Irish surname spelling dilemma

[berny]

Finding my Irish ancestors has been quite a challenge as the surname is spelt differently each time. The correct name is Patrick Mulraney and he married Bridget Kelly. I don't know where or when but they were in Wolverhampton in 1861. How do I find a marriage certificate when I cannot be sure whether anything I find is a mis-spelling or not connected to my search.  Any suggestions please?
   berny

[heywood]

Hi Berny,

As you say, Patrick is on 1861 census in Wolverhampton with Bridget and children John and Margaret. I hope these are yours.
There is a marriage on FreeBMD: http://freebmd.rootsweb.com/  Wolverhampton Vol 6b page 585 -- unfortunately there is no Bridget Kelly corresponding but there is a female missing from the list. However, I have tried to check Ancestry's BMD but cannot find a Bridget Kelly to match!
It looks as as though you will need (if you have not already done so) to apply for a marriage certificate for the Patrick on Free Bmd - if only to eliminate him for the search.
You could also apply for the birth certificates of the two children which would have mum's name.
As for Irish records- that will be tough if you have no county etc. The first thing though, I think, would be to get these English certificates.
Best wishes
Heywood

[berny]

Thanks for that. I will certainly try the marriage on bmd. John & Margaret are the siblings of my gt gma Mary. Their certs show the name  spelt Mulreany whilst my gt gmas is spelt Mulranell. I do love a challenge------fortunately.
 berny

[gill]

Finding my Irish ancestors has been quite a challenge as the surname is spelt differently each time. The correct name is Patrick Mulraney
   berny

sorry, i cant help.
In Ireland, i dont think there is a correct way of spelling most surnames.
just to give an example............
my g.g.grandfather was married using the surname spelling of McGaffigan (from the parish record) yet on the civil marraige record he is M'Gavaghan, witness to the marraige was his brother Patrick McGaffigan (parish record), and on the civil register he is recorded as McGuire. his son's birth was registered under the spelling of McGaffigan, he married under the spelling of McGavigan, and died as Gavagan. and no, they weren't illiterate.

i dont know if the errors lie with the person who recorded the information, or perhaps each time a bmd was registered the informant had had one too many pints of guiness   

just thought i would share that with you, I dread to think how my lot originally spelt their surname 

gill

[Michael Dixon]

Berny,

I assume you will have noticed that on Census 1881 your GG grandparents gave their birth places in Ireland as Milltown and Williamstown ( unfortunately there are more than one of both in Ireland)

If you want/need their marriage certificate... some Register Offices will allow you to state that you only want to buy the cert if the bride's nee name is Kelly
(assuming that you are sure that was Bridget's nee name)

I do not know anything of Wolverhampton RO !, so best of luck.

A teasing question for you... How do you know that the "correct" name is MULRANEY ?  (bearing in mind that originally the name was probably in Gaelic form, and Mulraney and other variations, are only attempts to put the Gaelic sound into a foreign language/English, with different letter sounds)


My mother's family , after using several forms, ( or having officials "allocate" them a version) "settled" on Gallagher
as the anglicisation of " gallchobhair" .

And by the way, some Irish Catholic priests in the mid 1800s in Northumberland and Durham had a nice habit of recording in church records,  details of the four parents of marrying couples and their home parish in Ireland. Maybe similar happened in Staffs ?

Michael Dixon
Blyth, Northumberland

[berny]

I took heywood's advice re Free bmd then e-mailed Wolverhampton RO. They are always very helpful and give you the info prior to buying the cert or not. They have e-mailed me straight back with a marriage between Patrick Mulraney and Bridget Kenny. The birth cert of my Gtgma clearly states Kelly. OH HECK!
Perhaps saying that Mulraney is the accepted form rather than the  correct one would be more accurate.
Onward and upward.
Thanks for all the help        berny

[heywood]

What a helpful record office! Good news Berny