Finding a marriage partner from civil reg index

[angelan]

I am trying to find the marriage partner for a marriage which took place in Limerick in 1876. I have a name for the husband and as it's an unusual surname I managed to find a likely entry using the LDS Civil registration index. All I know about the bride is that her name was Mary!!!!

I went through dozens of Limerick marriages for Mary in 1876. Eventually I found a what I think may be a match. Film number, Volume, page no and digital GS number are all the same. Does this mean that these two are DEFINATELY a couple or could there be others with exactly the same reference. I know that the registrations for England and Wales often have more than one couple with exactly the same reference number.

Would appreciate some advice about this before sending for a certificate.
Many thanks
Angela

[Ruskie]

Someone with more knowledge is sure to give you a definitive answer, but my initial thought is that if you are sure you have the correct name of the correct husband, couldn't you simply order the certificate using those reference numbers? You can do this with the English GRO certificates - you don't have to specify a wife's full name.

Good luck. 

[Oaks and Acorns]

I would go with Ruskie on that one. You can order a marriage cert with just one name as long as you have the reg. dist., year & quarter, volume and page number.

From what I can recall there were 4-6 marriage entries per page, so it's possible that you might find more than 1 marriage with the same details. One of the more experienced contributors might wish to clarify that.

Do you have any details on the couple's children? A birth cert for any of their children will give the father and mothers names, including mother's maiden name.

Dara.

[shanew147]

The only details that must match for a potential marriage are the year/quarter, registration district, volume and page - the other references (Film number, digital GS number etc) are familysearch internal references and some of these will usually will not cross-match.

but I with go along with what both Dara and ruskie have said - if the surname you've found is relatively uncommon then it's worth ordering the cert based on just the groom.


Shane

[angelan]

Many thanks Ruskie, Dara and Shane for your input. If it was for my family tree I would go ahead and send for it. This is for the family of a relative and I was hoping to get all the facts before I give her the information. When I have sent for Irish certificates for myself I have been pretty sure I'm sending for the right ones.

Thank you
Angela

[shanew147]

some records for the 1860s and 70s are available on the IGI at www.familysearch.org, and you may be able to find some additional details there.

Unfortunately since there are several marriages on each register page, as Dara mentioned, there is no way to be 100% certain of a cross match, especially with a common first name like Mary. If there is only one good match for the husband then the chances are good that the marriage is the correct one. 
 

Shane