Byrnes of Walshestown or the Curragh, Kildare

normandygal

I'm trying to help my husband find his dad's birth certificate. We have been on several sites but can find no record anywhere. We have found what we think are his parents and 3 older brothers in the 1911 census, living in Ballysax near the Curragh (my husband's granddad was a jockey) but we can't find any other information or records about the family. My husband visited his dad's old home in Walshestown in 1966. Does anyone live in this area and know of the family? I believe some cousins still live in Walshestown but I don't know their names. Or can anyone suggest where else I can try? Many thanks.

pinkypinky

Do you know the father's date of birth? I'm presuming he's already dead.

If he was born before 1916, you should be able to find his birth cert on www.irishgenealogy.ie - you may have to open lots of records for the name but one will be right.

If he's after 1916, then indexes for births are on familysearch.org/Ancestry/Findmypast but with a surname like Byrne, you could have a lot of certs to order to find him.

normandygal

He was born 12th April 1921 but it's not so much a case of having to plough through 100s, when I do searches absolutely nothing comes up!!

pinkypinky

Do you want to give us his name and we can also try?

You won't get any 1921 births on irishgenealogy. They only go up to end 1915.

shanew

These are the Byrne births that I see in Naas District, which included Walshestown & the Curragh, for 1921 - including one male registered 2nd qtr 1921

normandygal

His name was David Anthony Byrne and his date of birth was 12th April 1921. I believe his mother's name was Mary Hand. We always believed his father's name to be Joseph Byrne but on the 1911 census in the family that has the mother as Mary, the siblings as Patrick, Tom and Wilf and the father's occupation as jockey, all of which match my father-in-law's family, the Dad's name is down as David, which could well make sense as that was my FILs name. Incidentally, the 3 older boys are all down as having been born in England starting in 1905 but clearly they were back in Ireland for the 191 census.

shanew

The only David Byrne birth I see registered during the 2nd qtr 1921 in is Dublin North Registration district - none in any district close to Naas

normandygal

Thanks. Do you know how we could find out the mother's name of this David? It's becoming a real mystery now. My husband has ploughed through a load of births to mothers with the name Hand and has found all of his uncles and aunts, with the names and rough ages he expected. He even found one born in 1914 who obviously died later. However, absolutely nothing for David. We've tried searching for Anthony and even Joseph, his dad's middle name. Nothing fits. His dad was 6ft 3ins when the rest of the family were all short enough to be jockeys (makes you wonder!) but there again my husband says that his Uncle Mick looked just like his dad.

shanew

You have to order a research cert to find out the full details - see option 1 at this link on the IrishGenealogy website. If you are located near Dublin City you could also pick one up at the GRO Research room at Werburgh St.

shanew

Do you know where in England the other children were born ?

There's a possible marriage for David Byrne & Mary Hand in Cheshire..
edit : also a promising baptism of a Wilfred Joseph Byrne

normandygal

Sounds like that's their marriage. My husband has just discovered that two of the boys were born in Birkenhead and one in Chester! Thanks for all your help. We are actually in France so can't "drop in" to Dublin! As he's the youngest I suppose it makes sense that the others are registered in Naas and he's in Dublin. We need to get an official copy as my husband wants to get a passport so that should Marine Le Pen get in next year they won't be able to chuck us out of France following the madness of Brexit!

Thank you so much for your help.

pinkypinky

Stick to research copies until you find the right person.

spurious

He may have been registered without a first name. Check for 'Male' Byrne.

Thomas from Presence

Spurious makes an excellent point. I was pulling hair out looking for a great grandfather and it's only with the release of the records yesterday that I find that many births were registered without a first name with the name only decided at the christening stage and never added to the register.

pedroeibar1

Jockeys and those involved with horseracing tended to be quite mobile and usually lived near trainers who generally were located near racecourses. So concentrate on racecourse locations – for e.g. the Birkenhead connection ‘fits’ with Aintree, just as Chester also has a good racecourse.
(OT but with an estimated 350,000 French living/working in London, with more elsewhere in the UK, and a similar number of British living in France, a deal on work/residency will be done before Brexit.)

KildareFan

Just to add to the 'unknown' first name phenomenon. I have found that the Rotunda and Coombe maternity hospitals in Dublin registered infants born in the hospitals, without their first names. An official from the hospital registered batches of babies at the same time, filling in the information about parents, occupations, addresses, so introducing more potential errors. When a family member registered the birth there's more of a guarantee of accuracy.

I have found one example of a baby who died at birth who is registered by the family without a first name, but generally families record the first name on registration. However, the name on the baptismal register may be different or a variation of the registered name.

tabbey

normandygal wrote: »

He was born 12th April 1921 but it's not so much a case of having to plough through 100s, when I do searches absolutely nothing comes up!!

Probably not a factor in this case, but April 1921 was a time of disorder in Ireland, which is why the census was cancelled here.

Some people deliberately refused to co-operate with the official government, as a form of civil disobedience. This was Sinn Fein policy, as they considered that Dail Eireann was the only legitimate government in Ireland.

A number of these were registered retrospectively following independence, but a few were forgotten.

Jester1947

normandygal wrote: »

I'm trying to help my husband find his dad's birth certificate. We have been on several sites but can find no record anywhere. We have found what we think are his parents and 3 older brothers in the 1911 census, living in Ballysax near the Curragh (my husband's granddad was a jockey) but we can't find any other information or records about the family. My husband visited his dad's old home in Walshestown in 1966. Does anyone live in this area and know of the family? I believe some cousins still live in Walshestown but I don't know their names. Or can anyone suggest where else I can try? Many thanks.

Would you like to contact me? Your father-in-law would be my uncle. My grandparents were David& Maria Byrne
(neeHand), so are also your husbands grandparents. I was raised in Walshestown.

pinkypinky

Hi Jester1947 - the original poster hasn't looked at this site in a while. You may wish to try sending her a private message too, as people often have it setup to get an email if a PM comes but not if someone adds to their thread.

normandygal

Thanks, you're right, I haven't looked for a long time because my brother-in-law suddenly remembered that he was born in the Rotunda in Dublin and we found his birth certificate. My husband is now the proud owner of an Irish passport and I am in the process of getting mine via my granddad who was born in Cork. Thanks for everyone for the help.

normandygal

I've replied to you by private message