Find Ancestors

Potty- did you forget the link? :-)

This is the website for the church in Carrickamoss. You could try contacting them.

The parish records are online but only go up to 1880.

Ah, I see. Bad luck!

I think it was about the mid 1960s when DOB appear on Scottish death certificates. Prior to that it just gave the age of the deceased person.

Hello Eringobragh, that's a very interesting possibility. Thank you for raising it. But I don't know how to go about finding it in the records, assuming it exists. Any further advice, please?

Hello ArgyllGran. My mother's death cert. is in fact a Scottish one, as she died in Edinburgh. However, it only gives her age, not her date of birth, unfortunately. Her marriage cert. also only gives her age. From the two I was able to work out her birth year and that her birthday fell somewhere between 16 April and 29 December.

Caomhin .
The document you cannot recall was possibly her Baptismal one....at the time in question and well into the 1970's 80s that one was more important than the Birth Cert.to the vast majority of RC Irish.

Your mother's death cert should have her DOB on it.

EDIT:
Ah, I see from your earlier post that you have your mother's death cert, so presumably it doesn't give her DOB?
Scottish ones do, but I forgot English ones don't. (Have just checked some for people in my tree.)

Thanks, Rootgather. The trouble is, I don't remember my mother's exact birthdate- I was only six when she died. Anyway, I've ordered the marriage cert and we'll see what that says. Watch this space :)

If the date of birth matches your mother's that certainly looks fairly hopeful. The marriage certificate is the next stage and will maybe help identify Bridget's grandparents.

Hello again!

I thought I'd give you an update, as I've now received a copy of Bridget Murray's birth certificate.

Her date of birth was 5 July 1908, and as I already knew, this ties in with my mother's year of birth as derived from her marriage & death certificates. The excellent news is that the place of birth is given as Leege, Carrickmacross, Co Monaghan, which supports my distant memory of a document (not this one, I feel sure) that gave that address for my mother's birthplace. I can't imagine what that remembered document might have been.

Her name is given simply as 'Bridget'. This is disappointing, as I was hoping to see her middle names as well.

The 'Name & Surname and Maiden Name of Mother' are simply given as 'Margaret Murray'. Margaret is also the 'Informant' and her residence is given as 'Leege'.

Unfortunately, under 'Name & Surname and Dwelling-Place of Father' there is nothing but a horizontal line!

So, it seems your hunches were correct, and I'm almost sure Bridget is my mother, but without her father's name it's not a positive identification beyond all reasonable doubt, is it?

I'll now ask for a copy of the Hugh Kerr / Margaret Murray marriage cert and see if that takes me any further, though I'm not sure it will.

Any further thoughts you may have will of course be very welcome!

Fingers crossed that our guesswork is correct!

Will do! Thanks again. :)

We sure do wish you luck Caomhin. Please come back and let us know when you get the certificate. :-)

Rootgatherer & ArgyllGran, thanks for your help and advice. I'll do as you suggest. Wish me luck! :)

I agree, RG - that's what I would do.

Thank you Caomhin. Perhaps it would be worth investing in the birth certificate for Bridget Murray and see where that leads. It may then be worth looking at the Kerr / Murray marriage certificate.

AustinQ, I've just realised Dundalk is in County Louth, adjacent to Co. Monaghan. So not that far from Carrickmacross. That marriage record could indeed be relevant.

Rootgatherer (great pseudonym!), thanks for that. I imagine McCaffery could well be another form of McCarthy. Is this another piece in the jigsaw? Or a red herring? Who knows? :)

Possible birth for Margaret Floody - note the mother's maiden surname

Margaret Flood
Gender: Female
Birth Date: 3 Jan 1870
Birth Place: Monaghan, Ireland
Father: John Flood
Mother: Mary Mc Caffery
FHL Film Number: 101202