In the 1911 census i have found a Thomas Bridgman as Resident of a house 1 in Drumcrow (Ballyhaise, Cavan), where he was a pupil of Agriculture. I believe he might be the son of my great grandparents who lived in Knocknabooly West, Loghill, Limerick. If he is the correct person he is a long way from home and I believe he may never have gone back.
Any information on the house or Thomas would be gratefully received. Many thanks in advance
Hi Donna,
I looked at the Census & when clicked on "show more information" it did indeed show that he was from Co Limerick & a scholar in the Agricultural college. The College is still there & if you wish to write to the Agricultural College, Ballyhaise, Co Cavan, they may have some records that may assist you.
Not many men received further education in 1911 which would indicate that the family were well to do. If he stayed locally he may have married & perhaps you should search rootsireland.ie (fee paying site), as the name is not common in Co Cavan, you should be able to identify him.
Would he have joined the Army & gone to war? a lot of young men in Ireland joined for various reasons, he would have been 24/25 when the war started.
I looked at the local telephone directory but the surname did not show, though not everyone lists their numbers.
Best of luck with your searches & if I can assist you further please let me know.
Regards Carmel O'Callaghan
Many thanks Carmel for your reply. I have followed through with an email and about to do further researching. Unfortunatley his family disowned him and i am keen to see if he did have a family as so far only his brother (my grandfather) was the only one to have had a family. There were 6 children in the family and my grandfather came out to New Zealand. I wil try to find if he did join up with an army. One of his brothers joined an English army and my grandfather joined the New Zealand army
What i have discovered is that the house the family had in Co. Limerick was considered to be a second class house and his parents were the landholder with a considerable amount of land they farmed.