The Flax growers bounty list explains so much!

The first thing I wanted to get clear in my mind was where exactly John May came from.

I know from the previous research done by my mothers cousin that John May came from Diocese downs.

I found out online that Diocese of downs which presently covers part of county down and part of Armagh.

It is divided into 79 parishes with 115 churches.

After several failed attempts at locating the town where
John May lived while in Ireland I stumbled across a huge piece of the puzzle.

I typed in John May + county down and the puzzle was uncovered and then some.

I found John May from county down town of Drumgath listed on
The 1796 Flax Growers bounty List.

This list served as such a huge break in the research
because of the fact that my ancestor left Ireland before 1864
when The General Civil Registration was organized.

The Flax growers bounty list, or The Spinning Wheel Premium Entitlement list was created in 1776 to publish the list of approximately 60,000 individuals who received the right to plant Flax seed.

This list was created in response to special initiatives by the Goverment to encourage the production of linen.

Those on the list that planted one acre were awarded four spinning wheels while five acres of flax plant was rewarded a loom.

Drumgath is one of the smallest parishes of the diocese of Dromore.

It includes thirteen townlands and includes the small market town of Rathfriland
which includes most of the countryside.

The Parish was established by the Synod of Kells in 1152.

The Synod of Kells were a culmination of the Pre-Norman church reform movement.

This reform legislated such things as payment of Tithes and re-assignment of
Irish Dioceses to four provinces Dublin, Tuam, Armagh and Cashel.

Before the Synod of Kells the area was ministered to by Monks.

It is believed that there was a monastary around the site of the old
Drumgath cemetary.

In 1764 a woman found a bell that dates back to the ninth or tenth century and which was of common type to be used in Irish monasteries until the year 1000.

Even though this piece of the puzzle is huge I still have many more to uncover.

I can't help but wonder if John May was so successful in 1796 in the linen process why would he leave his mother country and travel to America and then
marry Mary Ann Riley in 1804 Ste. Genevieve Mo.

My next puzzle piece will be to find the ship he sailed on to America and when.