Needle in a haystack – Bernard Brady from Co. Cavan

[Eamann]

Hello / Dia daoibh!

This is my first post on this forum. I'm from Belfast but I live in Belgium.

I would like to try and find out more about a g-g-g-father called Bernard Brady. He served in the RIC and from his service record I have learned that he came from Co. Cavan and that we was born in approx. 1833.

Given the number of Brady's in Co. Cavan and the incomplete records for that period, I feel that I am searching for a needle in a haystack!  I would be grateful for any advice as to how to proceed.

Some additional information:

Bernard was stationed in Co. Fermanagh and married a local girl called Margaret Lilly in approx. 1867. I can find no trace of the marriage in the FamilySearch database. She probably came from Cleenish and I have ordered the LDS microfilm of the Cleenish parish records in the hope of perhaps finding something there.

Bernard and his family were moved to Monaghan where my g-father was born. Bernard died in 1908 but of course his death certificate throws no further light on where he was born. Apart from a daughter who married my grandfather, all his other children emigrated to America or remained unmarried in ireland.

Thanks in advance for any help!

Beannachtaí,
Éamann

[hallmark]

Have you looked for his wife on 1911 census? It would give you her age, birth county...possible relatives, children etc....You can narrow things down by religion then wait for 1901 census which is supposed to be on line shortly.

Where in Fermanagh did he serve? Which probable churches? etc...

[Eamann]

Thanks for your suggestions.

Bernard Brady himself died in 1908 and his wife is not mentioned in the 1911 census, so she must have died previous to that.

I know from Bernard's RIC record that Margaret Lilly came from Fermanagh, that she was born in approx. 1835 and that they married in 1867.

Eamann

[dathai]

This would suggest a marriage prior to 1864
https://familysearch.org/search/collection/results?count=20&query=%2Bfather_givenname%3Abernard~%20%2Bfather_surname%3Abrady~%20%2Bmother_givenname%3Amargaret~%20%2Bmother_surname%3Alilly~&collection_id=1584963

[glensman]

For reference:

Administration of the Estate of Bernard Brady late of Lake View Monaghan County Monaghan Police Pensioner who died 19 December 1908 at The County Infirmary Monaghan granted at Armagh to Elizabeth Brady Spinster:

http://applications.proni.gov.uk/DCAL_PRONI_WillsCalendar/willsSearchResultsDetails.aspx

and 1901 census entry:

http://www.census.nationalarchives.ie/reels/nai001155572/

[dathai]

Possibly his grandson in 1911
http://www.census.nationalarchives.ie/search/results.jsp?searchMoreVisible=true&census_year=1911&surname=o%27rourke&firstname=francis&county19011911=&county1821=&county1831=&county1841=&county1851=&parish=&ward=&barony=&townland=&houseNumber=&ded=&age=20&sex=&search=Search&ageInMonths=&relationToHead=&religion=&education=&occupation=&marriageStatus=&yearsMarried=&birthplace=Monaghan&nativeCountry=&language=&deafdumb=&causeOfDeath=&yearOfDeath=&familiesNumber=&malesNumber=&femalesNumber=&maleServNumber=&femaleServNumber=&estChurchNumber=&romanCatNumber=&presbNumber=&protNumber=&marriageYears=&childrenBorn=&childrenLiving=

[glensman]

Previous post?

http://www.rootschat.com/forum/index.php?topic=494106.0

[aghadowey]

So, as dathai suggested, the marriage seems to have been pre-1864.

"I have a Margaret Lilly and a Bernard Brady marrying, according to his RIC record, on 7 May 1860 in Fermanagh. Shortly after that he was transferred to Monaghan."

[Eamann]

Many, many thanks to you all for going to the trouble of researching my Bernard Brady and my apologies for this late reply!

I do not know how I came to write in 2010 that Bernard married in 1867. I already had at that time his RIC file which gave the date as 7 May 1860. Perhaps I wrote my post late at night and got muddled? In any case I am sorry for having led you astray.

If you followed up the link which Glensman found to my post on the County Fermanagh page, you will know that I found out in Enniskillen that Bernard’s wife Margaret Lilly was living in 79 Henry Street, on Windmill Hill, in the parish of Rossorry when they were married in St. Michael's, the nearest Catholic church. I asked the Parish Centre to do a search for the marriage certificate but they were unable to find it.

My research in Enniskillen brought a little enigma to light: Margaret’s child was baptised Edward on 11 June 1864 but registered civilly as John Joseph on 13th. June. I wonder if someone made a mistake or did the couple change their minds between the baptism and the civil declaration?

The Francis O’Rourke that Dathai located was indeed Bernard’s grandson. He joined the Redemptorists, hence his appearance in 1911 down in Co. Limerick.

If you looked for Bernard’s descendants in the 1911 census you probably did not find them. Nor did I for a long time, until I discovered that Bernard’s grand-daughter Caitlín, who was staying with her aunts at the time of the census, had filled in the form in Irish, using Ní Brádaigh - http://www.census.nationalarchives.ie/reels/nai003141006/

You will notice that this 1911 Census form includes an “Eilís” who does not appear in the FamilySearch results that Dathaí found listing the offspring of Bernard and Margaret. If Eibhlin is Elizabeth I suppose that Eilis would correspond to the Ellen of the 1901 census. (She is down as aged 24 in 1901 but 36 in 1911…)

On Ancestry I found that Bernard’s son John, born 1866, emigrated from Scotland to America in 1910.

But I could not find any obvious trace of either his other son James (1874) or his other daughter Catherine/Kate (1869).

I must confess that I stopped researching my Brady line in 2011, waiting for the NLI to put its Catholic registers on-line. I read recently that that is at last planned for later this year. “Mair a chapaill agus gheobhaidh tú féar!”

Once again, go raibh míle maith agaibh for your efforts to help me!