Diamond/Dimond  of Counties Londonderry and Antrim
                                                                                     paternal lineage study		  

O Diamain
St. Lurach's Old Church by Chris Diamond-2006
yDNA
Root Ancestry
Participant Lines
Result Data

Last update 04.08.10

 

O Diamain

Diamond / Dimond of Counties Derry and Antrim

 
 Irish Names and Surnames  -Rev. Patrick Woulfe, 1923-page 496

1838

O Diamond  Sept

 Origin and Meaning

The O'Diamond sept, Spelling variations include: Diamond, Dymond, Dyment, Diment, Dymott, Dimont and many more. Where a sub-sept of the powerful O'Cathain Sept of Derry and Antrim. This sept carried out an important role within the overall O'Cathain family of being "Erenaghs". Early church sites had no monks or clergy. Instead hereditary tenants farmed the church lands, under lay abbots known as 'erenaghs' - Irish 'oirchinneach' or 'superior' - in the case of smaller church sites; and 'coarbs' - Irish 'comharba' or 'heir' - who governed the principal shrine in a network of church sites dedicated to a single saint.

 Development and History

 'Erenaghs' and 'coarbs' functioned as stewards, collecting rents and tithes. This revenue went to the rector and vicar of each parish, the bishop and the erenagh himself, who spent some on the maintenance of the church buildings. The area of Derry called Kilrea which was a compact little parish lying along the River Bann, and like its neighbor Agivey, held a peculiar position being "appropryated" to the Abbey of SS. Peter and Paul of Armagh. The connection between the O'Diamond's and the Abbey at Kilrea is described in a inquisition taken in 1609 - "Two acres of Glebe land, and also the Parish of Kilrea, containing ten ballibows, whereon are both a parson and vicar, for the space of 170 years past, have pertained to the Abbot of SS. Peter and Paul of Armagh; and like wise the tithes were paid unto the said Abbot and his predecessors; and that the said presentation and right of patronage, together with said tithes of Kilreagh. lately came to the crown by the said Abbot was "seized in his demesne as of fee, in right of his house. of and in the four townlands called Kilreagh in possession of the erenagh O'Diamond, and two parts of the tithes thereof, and of and in the tithes for the fishing for eels near adjoining the same, and also of and in the two townlands called Monaghgrane, with the tithes thereof in the parish of Kilreagh, aforesaid." From the name of the erenagh or layman who farmed the property and had the upkeep of the Church, the place was nominated "Kilrea O'Demon, or O'Diamond.
-from the O'Cahans Princes of Ulster
Early Derry and Antrim D*mond

 -In 1719 Bryan, Felix, and Henry O’Dymond were listed as tenants on Hertford Estate, Lisburn, County Antrim.
 -O’Diamain and later O’Diamond or O’Dimon[d].
 -The surname was one of the principal names found in County Londonderry and County Antrim around 1600.
 -The 1659 Census of Ireland shows seven O’Dyman families in Loughinsholin-listed under principal Irish names.
 -In County Londonderry the greatest concentration of Dimond’s was located in the Barony of Loughinsholin in the Parish of  
   Ballyscullion followed by adjoining Tamlaght O’Crilly. 
-In 1663 there were native O’Diamond’s recorded in Maghera Parish.
-The 1740 Census of Barony of Loughhisholin lists five O’Diamond’s and recorded as Protestant.

 Some Parishes where descendants of this ancestral line are found.

        Parish of Killelagh-  St. John's Roman Catholic Cemetery, Granaghan. There are a number of Diamond's buried at
                                                       this location.

        Parish of Maghera- Is a rectory in the province of Armagh and diocese of Derry. The ancient
                                               and modern name of this parish is compounded of Magher-na-dra 'the
                                               field of vespers'.
                                               It is bounded on the north by the parishes of Errigal and Desertoghill,
                                               on the east by Tamlaght O'Crilly and Ballyscullion, on the south by
                                               Magherafelt, Termoneeny, Desertmartin and Kilcronaghan, and on the
                                               west by Ballynascreen, Dungiven, and Killelagh.
                                                                                                           -Ordnance Survey, April 1830, Lieutenant R.J. Stotherd

