As I just asked in a reply to somebody else on this forum, I am trying to find out about my great, great, great grandmother Cathan Mathews. Her daughter Bridget Ward was baptised on 15th June 1823 in Kilsaran, Louth, Ireland, according to the Catholic Parish Registers 1809-1826. Spouse James Ward, child Bridget Ward.
I haven't been able to find out much about my great, great grandmother Bridget Ward, other than her marriage to my great, great grandfather Thomas Greenwood in Manchester in 1846, and the birth of my great grandfather Hiram Greenwood in Manchester in 1846, and they are all on the 1851 census living in Manchester with Bridget's half brother and sister, Betsy Ward, born 1828 Ireland, and John Ward, born 1837 Ireland. (Somebody on another thread on this forum a long time ago said in passing that they were Bridget's half siblings).
The family can't be found on the 1861 census, and I have no further trace of either Bridget or Thomas Greenwood, or of Betsy and John Ward, but Hiram re-appears on the 1871 census living in Salford with his Irish (Dublin) born wife Mary Ann (Roche, 1848-1900) and two infant daughters. Hiram's first child Rebecca was born in 1868 in Salford, and his second child Mary Ellen in 1870 in Salford.
I wonder if the whole family went back to Ireland, which is why they were not on the English 1861 census. Also, I wonder if Bridget and Thomas stayed in Ireland?
It looks as though Cathan Mathews might have died some time between 1823 when Bridget was born and 1828 when Betsy Ward was born, and James Ward might have re-married during that time, possibly in Kilsaran, Louth.