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Craggen or Cregan - Catherine

ArmaghTynan (Armagh)

I was hoping someone could help decipher the attached census form from Liverpool 1861. If it is possible to magnify and read the entry for No 62 Matthew Street I would be grateful fora bit of input from someone with local knowledge please. The second line for Catherine Hughes has her place of birth written in a way that looks like Tinen, A. Maghisland or something similar. I have a suspicion it is meant to be Tynan, Armagh, Ireland. Google is not coming up with anything else it could be. Could a local expert give an opinion please?

The entry is for Catherine Craggen or Cregan. The marriage certificate (in Liverpool) has her name written as Cregan but on birth certificates for her children it has Craggen. She was born 1828/9 and I believe her father was William Cregan(Craggen) and her mother was Rose Ann Cregan(Craggen). Both her parents names are taken from the marriage certificate, her mothers name is definitley corrrect and I am 99% confident with the fathers name. I was originally searching in Donagh records as that is where her husband is originally from but having seen this entry I think I may have to changmy search area. I will also upload the marriage certificate in case that helps.

Any help with this form or the name of Cregan or Craggen would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you.

IrelandXO member

2 replies

Jonathan,

Yes I am pretty sure that the place of birth on the 1861 census is written as “Tinan Armaghireland.” So that’s Tynan in Co. Armagh.

Statutory birth registration only started in Ireland in 1864, so you won’t find a birth certificate. Prior to that you need to rely on church baptism records, where they survive.

Looking at Griffiths Valuation c 1860 the most common version of the surname is Creggan or Cregan. Having a single “correct” spelling of a name is not a concept our ancestors would have recognised in Ireland. The spelling varied all the time due to literacy issues, whim and so on.

I assume Catherine was RC. Tynan RC baptism records cover the years 1822 – 1834 so you might be in luck.  The RC parish records are on-line free on the National Library site:

https://www.nli.ie/en/family-history-introduction.aspx

Catherine’s father was a husbandman so he looked after cattle on a farm.

 

 

Elwyn, IrelandXO Volunteer ☘IrelandXO Volunteer

Thank you for that reply, especially Catherines fathers occupation, I couldnt read it! I will start looking deeper.

IrelandXO member

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