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Ireland (Historical Counties) => Antrim => Ireland => Antrim Completed Look up Requests => Topic started by: runningbear on Thursday 04 May 06 15:37 BST (UK)

Title: what is the correct irish surname?
Post by: runningbear on Thursday 04 May 06 15:37 BST (UK)
here is a good one to get everybody sharing their opininons,

i have a martha breslin  born c1857, or is she?

in 1892 she is noted as having the maiden name of breslin,

in 1916 her son has her name on australian documents as breslan!

in 1927 her other son in australia has her as breslun!

in 1950 here in scotland her daughter had her as bryson!,

after banging my head off the wall about twenty times i went a bought a copy of her death certificate, and guess what..........

it gives her father's name as james bresson!!!!!!,

i give up! if there is anybody out there who can decipher this and answer this long and debateable surname i would be grateful for any answers.

could there be a translation problem?,

leave me a message giving me your thoughts
Title: Re: bresson, breslan, brelin, breslun or bryson ?
Post by: audrey on Thursday 04 May 06 15:48 BST (UK)
Had a look at your name and there are loads of different spelling seems to depend on what part of Ireland she came from

audrey
Title: Re: bresson, breslan, brelin, breslun or bryson ?
Post by: runningbear on Thursday 04 May 06 18:16 BST (UK)
hi audrey, she was in whiteabbey in 1885, ligoniel in 1892, butler street in 1921
Title: Re: bresson, breslan, brelin, breslun or bryson ?
Post by: audrey on Thursday 04 May 06 20:45 BST (UK)
Joe
I think Anthony is the best one to help you with this .He has some good lists

audrey
Title: Re: bresson, breslan, brelin, breslun or bryson ?
Post by: runningbear on Thursday 04 May 06 21:30 BST (UK)
hi audrey, took your advice and created a new topic for look up, pressed save and it is not showing up on board!!!, no idea where it went!!!, i thought it would go to the antrim look up requests!!!
Title: Re: what is the correct irish surname?
Post by: runningbear on Friday 02 June 06 21:21 BST (UK)
hi audrey, found her living in bodels row 1900
Title: Re: what is the correct irish surname?
Post by: Christopher on Wednesday 09 January 08 00:12 GMT (UK)
Hi Joekar,

Breslin, Breslin, Breslan, Breslun, Bryson, Bresson

That's a great collection of names you have for members of the same family. I wonder how many you would require for an entry in the Guinness Book of Records. 

I like Audrey's comment about there being loads of different spellings depending on where the Breslins lived in Ireland. Not only does it depend on where a person lived in Ireland but also upon the person recording the name. You could have had two or more clerks sitting in the same office spelling a name quite differently just by saying it to them.

Christopher



Title: Re: what is the correct irish surname?
Post by: charles w on Friday 01 February 08 01:18 GMT (UK)
There was also the fact that until the early 1900's a large section of the people of Ireland were not educated.  Also, clergymen usually wrote there spelling of the surname when makeing records of birth's weddings and deaths.  I came across this when I was doing my trees.  There are about 30 versions of Doyle and Mc Laughlins are the same.
Title: Re: what is the correct irish surname?
Post by: tisgrannie on Monday 04 February 08 19:11 GMT (UK)
Hello I have the same problem, I was led to believe I was a Gallagher. My first link to the family was in the UK census in 1871 my gran was listed as Gorlow ! from Ireland. Granddad born that year was registered as Galligan, his sisters vary from Callaghan, Gallaghan and all deriviatives of it. Blow me when trying to find him in the Army after a couple of years he turned up called Buckley!!!! After his step Dad.
I know from experience and local accents that its difficult, names spelt phonetically and even priests in the old days wrote as they heard it. My family name was an Irish woman talking to a Lancashire clerk in some office and they decided what I was to be called!!!!!!
Barmy isn't it. Not unusual really.
tisgrannie
Title: Re: what is the correct irish surname?
Post by: charles w on Tuesday 05 February 08 12:17 GMT (UK)
Doyle, in Irish, is O' Doughall, which in English sounds like O' Tool - I could go on!
Title: Re: what is the correct irish surname?
Post by: jack34 on Wednesday 02 April 08 13:57 BST (UK)
As no one has  yet answered Joekar's original question,I will attempt to reply as best I can. The Irish surname dating back to before the Norman invasion in the 11 th century ,would have been O'Brisleain,O'Breislein and more recently O'Breslin.Dr Mac Lysaght, an acknowledged authority on Irish family names refers to the name O'Breslin as inhabiting Donegal,Fermanagh and Sligo. A google search will yield further information but  please enter  "O'Breslin". :D
Title: Re: what is the correct irish surname?
Post by: tisgrannie on Wednesday 02 April 08 16:06 BST (UK)
Thank you for the sensible explanation. Sorry I took it off topic there.
sincerely
tisgrannie