 
St. Lurach's Old Church
       Chris Diamond-2006

 
St. Lurach's Old Church in Maghera, County Derry, is a site of great interest to anyone with a sense of history. The legend (pictured below) displayed inside the church gives a brief but telling summary of the place. Nothing much is known about St. Lurach himself; only his name is remembered as the founder and leader of the Christian community that gathered there. Behind the many shifts, both religious and political, in St. Lurach's history is a people with a reverence for God and an attachment to religious practice. The St. Lurach's site was a special place for the people in the area not only for centuries but likely even before the coming of Christianity. It is generally accepted that Irish pre-Christian holy places became sacred places when the people adopted the new religion. As a place for Christian worship, St. Lurach's dates from the 6th century. 

The early Celtic church differed in structure from the rest of western Christianity in that it did not have dioceses. Instead, it was monastic, that is, each area was an independent church governed by an abbot and each parish had its own bishop elected from a local erenagh family. (Erenagh is from the Gaelic 'ceann' meaning head, leading, principal; some use it to mean 'stewardship' or 'the keeper of'.) The Celtic monastic type of church government lasted until the 12th century when pressure, mostly political, was exerted to bring about change, often called 'reform'. Two synods, Kells in 1152 and Cashel in 1172, opted for the Roman diocesan structure practiced in the English church. Archbishoprics were established to oversee the dioceses in an area. The Irish family monasteries were gradually replaced by Augustinian, Cistercian, Dominican, and Franciscan abbeys. But the change took hold slowly in places, especially in Ulster.

Surnames with Mac, Ni, and O' such as O Diomhain (Dimond/Diamond) did not come into use among the Irish until after the 9th century A.D. However, the people who make up the Dimond/Diamond family have been in the country around Maghera on both sides of the Lower Bann River for a very long time and were likely the people there at the time of the first evangelization. Anyone who is part of the Dimond/Diamond family will reverence St. Lurach's. Contemporary family will find there graves of some of our recent ancestors, and anyone interested in the longer view of the family can absorb the history that the place evidences. The Dimond/Diamond name has always been and still is a prominent name in that part of Counties Derry and Antrim. Recent DNA findings show the relationships between family members there and those abroad.

The Dimond/Diamonds were an erenagh family, that is the family owned the land that was used for the place of worship and generally provided those who ministered there. The clann built whatever structure was needed, took care of the holy place, and appointed the leader of the worshipping community. In Christian times, the leader would be a married family man selected from the family to serve as bishop (from the Greek meaning 'overseer or manager') for the religious needs of the people. The Dimond/Diamond erenagh was connected to the church overseer in Armagh. This was the general pattern of the celtic church in Ulster, and the province is dotted with the remains of similar small stone churches that evidence former Christian communities, for example, St. Tassach's in what is now County Down. St. Tassach, who died in 497, was the church leader (bishop/overseer) of one of St. Patrick's first established communities.

Another important feature of the Celtic culture was that land was not owned by an individual but by the clann. This led to a misunderstanding on the part of the Roman Church authorities. To counter a tendency for wealthy prince bishops to pass on church property to family and friends, Canon Law forbade anyone to alienate church property by giving it to others. Church authorities were not aware that church property in Ireland did not belong to the church but was always the property of the people. The handing on of church land and the election of the bishop within a family was misconstrued as nepotism, simony, and alienation of church offices and property. This led eventually to the land being taken from the family that owned it.

Today an O Diomhain, Dimond or Diamond may walk around St. Lurach's in awe of the faith and the human endeavor that has kept St. Lurach's in existence through the upheavals of the last 1000 years.

           Carving dates from the 11th century. It is thought to be one of the oldest carvings
           of the Celtic Church. It is in the Church tower and deteriorating
Stones like this were first used for grinding. When the hollow in the stone was pronounced, the stone was taken to a holy place and used to hold water.
Burials at St. Lurach include Andrew Diamond,
November 1, 1782, James Diamond, 1806 and
Henry Diamond 1767.                               

