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Michael John Doyle

Leitrim

Michael was my dad: he died in 1984 in England, but he always claimed that he was born in the Manorhamilton area in 1908.  No information of any kind has ever come to light to verify his statement.

I have  reluctantlly come to the conclusion that he adopted a different identity at some point in England.  Any clues to his 'real'  identity that came out  seemed sometimes contradictory - and there was never any contact with family or friends in Ireland.

What does seem reasonably certain is that he knew Manorhamilton -  and oddly he appeared familiar with such surnames as Loftus and Wynne.

He said that he had first come over to Britain with a sugar-beet hoeing 'College' and then had became employed as a navvy on public work schemes.

He was a practising catholic but only starting going to mass again in the later 1940s. There was even a suggestion that he had tried the religious life before he had left Ireland.

I believe that  my dad either felt such shame, or fear, that he could never bring himself to open up about his early life. It haunted him.

So, I have only half a family tree to hand  on.  Now an old man myself - and his only known child - I continue my search by every means open to me to discover  his story and pass it on to his descendants.  

 

bearla

3 replies

Michael’s death record on Ancestry gives his birth date as 21 Sept. 1908. The following record, from the 1839 Register, repeats this date.

Name: Michael J Doyle
Gender: Male
Marital Status: Married
Birth Date: 21 Sep 1908
Residence Date: 1939
Address: 8. Turk St
Residence Place: Alton, Hampshire, England
Occupation: Public Works Contractor's Labourer
Line Number: 6
Schedule Number: 285
Sub Schedule Number: 1
Enumeration District: Edcc
Borough: Alton
Registration district: 104-1
Inferred Spouse:
Kathleen K Doyle
Household Members Age
Michael J Doyle 31
Kathleen K Doyle
25
This record is officially closed.

He married Kathleen Dawson in 1936. Perhaps get a copy of his marriage record, which may reveal his place of birth and parents’ names.

glanvil3@aol.com

Thank you for info/suggestions; Michael Wynne (above) died shortly after birth; The Michael Doyle described in the 1939 register is my dad. Since his marriage took place  in a Register Office  no connection was made back to Ireland. He did name his father as 'John', but this has not led to a birth record. Thanks again.

 

bearla

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