what is the correct irish surname?

[runningbear]

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

[audrey]

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

[runningbear]

hi audrey, she was in whiteabbey in 1885, ligoniel in 1892, butler street in 1921

[audrey]

Joe
I think Anthony is the best one to help you with this .He has some good lists

audrey

[runningbear]

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!!!

[runningbear]

hi audrey, found her living in bodels row 1900

[Christopher]

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

[charles w]

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.

[tisgrannie]

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