Sixmilebridge RIC Morrissey around 1865?

[julie08]

Wonder if anyone could help with a look up?

My GG Grandfather Michael Morrissey was born in Clonmel, the Waterford part rather than Tipperary (around 1839 according to UK census records) but he married a Mary Shaugnessy in Sixmilebridge in 1865.

There don't seem to be many Morrissey families around Sixmilebridge at the time so I'm not sure why he was there, but do I know Michael was later a police constable in Birkenhead so I have a suspicion he may have been in the constabulary in Ireland before moving to the UK.

My dad's cousin was told as a child that the Clonmel landowner where Michael's father worked (John Morrissey was a shepherd) persuaded Michael to 'join the army' - which might have been how the RIC was described... Kevin wasn't sure if it was just family legend or whether there was a grain of truth, but if someone could do an RIC look up for me maybe it would confirm the story? He would have been in his early to mid 20s when he was in Sixmilebridge.
I found Mary's father Patrick Shaugnessy in Sixmilebridge but can't find tithe or Griffiths records for Michael.
My great grandfather was born in Birkenhead in 1866 so Michael and Mary must have left Sixmilebridge very soon after marrying.

[Elwyn Soutter]

I assume you don’t have the 1865 marriage cert? What’s probably Michael Morrissey and Mary Shaughnessy’s marriage was registered in Ennis 1865 Vol 4, page 347. Both names appear in the indexes for the same page so there’s a 1 in 4 chance that they married each other. You might want to order that certificate to see what Michael’s occupation was.

The normal minimum age for joining the RIC was 19 and you had to have served 7 years before you could marry. So if he was born in 1839, he could have joined in 1858 and married in 1865. So the dates just fit.

If you can’t get information on this board, the police museum in Belfast do have a copy of RIC service records and will do a look up and send you a copy of any record they find, for a fee.

https://www.psni.police.uk/inside-psni/our-history/genealogy/

If Michael was a police officer, he wouldn’t appear in Griffiths because he would normally be living in police barracks. He wouldn’t be in the tithes either as they pre-date his birth. (And the tithes normally only recorded those with land).

[Sinann]

Married 26th Feb 1865
http://registers.nli.ie/registers/vtls000634803#page/4/mode/1up
So that Ennis marriage looks correct and as Elwyn said would give you his occupation.
You can order a copy using the form here http://www.irishgenealogy.ie/en/civil-records/help/i-want-to-get-a-copy-of-a-certificate-what-do-i-do

[julie08]

 Oh brilliant - thank you both!
I had the parish record but didn't know I could order a certificate - I did try to order one for another family member a while ago but it wasn't able to because of the year. I'll see what I can do and I'll let you know if I find anything

[Gaelicjim]

Hi Julia08,
I did a search for "Morrissey RIC tonight, saw your request on the search, and joined this site. I am a Morrissey, living in Sixmilebridge. My father was born in MountIvers, just outside the village. His grandfather, was an RIC man in the village. My father was born in 1930, and is deceased since 1997. He was 8, when his father was killed in a car crash, aged 38. that would mean his father, my grandfather was born in 1892. Very feasible that my great grandfather is the same man you are inquiring about. The puzzling thing is, that the 1911 census records show no Morrissey's in the Sixmilebridge area in 1911.

[Gaelicjim]

Oops.........mathematical error........... my grandfather would have been born in 1930. Still feasible that his dad could be the same man I would think!