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Ireland (Historical Counties) => Ireland => Louth => Topic started by: arickett1943 on Wednesday 05 March 14 13:43 GMT (UK)
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I'm attempting to trace my grandmother Bridget Watters - who was born in Dundalk circa 1879-1880. Her father was John Watters. I know nothing else about her family. She arrived in Birkenhead, England approx. 1900 where she worked in a restaurant/hotel as a kitchen maid before marrying William Kavanagh in 1904. Her father was deceased at that time and I am unable to trace any more family as there are so many Bridget/John Watters in Dundalk at that time. Any help would be great. Angela
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1901 has her as Waters. There are 2 Bridget Waters entries in Liscard/Birkenhead and both were b Ireland and both are servants. One was b 1875 and the other 1879
Could one of these be your Bridgets birth reg?
https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/FBQN-66Y
https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/FB7D-QY8
This is also from FS and has some additional info including her full birthdate. I doubt her mother was b 1865 if Bridget was b 1879
https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.2.1/334B-DJC
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The Birkenhead entry for Bridget would be the correct one - can't tell from your link which it is 1879 or 1880? The Anne Morgan entry is incorrect - I was given the wrong information and have since deleted that person from my tree on FS site so not sure why it has come up. Angela
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Your tree shows her as born 3.3.1879 so she would presumably be the link to the 1879 birth not the 1880 one
You can purchase a copy of her birth cert from GRONI which should give her mothers name and maiden name
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I think from Family Search births 1620 to 1881 that Bridget Watters 1879 is the daughter of Thomas Watters and Margaret Grant going by volume and page numbers ,the only Bridgets on there with father John are early 1870s.
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Carole - isn't GRONI just for N.Ireland? Also Bridget's d.o.b on the 1901 census shows that she was 22 (meaning born in 1879) - in the 1911 census it states she is 33 and born 1878 - on her Death Certificate it shows about 1879. So hence the confusion. Her father's name was John Watters and he is shown as a Carter/Journeyman (not sure what that was) and he was deceased by the time of her marriage in 1904.
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Also the reason I put QUIGLEY in the heading as well is because we used to get a visit from a Paddy Quigley who lived in Dundalk when I was a child in Birkenhead. This was after my Gran had died in 1947 and I visited him in 1968 in Dundalk. unfortunately I didn't get any facts from him during the very brief visit as he whisked me off to a 'cousins' wedding in Carrickmacross. I feel there was some family connection between the Quigleys and the Watters - hence the visit but not sure what it was. I'm nearly 71 and most of the immediate family have died and so no-one to check with. Any help with the Quigley's would be good.
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Any help with the Quigley's would be good.
All you have is Paddy Quigley which unfortunately is not enough to provide a basis for a biological connection.
Was he "uncle" or just Paddy? If he was just Paddy it suggests he may have been a family friend rather than a relative. Who was he married to? How old was he? There are a number of Quigley's in Dundalk on the Irish 1911 census but anything after that date you would have to research via the BMD index
I think for the time being it would be better to concentrate on the Watters side and see whether the surname Quigley comes up in that research
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Paddy was always referred to as 'Uncle' Paddy and when I visited him in 1968 I was 22 and he was an older man (I would think in his 60's or 70's) and I remember him referring to the bride at the wedding as being one of my cousins - so that was why I felt he might have been connected to my Gran - maybe he was the son of a sister of hers - which is why I trying to find if she had any siblings. It was very unusual for the turn of the century for people to have only 1 child.
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Searching John Watters deaths between 1880 and 1900 for Dundalk yields only one
John Watters
July Sep 1882 age 55 born circa 1827
Dundalk vol 2 page 549.
There is also a marriage in Dundalk 1872 between Terrence Watters and Catherine Quigley wheter this is connected or not dont know but keep it on the back burner for now.
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The death is a possibility - it would have been just after Bridget was born but the marriage I'm not sure about as it would have to have been a male Quigley marrying a female Watters and then they would have had a son Patrick/Padraig?? I know the address where Paddy lived in Dundalk is there a way I can trace his background from that info?
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Throw the address out here someone might recognise it,
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Paddy Quigley lived at 13 St. Gerard's Square, Dundalk - he was there in 1968 when I visited and possibly for many years before and after.
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Have you ever thought of writing to the present occupant of the address they might be a descendant or could tell you when he ceased occupancy.
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No I hadn't thought of doing that - I think he was a bachelor and he would have died at east 50 years ago but it is worth trying I guess. I have just thought that maybe the Catherine Quigley you mentioned earlier might have a brother and he could be the son of that person and if Catherine's husband Thomas had a brother John Watters maybe that's how they were connected - I'll try searching their names that way and see if I find anything. Thanks for the suggestion re writing. Angela
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Or St Gerards Senior Citizens
St Gerards Hall
St Alaphonsis Road
Dundalk, care of Marie Begley.
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Thank you for that address - sounds like a great plan - Dundalk is a small town and it should give me a good starting point.
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Thank you for that address - sounds like a great plan - Dundalk is a small town and it should give me a good starting point.
Well, success - in fact I did write and about a week ago still hadn't heard so thought I'd write again and hadn't mailed it when I got an email from a lady who had finally received my original letter as it was passed around Dundalk. She is the youngest daughter of my 'Uncle' Paddy's sister AND coincidentally a few days before this I got a 'message' from a Dundalk page on FB that I had asked the question re the 2 families some time last year. A man wrote that his grandmother was Paddy's cousin and was able to give me Paddy's parents name, date of marriage and the children's birth dates as well. Thomas Quigley married a Mary-Anne Watters - so my belief is that Mary-Anne was the daughter of one of Bridget's brothers? They are both going to get back to me with as much information as they can but they are both from the Quigley side. There is a lot of intermarriage between the 2 families in Dundalk - loads of them.!
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Thanks for the update,delighted for you.