 

Henry Diamond
          d. 1767         
 

yDNA

The Y-chromosome is what makes babies male. It is passed, intact, from father to son for about 500 generations. This means that I have exactly the same Y-chromosome as my father and his father and his fathers father, for about 500 generations.
I also have exactly the same y-chromosome as Neal Diamond born 1764 Parish of Maghera, County Derry. Every male Diamond/Dimond descendant of Neal has, therefore, the same y-chromosome as Neal Diamond, and thus the same y-chromosome as me. Neal is used in this example but this applies to any male past or present that is a member of this lineage. We can use this y-chromosome to prove that we are related.

This Y-chromosome follows the same path as our surname. Females do not carry yDNA.


We concern ourselves with two yDNA test results of the y chromosome:

1. A deep or root ancestry Single Nucleotide Polymorphism (SNP): a very slow mutating location used to define haplogroup, a specific population group.

2.  Haplotype: a series of numbers that make a set of allele marker locations/loci on the y chromosome.
Each marker is a look at the length of DNA with repeating sequence of chemical bases.
The set defines the yDNA signature of the lineage.
With enough participants an Ancestral haplotype can be inferred.
Any male that is related in a direct line from the oldest common ancestor of the lineage will match or nearly match the ancestral haplotype.

  

Root Ancestry
Haplogroup:   I2b1a 
Isles-Scot  I/M284+

Lineage haplogroup taxonomy will change in time as new discoveries are made.
What will not change are the SNP test results listed (I-M284).  FTDNA will automatically update your personal pages.

#s 25337, 27805 and 28266 SNP tested for subclades acting as proxy for the rest of the group. # 76417 was tested for M284 and found to be M284+

Result;
                    M170+ M223+ M258+ P19+ P38+ M284+ L126+ L137+ M161- M21- M227- M253- M26- M307- M72- P30- P37.2-


   At this time there are two main subgroups of haplogroup I:

  • I-M253/I-M307/I-P30/I-P40 has highest frequency in Scandinavia, Iceland, and northwest Europe. In Britain, haplogroup I-M253 is often used as a marker for "invaders," Viking or Anglo-Saxon.
  • I-S31 includes I-P37.2, which is the most common form in the Balkans and Sardinia, and I-S23/I-S30/I-S32/I-S33, which reaches its highest frequency along the northwest coast of continental Europe. Within I-S23 et al, I-M223 occurs in Britain and northwest continental Europe. A subgroup of I-M223, namely I-M284, occurs almost exclusively in Britain, so it apparently originated there and has probably been present for thousands of years.

      I2b1a-Isles is found almost exclusively in the British Isles, and heavily from Scotland at that.  In the SMGF database there were no haplotype pedigrees of this variety originating on the continent. Recently, however, a few Isles I1b2a haplotype were found M284+ which is downstream of M223+; so they are I2b1 subclade.  My original M284+ yDNA sample came from a male with stated origins in the Basque population. Examination of Portuguese databases also suggests haplotypes which could be of the M284+ subclade.  Testing of  key haplotypes from this Iberian region are needed.  I2b1 is a candidate haplogroup which may have arrived in the British Isles in pre-Roman times, and perhaps directly from more southwesterly Europe instead of Anglo-Saxon or Scandinavian sources.

Haplogroup I at Wikipedia

Participant Lines

All native to Ireland

98070
                   Kilrea, County Derry, Northern Ireland

                                                  Nine generations of Erganagh Townland Diamond's
                                                  Eldest sons naming pattern:
                                                  Patrick > Peter > Patrick > Peter > Patrick etc.
                                                

49126
                     Ballydullaghan, County Derry, Northern Ireland

                                                Diamond    

48622

      Neal1 Diamond   b. 1764    Parish of Maghera, County Derry  m. Rose Kearney
                John2 Diamond    b. 1809   Parish of Maghera, County Derry  m. _______Mulholland
                         Neal3 Diamond b. 1843, m. Betty Collins
                                       Neal4 Diamond b. 1893, m. Mollie McCloskey

 76417

            Thomas1 Dimond of Derrygarve, County Derry
                      James2 Diamond b. c 1844 County Derry m. Eliza McLernon
                               Patrick3 Diamond b. 1881 Dumbartonshire, Scotland  m Margaret Wilson
                                       Joseph Diamond4 Belfast 

 Ireland to America- Ulster Co. New York


60901

    James 1 Diamond    b. April 1784, County Derry   m. Jane McEldowney
              James F.2 Diamond    b. abt. 1825 Ireland    m. Rebecca Jane O’ Kane
                          Joseph Edward3 Diamond b. Sept. 7, 1858  Kingston, Ulster Co., NY m. Ella May Hayes
                                       Francis Vincent4 Diamond   
 

Ireland to Colonial America
The following descend from Dominick Dimond who emigrated to Colonial America in the eighteenth century and settled in southwest and central Pennsylvania and West Virginia.

