Tracing my GM's family..

dido2

My GM had very little info about where she came from..

She was born in 1926, was christened in May of that year, 2 parents names were listed on her baptismal cert, but they didn't bring her up, she was given to a woman to bring up, the connection between both women is unclear, but my GM had no birth cert and no way of finding one, she died 14 years ago and didn't know anything of where she came from, or she may have but never shared it....
Myself and my aunt are tracing the family and we'd like to find her family..
We don't know where she was born, the story was that she was born to a woman who was possibly from Kildare and married, she had an affair and my GM was as result, this woman moved to cork and met the woman who brought my GM up, and when she had my nan she gave her to her..... The story is very much open, we don't take it as being the right one, but we don't disregard it either..

My GM was christened in the parish she lived in and to be honest we don't know if it's even possible to find her birth record now, my aunt has tried bessboro but had no luck, she's going to try it again though...

So does anyone know how these kind of situations generally played out at that time, my GM being christened in the parish she grew up in, with her birth parents being listed on her birth cert, does this sound like a normal enough situation?

The_Conductor

Unfortunately its far from unusual- there was no legal adoption in Ireland until the 1950s, little arrangements via the local convent/parish priest/mother and baby homes etc- were seen to be entirely normal phenomena, that no-one questioned.

The fact that your grandmother was born in 1926 is helpful (as many birthrecords prior to this would have been destroyed in the Custom House fire of 1921).

Regardless of the fact that your GM has a birthcertificate detailing her adoptive parents on it- it would still be worthwhile to check the birth records to see if the birth was properly registered in the first instance.

Bessboro is a bit of a mess- the records are now officially with the HSE, however you could be waiting anything from a few months to several years to hear anything from them, as adoptive trace services are not seen as a priority in this era of cutbacks.

You have a few different avenues to explore here:

1. The research room for birth/marriages/deaths, is now relocated to the Irish Life Mall on Talbot Street D1. Its upstairs and isn't totally obvious.

2. The local church to Bessboro is St. Finbars. Inevitably the nuns in Bessboro studiously christened all children born in the facility. The fact that your grandmother has a christening cert from elsewhere is irrelevant- her original cert will be in St. Finbars.

3. She appears to have some background information already- is it possible you might be able to flesh this out a bit?

The fact that the 'adoption' occurred in the era prior to modern adoption legislation- means that official documentation may be lacking unfortunately- however there is no harm whatsoever in seeing just what you may be able to shake from the various sources.

dido2

I made a mistake on the first post my GM didn't have a birth record, I should have said my aunt got her Baptismal cert and this is the only document as such with my GM's name on it..

My Aunt went to Dublin last week to look at the birth records with no luck, she'd tried before, I haven't seen those records so I'm not sure how they differ to those on the Familysearch website but as far as I can make out they are more or less the same, and I've thrawled them loads of times to see if I could find a match..

Would St Finbarrs be the one on Dunbar street, South Parish? Or is there one in blackrock too?
Would it be possible that a baby could have been christened twice?

I have found a marriage match with the names of the parents on the baptismal cert, in 1929 so it's possible they did get married but no idea, it was up in Mayo, but I'm going to order the marriage cert, mainly to see what their occupation was to see if it was one that either or both of them moved around a bit, but even at that I'm still not sure if we will be able to link them to my GM..

I suppose it's also possible that this woman had my GM somewhere on her own and simply never registered it!

rinsjwind

Hi Dido

CeannRua

Hi, I wonder if there is a mix-up about parish / church names here. According to this: http://stmichaelsblackrock.ie/doc/StMichaelsChurch1822to1964.pdf

the Blackrock area was part of the parish of St Finbarr (South Parish) until the mid 19th century only. After this, Blackrock was established as a parish in its own right so the relevant church for 1920s baptisms would be St Michael's in Blackrock??

Dido, whatever you are told anecdotally about babies being baptised twice, this was and is a no-no in church terms. Baptism is a one-time only sacrament. Google for info on this. If the records show that your gran was baptised twice, fair enough, but I think it is just evidence of the unusual circumstances that arose in some situations. I'm not sure about how the presence / absence of records in St Michael's will help you but it might help narrow down possibilities.

dido2

So really the norm would be that because there is a baptismal cert for my GM that the changes are she wasn't born in bessboro, given that babies were automtically baptised there??

I hadn't come across anyone being baptised twice but it could mean that my GM was born out of a mother and baby institution which then puts a different and probably more complicated slant on things...

CeannRua

That would be a logical conclusion, whether it is the right conclusion or not is another matter entirely. I do think that anything that anyone tells you is speculation - you need to check records at all avenues open to you to arrive at anything definitive.

For instance, were any babies born at Bessboro discharged with their mothers within a few days of birth? Only way to know is to ask.

Cork Archives - www.corkarchives.ie - has listed on its website that they have records of Cork County Home & Hospital (think this is St Finbarr's, Douglas Rd) from 1925-1957. I don't know if babies were born there but I would definitely check this out.

Have you done any research on what, if any, other Mother & Baby type homes were in place in Cork at the time? Any research done on hospitals? Don't know though if they would still have records, and even if they do, if they will give access due to patient confidentiality.

dido2

Well my aunt has spent a good number of years searching for a birth record and hasn't found one, she did find my GM's birth record and marriage record in the same church which was the parish church of where she grew up...

She also asked in Bessboro put it in writing but we know now that they weren't the most helpful a lot of the time so it's certainly worth looking again..

As far as I know there is one other mother and baby home, Good shepard that my aunt also searched in aswell, but I'm not sure where the records are held for there..

I plan on going to the Cork Archives and I've emailed them to see what burial records they have, was told last week that one of the graveyards I'd like to see burial records for they have but on their website its not listed so i'm checking to see whats available so I know what I'm looking for when I go, but I'll be asking about St Finbarrs records too now...

We'll also look into the chapel in St Finbarrs hospital..


We're also trying to trace a son my GM had in and around 1945 so it's like a double search really....

CeannRua

Well, good luck with it. I would tell them in the Archives before going there that you're interested in the Co Home records as access to these will be restricted. Depending on what their policies are they may ask for proof of the link between you and your grandmother etc. Always possible that your grandmother's birth simply isn't registered civilly. My grandfather would have been a few years older than your grandmother and for no good reason at all his birth is not registered. Do check with the national school as well to see if they still have a register.

dido2

the man we spoke to last week said they do restrict access to hospital files, but I'm going to bring the certs I have so far for family members, along with needed photo id they request anyway, a print out of each of the family trees and hope that we'll put some more pieces of the jigsaw puzzle together...
Must remember the national school records too...