Confusion between James and James

My last blog led to an interesting exchange of emails with a correspondent which has encouraged me to point up a possible confusion between two Jameses who were both living in the 1850s. They were born only about seven years apart, one in 1840 in either Ballyportery or in Carnmoney - it appears he was baptised in Carnmoney, and the other probably in Ballee. They can be confused because they both married a 'Jane M'. James of Ballyportery/Carnmoney married Jane Maitland in about 1865. The other James married Jane Middleton in 1853 in Ballymena. They were both Labourers at the time of their marriage, and they both lived long lives, into their 70s and they both had a son called Robert.

There are however clear differences between the two. James of Ballee's son Robert married Margaret Craig in 1876 and this family were all Anglicans (Church of Ireland). James of Ballyportery's son Robert married Annie Thompson in 1900 and this family were all Presbyterians. The father of the first James was William and of the second (probably) Nathan. And I have to admit that there are some uncertainties in the situation. I don't yet have the marriage record of James to Jane Maitland, so cannot be absolutely certain of his father's name, though I do have records of no fewer than nine children born to them. I do have the marriage record of James to Jane Middleton, though only have knowledge of one child born to them. And I haven't yet mentioned their surnames. The fact is that they both go under a number of variations of the clan name, viz: McIlhagga, McIlhagger, McIlhaggar and McIlhaggart.