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Looking for Patrick Grady

LimerickLoghill (Limerick)

Hi,

I am looking for Patrick Grady/O'Grady who was born in Loughill, Limerick in 1832 to Cornelius Grady sometimes called Thomas and Mary Madigan. I have found the entry in the Parish Register and also a couple of siblings and a prior Patrick who was christened in 1826 but must have died.

I believe he is the Patrick Grady on the 'British Trident' that docked in Sydney, NSW in February 1861 whose fare was paid for by Maurice Nash. The Deposit was paid for in 1860. The Deposit Journal has his residence as Ballyhahill. The Shipping log says he is from Lisready which I believe is Loughill. I can find Patrick in Victoria, Australia living not too far from Maurice Nash. He is married to Bridget Clancy. Her father is John Clancy and he is on the Griffiths Valuations at Carrowbanebeg with a Mary Madigan living next door which may be Patrick's mother.

I am in contact with descendants of Patrick in Australia.

The problem is that there is a marriage record in Loughill for Patrick Grady and Bridget Clancy in Jan 1861. At this time Patrick looks like the one on the 'British Trident' about to land. I cannot find Bridget on the passenger list.

In the book 'Limerick Families Abroad' the Patrick Grady on the 'British Trident' has parents Connor/Thomas and Mary.from Lisready/Loghill.

So if anyone can help I am looking to find out the following:

Was it possible in Limerick in the Catholic Church to be married where one is not there eg by 'Proxy' in 1860/61?

Are the Parish Registers transcribed records or original records? It seems to me that there should be more than one book for some of these parishes eg Loghill or Shanagolden and the dates don't always look like they are in proper sequence. I am wondering whether the marriage date could in fact be 1860 not 1861. Some records for some parishes appear to be in English, others in Latin and others in Gaelic.Thats what made me wonder.

On baptismal records do married women use their maiden name? Do widows revert back to their maiden name after their husband dies? I think someone told me once that wives of transported convicts became widows. Is that correct?

I know that Maurice Nash is my greatgrandfather's cousin. I know that Patrick Grady is also my great grandfather's cousin. I'm just trying to make sure that I have the right one and it would all be fine excepet for that Marriage Record.

There are so few Grady's living in this are of Limerick. Would appreciate anyone's help.

Regards,

Cheryl

chezem

4 replies

Cheryl:

Welcome to Ireland Reaching Out!

I can answer a few of your questions but I will e-mail our parish liaison in Shanagolden to see if she can assist further.

The parish registers are the original records. I tried to find the marriage record but I kept seeing baptismal records.

Baptismal records usually have the maiden name of the mother. Widows normally retained their married surname. Can't answer your question on wives of convicts becoming widows.

I'm not aware of marriages by proxy.

Roger McDonnell

Castlemore RoscommonIrelandXO Volunteer

Cheryl,

I have never heard of proxy marriages in Ireland (or the UK). And if anyone did carry out such a ceremony I doubt it would be valid. One of the key criteria is that the couple both freely consent to marrying each other that day. If one of them wasn’t present, it’d be almost impossible for the person performing the ceremony to be satisfied as to that vital point.

Regarding remarriage for convicts, the wives weren’t actually classified as widows. The law simply allowed them to remarry after 7 years provided their husband was in another country. It was a pragmatic solution to the difficulty of confirming death or divorcing when your spouse was on the other side of the planet.

Civil law in Australia and in the UK allowed for such remarriages. But I am not sure whether the RC church would have necessarily allowed it. If the absent party was possibly still alive, I could see them refusing a second marriage. From 1845 there was the option of marrying before a Registrar but I am not sure how they would have viewed it.

There’s a little about remarrying after 7 years on this link. The law in England and Australia appears to have been the same. Not sure whether Ireland (which had different marriage laws) was included in the 7 years arrangement.

http://members.iinet.net.au/~perthdps/convicts//confem.html

 

Elwyn, IrelandXO Volunteer ☘IrelandXO Volunteer

Hi Roger,

Here is a link to the marriage record. http://registers.nli.ie/pages/vtls000634990_073 It is on the right hand side and says 2nd of February but has been chaned to a 9.

In respect of maiden names on baptismal records I was meaning the sponsors. If a husband and wife are sponsors will they both have the same surname or does the wife use her maiden name? The reason I ask is that the same man and woman are appearing more than once as sponsors with different surnames and I think they are husband and wife.

So if the book is wrong then looks like I am looking for a different Patrick Grady born in the same place at the same time.

Thanks,

 

Cheryl

chezem

Cheryl:

Thanks for the page with the marriage record. In my experience, a female sponsor who was married would show her married surname.

Roger

Castlemore RoscommonIrelandXO Volunteer

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