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Could someone register a foreign birth before 1956?

 

Hello All,

I have been reading messages, and am AMAZED at the wealth of information here. This is my first message. I apologize if anything is unclear, I am just starting my quest.

I am trying to determine if my great-grandfather, Michael Joseph Scanlon/Scanlan (DOB 18 Feb 1865 in Waterford) or my great-grandmother Margaret Kavanagh/Cavanagh (DOB 4 Aug 1872 in Enniscorthy, Wexford) ever registered the births of their US-born children in Ireland, perhaps with the San Francisco consulate or their parishes of origin, somehow. I know the formal FBR/LTBC system only began in 1956, and as you might imagine, I am dealing with dates well before that.

They emigrated separately to San Francisco/Oakland in the 1880s, Michael naturalized in the US 6 Aug 1890, they met and married in Oakland, California in 1893, and my lineage, John Alfred Scanlon, was born in Oakland 17 September 1900. He passed in 1950, and all of my parents' generation is now passed. I am peering through the mists of time.

If their children were registered in Ireland, somehow, great, or if they could have been registered somehow, also pretty great. Would those records be held at the Irish consulate for California, if they exist, or would they be in the local parish, or in a national records office? If not, that at least closes of that avenue of inquiry and I will look elsewhere. 

If anyone knows of records being sent from overseas using some prior process, please let me know.

Kind regards,

Howard Hudson

hwrdhdsn

1 reply

Howard,

Ireland has only existed as a separate country since 1922. Prior to that it was all part of the United Kingdom. So for children born outside Ireland before that - and I assume the Scanlon children were - there was no facility to register them as Irish citizens. There were no Irish Embassies or Consulates and no Irish citizenship then. The children would have been eligible for British nationality but I doubt the average Irish born person gave that much thought in 1900, especially as at that time you didn’t need a passport to enter the US or to travel anywhere internationally (that only really started in 1914), and the parents probably had little thought of ever returning to Ireland. (It’s all a bit different today with mandatory passports, visa requirements and stricter immigration criteria and people routinely relocating to work or study in other countries. So nowadays people like to keep all options open for their children, as well as recognizing their heritage).

The only option around 1900 for registering a foreign birth would have been with the British Embassy or with one of their Consulates in the US, but I’d be very surprised if your family did that. (If the births were registered there, then it’s possible to search for the relevant certificates on the overseas births register at the British Passport Office, in England. I can give you the details if you want).

 

 

Elwyn, IrelandXO Volunteer ☘IrelandXO Volunteer

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