Re: Methodist family born in Belfast late 1700's - 1835
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In reply to:
Methodist family born in Belfast late 1700's - 1835
ANNA DALEA 5/02/13
Methodism wasn’t established as a separate denomination in Ireland until 1818. So you won’t find any Methodist records for the marriage or baptism of the children before that date. Being a gradual breakaway from the Church of Ireland, if the family were Methodist, then prior to 1818 you should probably focus on Church of Ireland records. (Even after 1818 most marriages and many baptisms were still in the Church of Ireland too, as many Methodists did not wish to break from the Church of Ireland and also because there were so very few Methodist Ministers to perform the sacraments. Methodism operated mostly with lay preachers who weren’t qualified to marry or baptise).
Probably the most likely records for the time you are interested in will be St Anne’s Church of Ireland (which are in PRONI).