Census Search Form Questions

[ddonaghy]

The document I recently found (see link) contains highly valuable and unique info on my mid-nineteenth century ancestors, but also has me scratching my head in several regards.

https://censussearchforms.nationalarchives.ie/reels/c19/007246685/007246685_01226.pdf

1. The application is dated 9 March 1920, but my great-aunt Catherine (Donaghy) Lappin died five years earlier in 1915.  Could Old Age Pensions be applied for by descendants of those who had passed???
2. I can’t make any sense of the address on the application:  ℅ Mr. T.M. Coffey, Cookstown (25 miles from Catherine’s home in Mullavilly)
3. How much credence should I give the data included in the application?  For example, two of the family members listed, Teresa and James, can’t be corroborated by any other sources.  This is also the only source that’s ever mentioned the townland of Ballywilly in association with the Donaghy family, based firmly in Mullavilly since the 1840’s.
4. Do any of the other notations on the application have any meaning for those familiar with Census Search Forms?
Thanks once again for taking the time to help!

[athacliath62]

Mr. Coffey is simply the contact address, but the most important part of the for is the note after 'Return searched by' heading - i.e. 'Not Found', this means that no record was found using the information provided, so something was not accurate, e.g. the timeframe, names or location

For comparison see the next form - initial search also Ballywilly but corrected after a retry, certified, copied, returned to file and copy despatched to applicant

[ddonaghy]

Thanks for your quick reply!
Any thoughts on the fact that Catherine had died five years before the application was made?

[athacliath62]

Maybe a different Catherine ?

Pretty sure old age pension was not transferable and not allowed to pass on to a descendant or beneficiaries.

[Elwyn Soutter]

Pension eligibility age was 70 so this 1920 applicant was probably born in 1850.  Your state pension stopped with your death (as it still does today), so if your ancestor died in 1915 then this applicant is a different lady.

[ddonaghy]

I hear you both, but herein lies the mystery.  I have total confidence in the identity of the Catherine Donaghy named on the application because it contains the names of both her parents:  Thomas Donaghy and Ann (Donnelly) Donaghy.  In the same vein, I have no doubt that this same Catherine Donaghy (married name Dale) died in 1915.  Still can’t make any sense of it.  Appreciate your comments.

[aghadowey]

I'm a bit confused. Your initial post called her "Catherine (Donaghy) Lappin" which I took to mean her maiden name was Donaghy (as in the pension claim) and Lappin her married surname.
In your last post you called her Catherine Donaghy (married name Dale) who died in 1915.

There's one Catherine Dale death in 1915- widow of a Patrick Dale, schoolmaster- in Tamnavelton townland-
https://civilrecords.irishgenealogy.ie/churchrecords/images/deaths_returns/deaths_1915/05283/4467755.pdf
In the 1911 census there's one Catherine Dale in Co. Armagh- in Tamnavelton townland which is near Portadown- with husband a Patrick Dale, schoolmaster.
Note: Census website changing to new format and unable to post link at the moment.

Marriage of Patrick Dale, national teacher, to widow Catherine Cullen formerly Donaghy-
https://civilrecords.irishgenealogy.ie/churchrecords/images/marriage_returns/marriages_1881/11015/8027541.pdf
Residence for both listed as living in Mullavilly.

[aghadowey]

Catherine's first marriage to Patrick Cullen lists her residence as Mullavilly-
https://civilrecords.irishgenealogy.ie/churchrecords/images/marriage_returns/marriages_1868/11474/8217318.pdf
https://www.townlands.ie/armagh/orior-lower/kilmore-lower-orior-portion/mullahead-rural/mullavilly/

So, the 1911 census, 1915 death and both marriages seem to relate to the same Catherine.

As already stated, pension applicant had to be alive to claim a pension. However the other puzzling thing is the Cookstown contact address. It would have been more likely if a person wanted to get delivery of a letter that the address they would give would be somewhere in the area so that they would be able to collect said post (and possibly had it read to them and/or have a reply written).

[ddonaghy]

Apologies for adding to the confusion!
In my inital post I meant to write Catherine (Donaghy) Dale, not Lappin, which was the married name of Catherine's sister Sarah.
The Tamnaghvelton townland is adjacent to Mullavilly.

I'm just now wondering if one of my other ancestors, Catherine Donaghy (1895-1969), a lifelong resident of Mullavilly, might have been *posing* as her deceased aunt Catherine in 1920 when the application was made.  Somebody had to have asked for the Census Search.  Thoughts?