Best way of finding out who lived in a house in 1978

Hannaho

Hi! Again!! I have my gandfather's death cert, but can't read the name of his son-in-law, who was present at death, and whose wife was my aunt, though I never met her as my father did not talk to his family. My paternal aunt and her husband, lived in Knocksinna, Creasent, Foxrock in 1978.

Have a look at this, might help

https://www.dublincity.ie/residential/libraries/heritage-and-history/dublin-city-council-records

the 12 th man

Thom's Directory used to name all residents by address,I'm sure there's a 1978 version knocking around out there.

gormdubhgorm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/2058235244/best-way-of-finding-out-who-lived-in-a-house-in-1978

Land Registry is another option - you can search it and see who the occupier was in 1978.

Hannaho

Thanks again to all of you for the replies. I will try Thoms directory and the Land Registry. Blaris - is there a similar historical register of electors for Dun Laoghaire and Rathdown Council - I think Knocksinna Crescent is Dublin 18?

Garlinge

You could try calling at the address? neighbours might still be there? or writing or phoning? Pearse Library research room would have a set of old phone books but I hear it is closed at the moment. This is also a full set of Thoms directories there but regular libraries have them also - you may have to ask for them.

pinkypinky

Valuation Office rates up to 1977 so probably the same people there.

Hermy

There's a good set of Thom's Directories in Tallaght Library.

Hmm, I don't know exactly. It would have been Dublin County Council area then I suppose. So most likely decanted to DLR, Thoms might be easier.

L1011

Thoms only lists the "householder" and as the directories get close to the current day, they get less and less accurate for private houses.

There are various pre-1986 Thoms on AskAboutIreland but they're a balls to search, and some aren't indexed at all.

Here's the page from the 78/79 Thoms:

https://griffiths.askaboutireland.ie/gv4/thoms/thoms_street_1978_1979_dublin%20city_dublin%20county/thoms_street_1978_1979_dublin%20city_dublin%20county_pg0535.pdf

And 1980:

https://griffiths.askaboutireland.ie/gv4/thoms/thoms_street_1980_dublin%20city_dublin%20county/thoms_street_1980_dublin%20city_dublin%20county_pg0542.pdf

Electoral rolls give much better info (still often have people who left or even died years/decades ago though); I'd expect those to be in the Lexicon in DL but getting access to anything there is painful.

pinkypinky

OP: have you looked for a death notice for your grandfather? Sometimes they name sons-in-law.

Hannaho

Thanks for all the replies. So, is it still worth going to search a Thoms Directory for 1978 in Tallaght, given that it is difficult to get any info from DL. Pinkypinky, yes the son in law who lived at the house in Knocksinna Crescent is on the Death Cert, but I can't read the writing. I think the first name is Dermott, but I can't read the second name at all. I also can't locate my Aunt's name in relation to marriage on any site. I'm presuming she married in the late 1940s, as my father first married in 1943, and he was the eldest. If I go to the GRO Office, will I be able to search for her marriage cert somewhere, using just her name, somewhere between, 1948 and 1958? I know she was still alive up until 2012. All this genealogy stuff - of which I have only recently gotten into - is really interesting, but quite frustrating at times!

L1011

I've given you the page from the 1978 Thoms already above.

Hermy

Also. Pinky referred to death notice rather than death cert.

pinkypinky

Hannaho - please do read our stickies on how to use genealogical records, which will guide you to what is available where.

Indexes for marriages are available up to 1958 on Ancestry, Findmypast and Familysearch. If your aunt married before then, you should be able to find the index reference and just email the GRO for the marriage record.

Hannaho

Hi! L1011 - apologies I didn't see the link for the Thoms journal. I looked at the 1979 one, and it said Raymond Carroll. I looked at the Death Cert again and could then make out that the son-in-law's surname was Carroll. His first name on death cert was incorrect, and was down as Desmond. So I found my aunt, who and discovered she had died in 2018, and that she had children, my first cousins, who I had never met. Thanks to all for your help with this.

pinkypinky

Great news. Hopefully you can find them easily enough but please note it is against the forum charter to assist with searches for living people.

Hannaho

Hi! Pinkypinky. Neither of those people were living, unfortunately, as I would love to have been able to contact them for a more compete family story. They died in 2007 and 2013.

pinkypinky

I meant their children.

Hannaho

HI! Pinkypinky, I won't be contacting their children. I don't think they would have any interest in knowing me, as my dad was the black sheep of the family, but I would have been interested in my aunt's stories about my dad, why he became the black sheep etc. As it happens, I have now connected, through a name and profession that was mentioned to me, years ago, from one of the few cousins I know on my dad's side, and realise that one of my aunts children actually is one of the 800 staff where I work, but I would have no interest in approaching them, and it wouldn't be appropriate to mention the connection to them in a work context. I don't think any of my aunt's children have an account on Ancestry, but if I discovered that they did, I might message them through that, and they could choose to respond or not.