Trying to find grandmother's birth date

p to the e

Hi. I'm trying to find the birth date (specifically year) for my deceased grandmother. My mam doesn't know it and was curious to find it. I signed up for the free trial for ancestry and found a lot of info for her side of the family but no birth register.

I know there was some story about her aunt being given the money to go register the baby but she was an alcoholic and instead went to the pub which caused problems 60 years later when my grandmother went to get a passport for the first time. Whether it's true or not is another story. What other resources are there that could help? Thanks for any help.

55Gem

When approximately was she born? Do you know her parents names, or at least her mother’s maiden name. Do you know where she was born?

This site has birth certs up to 1923, just sign in and prove you’re not a robot. https://www.irishgenealogy.ie/en/

Perhaps start with her marriage cert if before 1949.

This has the index of births up to 1958

https://www.familysearch.org/search/collection/1408347

You’ll need to register.

55Gem

If the story about her aunt is true than her birth may not have been registered until the year she got her passport in which case you probably need to go to the Registration Office.

p to the e

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122140792#Comment_122140792

My mother is convinced it was 1928 or 1929. What's funny is that her DOB is not even on her headstone. I'll try those websites but I'm thinking I might have to contact the registration office. Thanks.

55Gem

If you do need to go to the office, have a look at this.

https://www.gov.ie/en/organisation-information/55ccbe-general-register-office-gro-research-facility/

cnocbui

A death cert usually mentions the DOB.

pinkypinky

You didn't/don't have to pay to register a birth. There is a fine if it's done late though.

Nowadays a death cert mentions a date of birth but this only changed in the last 15 years or so. Prior to that, it just had your age last birthday. Both of these categories are supplied by the person registering the death and not cross-referenced, so they can be wrong, and the DOB can be left blank if unknown.

The GRO will do a search for you if none of the website we've suggested help. However, if you want to give us her name/husband's name and the part of the country they lived, we can help further.

p to the e

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122141357#Comment_122141357

Thanks. She died August 17th, 2000 so may not have the DOB on the death cert as you mentioned. Her maiden name was Clack. It's a fairly unusual name and I've actually been able to trace the family back a long way in England. Apparently all Clacks in Ireland can trace their roots back to one man who settled in Ireland. What also make things a little bit more complicated is that she was Christened Mary Catherine (or Mary Kate) but was known as Pauline for most of her life. Even my mam doesn't know why. Her mother was born Margaret O'Toole and married a William Byrne (I've heard he died in WW1 but I don't think the dates add up) but he died so she remarried to George Clack and had my nanny around 1928/1929. She then married my grandad John Whyte. FYI there are a lot sons and daughters with the name Mary Kate and George Clack.

wingnut

Check the local parish church for the baptism record, most likely the same year.

55Gem

George Clack and Margaret Byrne widow father O'Toole is on Irish Genealogy 1921 so you can get that cert for nothing at least.

https://civilrecords.irishgenealogy.ie/churchrecords/images/marriage_returns/marriages_1921/09242/5345357.pdf

pinkypinky

Ok, so few things to point out.

The birth indexes that are on Familysearch won't have the mother's maiden name in them for the 1920s except 1929.

Births up to 1923 are online, and there's a George Clack on Irishgenealogy.ie born 1922 to George Clack and Margaret formerly Byrne née O'Toole in Dun Laoghaire. So we're looking at Rathdown registration district.

Looking in the less detailed indexes for the mid-1920s. All Rathdown.

Bridget Clack born in 1924

Bridget Mary Clack also born 1924 (not clear if this might be a double indexing but the refs are different)

Teresa Patricia born 1925

Honor Rosaleen born 1927

There is a Mary in 1929 but her mother's surname was Reddin and a Pauleen in 1930 but her mother was Graham.

I would order your grandparents' marriage record from 1951 as a next step. People were better at putting ages on marriages by then although I wouldn't expect a DOB. Email groresearchroom@welfare.ie and request the below record. It'll cost €5.

First name(s)	Mary C
Last name	Clack
Registration year	1951
Registration quarter & year	Jan - Mar 1951
Registration district	Rathdown
County	Dublin
Country	Ireland
MarriageFinder™	Mary C Clack married one of these peoplePeter McManus, Laurence Finnegan, John J Whyte, Joseph Holton, Gerard Wilson, Rosaleen M Darcy
Volume	2
Page	259
Record set	Irish Marriages 1845-1958
Category	Birth, Marriage, Death & Parish Records
Subcategory	Civil Marriage & Divorce
Collections from	Ireland

Mick Tator

Coincidence. I remember a George Clack in Dun Laoghaire in the 1970’s. He had a window cleaning business,used to do all the premises in Georges St, a nice guy and had a daughter (maybe niece?) Pauline who would have been in her 20s then and worked in Penneys.

dubred

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122147569#Comment_122147569

If you check the link posted by pinkypinky, there is another George Clack birth on the same page, whose father is a window cleaner, sadly, I think that George died shortly after.

p to the e

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122142219#Comment_122142219

Thanks a lot for this.

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122147569#Comment_122147569

As I mentioned above there's several George Clacks in the family. My nanny's father, grandfather and brother were all George. Similarly there's a lot of Mary Kates or Mary Catherines. The person you mentioned could have been the brother. I'll ask my mam who was the window cleaner. My mam always called him uncle Georgie and I met him a few times when I was very young. I think he's buried in the same plot as his father and mother.

Edit: I asked my mam there and she said her uncle George (my nanny's brother) was a binman and a road sweeper on the weekends. And what was his patch? George's Street. She said that the window cleaner was George's cousin also called George.

pinkypinky

Let us know how you get on.

p to the e

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122159974#Comment_122159974

Unfortunately didn't turn up much. It's a nice thing to have but didn't get me any closer to finding a birth year. What is the word under "Age" say?

BowWow

Age = "Full" - means 21 or over.

pinkypinky

As a next step, I would approach the church in Dun Laoghaire to ask for their help in locating her baptism. None of the names in the birth index are a close match.

cobham

I wonder if the records survived the fire of that church in 1960's?

spurious

An outside the box possibility would be old examination results (if she did any): https://www.gov.ie/en/service/get-state-examination-results/

p to the e

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122162416#Comment_122162416

I'll ask my mam if she is out that way soon. She might pop in.

Mick Tator

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122162788#Comment_122162788

My guess is that they survived - I was a kid, in Dun Laoghaire because racing (sailing) was on Wednesdays back then. I remember seeing stuff being carried out onto the street while the firemen were there. The fire started in the organ loft so it was at the opposite end from the vestry.