Mathew2 and
  Phoebe Dimond's Grandsons

23932
          Dominick1 Dimond/Diamond   b. before 1755
                       Matthew2 Dimond  b. 1794, m. Phoebe Wierman
                                   Benjamin3 Millwright Dimond  b. Jan. 10, 1817 Huntingdon Co., PA.
                                                                          m. Mary Jane Forbes   
                                               Milo Ashton4 Dimond  b. 1862,  m. Eva Catherine Boyer
                                                               Merrill Ray5 Dimond  b. 1886, m. Mabel Maria Smith

25337

          Dominick1 Dimond/Diamond   b. before 1755
                       Matthew2 Dimond  b. 1794, m. Phoebe Wierman
                                  Matthew Thornburg3 Dimond   b. Nov. 26, 1819 Huntingdon Co., PA.
                                                                         m. Lydia Morgan b. 1822.
                                          Benjamin Franklin4 Dimond  b. 1855

 

Ireland to Colonial America


The following descend from Daniel S. Diamond who emigrated to Colonial America in the eighteenth century and settled in southwest and central Pennsylvania and West Virginia.
 

 27805
This family line has lore of County Londonderry, Northern Ireland origin.

          Daniel1 S. Diamond  b. 1750-55  d. 1827 Fayette Co., PA. m. Christina.
                  Daniel S.2 Diamond  Jr. b. 1798 Georges, Fayette Co., PA.  m. Susan Moser
                                Daniel3 Diamond  b. 1836, PA m. Martha E. Blackwood
                                                James O.4 Diamond  b.1872, m. Malissa Anne Criss
                                                           Lloyd Astor5 Diamond  b. 1898 m. Mabel McCoy

 28266

         Daniel1 S. Diamond  b. 1750-55  d. 1827 Fayette Co., PA. m. Christina.
                   Henry2 Diamond   b. abt. 1800 Georges, Fayette Co., PA.  m. Elizabeth Roderick
                                 Daniel Walter3 Diamond  b. 1830,  m. Emily Thompson
                                             Daniel Walter4 Diamond Jr. b. 1865, m. Aria May Porter
                                                      Roy S.5 Diamond  b. 1895, m. Izola Catherine Whipple

Daniel W. Dimond 
   b.  1830

Ireland to America

103726

         John1 W. Diamond aka William Alonzo Vineyard  b. November 4, 1878  Harrisonville, Monroe Co., IL
                                         m. Anna Ragsdale
                      Samuel2  Staley James Vineyard  b. January 29, 1903  Kaskaskia, IL 
                                                        m. Rosetta Olga Wiese

Descendants of William Alonzo Vineyard are linked to the Derry Lineage by high resolution 67 marker match.  Research has found  that Alonzo's mother, Margaret M. Shepherd Reynolds had a son by a previous marriage.

From Portrait & Biographical Record of Jackson Co. IL, 1894:
 "JOHN H. REYNOLDS, a farmer.............. Mr. Reynolds was united in marriage with Margaret M. , daughter of Jesse and Sallie Shepard.  Mrs. Reynolds is the mother of a son, John W. Diamond, by her first husband. "
 While the father of John1 W. Diamond aka William Alonzo Vineyard is unknown there is a high degree of probability of a close relationship between the Colonial American migrant Daniel S. Diamond. Though a link to yet to be defined branch is possible.

