Never seen before emergency travel passport

[Wexflyer]

There were Protestant orphanages and adoption societies in Ireland.
Seems to me that their records would be a "go to" for the OP.

[Wexflyer]

OP should absolutely try genetic (DNA) matching! I have used this to link to multiple distant relatives where our common ancestor was born back in the 1700s, so finding relatives of a grandfather should be straightforward! There are several large commercial services - Ancestry, FindMyPast, etc.

[Maiden Stone]

I missed the OP's statement that Bernard was indeed an orphan.
So his surname is likely not his birth surname.
Given that, I searched for Bernard, without specifying a surname in the search, born 1917-1919 in Ireland.
I found two born in Co. Kilkenny.
One of them was an orphan!
This one
https://civilrecords.irishgenealogy.ie/churchrecords/images/birth_returns/births_1919/01239/1515343.pdf

OP said reply 6 that Bernard was an orphan but didn't know from when.

Note in column which usually has when & where born: "Living newborn child found exposed on 22nd August Borrisbeg". Name Bernard Murphy. Informant Mary Slattery, labourer's widow who found the child. Registered 16th Sept. 1919.
Thoughts: Why was he given the name Bernard Murphy? A foundling might be named after or suggested by the person who found it or a member of orphanage/workhouse staff. Or names might be selected from an alphabetical list as in "Oliver Twist". Was he placed in an orphanage straightaway or did Mary Slattery look after him? Did she know more than she let on?

I looked for Simpson in County Kilkenny on 1911 census. Only a handful. 3 single men, a groom, a servant, a soldier in barracks, a child in his grandfather's household. Adjacent counties e.g. Carlow, Tipperary, had families. Most were Church of Ireland.   

[Wexflyer]

I missed the OP's statement that Bernard was indeed an orphan.
So his surname is likely not his birth surname.
Given that, I searched for Bernard, without specifying a surname in the search, born 1917-1919 in Ireland.
I found two born in Co. Kilkenny.
One of them was an orphan!
This one
https://civilrecords.irishgenealogy.ie/churchrecords/images/birth_returns/births_1919/01239/1515343.pdf

OP said reply 6 that Bernard was an orphan but didn't know from when.


Thoughts: Why was he given the name Bernard Murphy? A foundling might be named after or suggested by the person who found it or a member of orphanage/workhouse staff.

Bernard - probably either the whim of whoever was responsible for the child, who may or may not have had an insight into parentage.

Murphy - I view this as just a placeholder. Murphy is the most common Irish surname, just as Smith is the most common English surname, hence "John Smith" as a common assumed name.

[aghadowey]

May 20 (supposed birthdate) is the feast day of San Bernardino of Siena but perhaps that's just a co-incidence.
 

[heywood]

A published tree with no information about Bernard apart from spouse gives his date of birth as 29th May 1918.

[Wexflyer]

I missed the OP's statement that Bernard was indeed an orphan.
So his surname is likely not his birth surname.
Given that, I searched for Bernard, without specifying a surname in the search, born 1917-1919 in Ireland.
I found two born in Co. Kilkenny.
One of them was an orphan!
This one
https://civilrecords.irishgenealogy.ie/churchrecords/images/birth_returns/births_1919/01239/1515343.pdf

Unfortunately not.
This Bernard Murphy married in Kilkenny in 1945, and died in 1962.
So not him!

I would again recommend that the OP pursue the DNA testing approach as probably the easiest, most likely route to determine her grandfather's origins.

[Maiden Stone]

Re. feastdays of saints. August 20th is feast of St. Bernard of Clairvieux. Bernard Murphy, found 22nd Aug. may have been named for him.

[aghadowey]

Only problem is that naming abandoned child after a saint would likely indicate a Catholic orphanage- although, of source, we don't know if Bernard was raised Church of Ireland.