Catherine Heron (B. 1907) in Ireland

[Elwyn Soutter]

The thing that confuses us is that a year earlier they did register the birth of their other daughter Mary Josephine a year earlier!!

That also might be a chance that the birth was registered a lot later as in the 80s early 90s her grandson Tommy Coyne was a Scottish footballer (my father in laws cousin) but played for the Irish national team! Is this possible? Retrospectively register someone’s birth.

Yes. Can be done provided someone present at the birth is able to testify to it. In Belfast I once came across a family of about 6 children aged between 10 and 18 all registered on the same day. There were notes in the margin referring to an affidavit the mother had sworn, presumably confirming she was the mother and why the births were being registered so late.

[Wexflyer]

That also might be a chance that the birth was registered a lot later as in the 80s early 90s her grandson Tommy Coyne was a Scottish footballer (my father in laws cousin) but played for the Irish national team! Is this possible? Retrospectively register someone’s birth.

Why would that require a birth cert for her?

And yes, births could of course be registered later. With varying degrees of difficulty, depending on how much later.  But should still turn up in search - it is by year of birth, not registration as far as I know.

In any case, one can easily extend the date range in the search on IrishGenealogy.ie - don't see one for her from 1907-1924

[Kiltaglassan]

Mary Josephine's birth record. Born at Mary Street, Mullingar - 19 March 1906.   MMN Cowley   #492
https://www.irishgenealogy.ie/files/civil/birth_returns/births_1906/01749/1690315.pdf

[sarah_robbo]

UPDATE that might help....This is her baptism Certificate. It is stamped at the record office in 1914. We know her Dad was in Connaught Rangers, and was claiming money for the children while at War - they were then living in Glasgow. Any help?

[Wexflyer]

UPDATE that might help....This is her baptism Certificate. It is stamped at the record office in 1914. We know her Dad was in Connaught Rangers, and was claiming money for the children while at War - they were then living in Glasgow. Any help?

So, with this baptismal certificate, it seems to me that there is no need for a birth registration.

[Elwyn Soutter]

There were only 527 births registered in Ballina in 1907. If you want, it’s easy to check them all on the irishgenealogy site, looking for every possible permutation of the spelling, in case the birth is badly transcribed. I don’t see any that fits. So as Wexflyer suggested previously, it’s quite possible the  family overlooked registering it.

It’s interesting that in 1914 they used the child’s baptismal certificate and not a birth certificate. Could that be because she didn’t have a birth certificate? What paperwork was provided for the other children? Birth certs or baptismal certs?

If you need the birth certificate because you intend to apply for something, it’s possible that the authorities will accept a baptismal certificate instead. I have heard of that being successful in some Irish citizenship applications.

[Wexflyer]

If you need the birth certificate because you intend to apply for something, it’s possible that the authorities will accept a baptismal certificate instead. I have heard of that being successful in some Irish citizenship applications.

An unregistered birth is not a unique circumstance, in fact it is relatively common. If the intention is to apply for citizenship, then my understanding is that a baptismal certificate plus parents marriage registration should be sufficient. Maybe add in census returns showing birth in Ireland, just to be sure   And state that there is no birth registration - anywhere. The people processing these applications aren't automatons - or at least they weren't in the past.