Shane
Thanks very much for your reply.
I was hoping that there might be some way that I could find out if he's the right bloke without paying all that money for a certificate just to get a clue. I guess I'll probably have to eventually.
The William McCarthy that I'm interested in was born 5 Jul 1907 in Lisnagry and in the 1911 census, I think I found him living with his father's parents William and Catherine McCarthy in Lisnagry Co. Limerick. His father just vanished and his mother (my grandmother) came to Australia in 1915, died 1930. She is my father's mother. It's just an interesting mystery.
Thanks again for your trouble.
Marie