Belfast to Canada

 (54786)

      Peter1 Diamond   b. 1831, Rasharkin, County Antrim, Ireland m. 1Mary Jane Wade m. 2Annie Dunlop
                 John2 Diamond  b. 22, April 1897   Whiteabby, Antrim, Ireland  m. Mary Elizabeth McGinney
                             

Ireland to America -1912

 N15159

       Henry1 Diamond b. 1813 Crossland, Swatragh, County Derry, Northern Ireland   m. Margaret b. 1812
                          b. 1813 Crossland, Swatragh, County Derry, Northern Ireland
             Henry2 Diamond  b. 1841   Crossland, Swatragh, County Derry, Northern Ireland 
                                         m. Martha b. 1858  Sons James and Henry to Australia. Edward to US in 1912
                             Edward3 Diamond b. 1894  Crossland, Swatragh, County Derry, Northern Ireland

Craigvole Cemetery, outside Swatragh, County Derry, Northern Ireland 

 
   
 Result Chart    
In IE and Firefox you can use the plus and minus keys along with the control key to boost or shrink the size of the screen display, which necessarily includes the fonts. Or if you have a wheel mouse you can hold down the control key and roll the wheel to adjust the display size. This works better in Firefox than in IE.
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6
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b		 4
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c		 4
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0		 G
A
T
A H
4		 Y
C
A II a		 Y
C
A II b		 4
5
6		 6
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6		 5
7
0		 C
D
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a		 C
D
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 b		 4
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 		 3
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1		 5
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3
a		 4
1
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b		 5
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7		 5
9
4		 4
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0		 5
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1		 5
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    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 61 62 63 64 65 66 67
                                                                                                                                         
N15159
Henry Diamond
b. 1813 Co. Derry
 		 16 24 15 10 15 16 11 13 11 13 12 29                                                                                                              
98070
Kilrea
 O'Diamond
 		 16 24 15 10 15 16 11 13 11 14 12 30 16 8 9 11 11 26 15 20 27 11 12 14 15 10 10 19 21 14 14 19 18 31 38 12 10                                                            
76417
Thomas Dimond
c. 1820 Co. Derry
 		 15 24 15 10 15 16 11 13 11 13 12 29 16 8 9 11 11 26 15 20 27 11 12 14 15 10 10 19 21 14 14 19 18 31 38 12 10 11 8 15 16 8 12 10 8 10 9 *0 21 21 16 11 12 12 16 9 14 25 20 10 13 11 13 11 11 12 11
48622
Neal Diamond
b. 1764 Co. Derry
 		 15 24 15 10 15 16 11 13 11 13 12 29 16 8 9 11 11 26 15 20 27 11 12 14 15 11 10 19 21 14 14 18 18 31 38 12 10                                                            
60901
James Diamond
b. 1784 Co. Derry
 		 15 24 15 10 15 16 11 13 11 13 12 29 16 8 9 11 11 26 15 20 27 11 12 14 15 11 10 19 21 14 14 19 18 32 37 12 10                                                            
54786
Peter Diamond
b.1831 Co. Antrim
 		 15 24 15 10 15 16 11 13 11 13 12 29 16 8  9  11 11 26 15  20  27 11 12 14 15 11 10 19 21 14 14 17 18 31 38 12 10                                                            
49126
Diamond Co. Derry
1700s
 		 14 24 15 10 15 16 11 13 11 13 12 29 16 8 9 11 11 26 15 20 27 11 12 14 15 11 10 19 21 14 14 19 18 31 38 12 10                                                            
27805
James Oliver Diamond
b. 1872 WV or PA
 		 15 24 15 10 15 16 11 13 11 13 12 29 17 8 9 11 11 26 15 20 27 11 12 14 15 11 10 19 21 14 14 19 18 31 38 12 10 11 8 15 16 8 12 10 8 10 9 *0 19 21 16 11 12 12 18 9 14 25 20 10 13 11 13 11 11 12 11
103726
John W. Diamond

 		 15 24 15 10 15 16 11 13 11 13 12 29 17 8 9 11 11 26 15 20 27 11 12 14 15 11 10 19 21 14 14 19 19 31 38 12 10 11 8 15 16 8 12 10 8 10 9 *0 19 21 16 11 12 12 17 9 14 25 20 10 13 11 13 11 11 12 11
28266
Daniel S. Diamond
abt. 1750
Colonial America
 		 15 24 15 10 15 16 11 13 11 13 12 29 17 8 9 11 11 26 15 20 27 11 12 14 15 11 10 19 21 14 14 20 18 31 38