australia and some parts of mainland Europe. There are two theories on the surname's origin, in large part to the surname's similar sound to several places: 1) The name originated from the "Parish of Carigill" in the County of Perthshire, Scotland 2) The name originated from the "County of Argyll" in Scotland. One of earliest recordings of "Mc Garrigle" appear to have them helping to defend Donegal Castle in the late 1580s. No doubt, we were people of the O'Donnells and no doubt as servants of the clan, family members likely fought and die in some of the battles that the O'Donnells took part in. Unforunately, many years of records were destroyed in the 1920s with the destruction of the Four Courts building in Dublin and therefore it is difficult to track our family previous to the mid-1800s. One might add that there is no "authentic" or "official" family crest or coat of arms, at least none that have been registered with the heraldic authorites in United Kingdom, Canada or the United States (so watch out for those scams promising a family crest and brief family history!) Burial Marker Poject
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