Hit a wall - any suggestions

Lex Luthor

I'm struggling to get any substantial information about my paternal great grandfather that would get me somewhere in my family tree

What I have is following

My Grandfather: born Cork
Father of my grandfather:
Mother of my grandfather:

I've pretty much traced back my g grandmother another couple of generations but hitting a wall at my g grandfather,

Struggling to find a DOB for him, all I have is he was married to ???? in 1908.



Any suggestions of where to look next to get some more info

Thanks

pinkypinky

And the fact that he's an RIC man explains why you can't easily find him. They were not allowed serve in their own home county or that of their wife's. Also, RIC men had to be in the job 7 years before they could marry, although I see from the marriage cert he was only 20 when he married, so they must have applied different criteria to drivers. You had to be 20 to join the RIC, unless your father was also in the service, then they would take you at 19.

ETA: we decided the marriage cert doesn't say RIC but I'm leaving this post here because the above is useful info.

Hermy

Sorry for deleting the marriage record with the previous post Pinky - it says something other than RIC - as his first borns birth record says he's a soldier.
Interestingly it took place four months before the marriage!

pinkypinky

Hmm, you know, when I first looked at the marriage cert, I didn't think it said RIC and then dismissed it because of your post.

None of the traditional Irish regiments have the initials RIA.

Hermy

Might that second letter be an F? Royal Field Artillery?

pinkypinky

Could be - compare to the F in full.

Hermy

There's a service record for him on Ancestry.

pinkypinky

Oh yes, with a terrible mistranscription of O'Rourke but it gives their marriage date.

He's from Westport. Parents John & Bridget, brothers John & William, the latter in the Navy. Seems the whole family moved to Cork though.

Hermy

Here's a birth record for a Michael Sullivan born to John and Bridget in Castlebar.

EDIT: Service record dated 5th Sep 1907 gives his age as 18 years and nine months so birth date of 15th Jan 1889 is spot on.

Lex Luthor

Thanks for the speedy replies...

At least now from what you have supplied, I have his fathers name John O'Sullivan from his marriage cert

In relation to the service record for him on Ancestry? How much detail does this give? I take it this is a paid subscription site to get this info? I'm guessing from what you found the service record on Ancestry gives some info about wife/marriage details/parents/family, etc?

Hermy

His service record runs to 35 pages and gives his place of birth, age when he signed up, details of when and where he served, names, dates and addresses of some family members, and other occupations he worked outside the army.

I think you can still join an Ancestry for a free two week trial which would allow you to view his record.

Lex Luthor

Hermy wrote: »

His service record runs to 35 pages and gives his place of birth, age when he signed up, details of when and where he served, names, dates and addresses of some family members, and other occupations he worked outside the army.

I think you can still join an Ancestry for a free two week trial which would allow you to view his record.

ok thanks, will have a look later

Lex Luthor

Thanks to the information given on this thread I was able to get lots of information about my great grandfather and his military service

In the past few days my aunt unearthed a great find in her attic, his campaign medals from WWI, thought I'd share them with the forum
From left to right
1. The British War Medal, 1914-18 (Established on 26th July 1919), also known as 'Squeak’
2. The Allied Victory Medal, also known as 'Wilfred'
3. 1939-1946 The Emergency Service Medal - Local Security Forces (Na Caomhnoiri Aitiula)
4. The 1914-15 Star, established in December 1918, also known as 'Pip'
5. War Medal 1939-1945 (belonged to my great uncle who was at Dunkirk and was lost on the ss Lancastria)
6. The Allied Victory Medal, also known as 'Wilfred' (not sure why there are 2 of them)