Hi Emer
Thanks so much for replying to my post. It's really great to hear from you.
As I am new to this forum and my previous post was my first, I apparently need to make two more before I/we can use the private chat facility.
The first thing I thought I could reveal, which you may already be aware of, is that James Mernin, Lilly's grandfather, is "almost certainly" buried in Ballygunner Cemetery in Waterford. Here is a link to the Ireland Genealogy Project Archives, Waterford Index, St Mary's Graveyard Part 3, Ballygunner, Co. Waterford, Ireland:
https://www.igp-web.com/IGPArchives/ire/waterford/photos/tombstones/1ballygunner/ballygunner3.htmPhoto Number 437
(There is also an entry on findagrave.com but it has no photo and little information.)
The Gravestone Inscription reads:
Erected by | MARGARET MERNIN | In loving memory of her |husband | JAMES MERNIN | Who died 20th Dec. 1898 | Aged 65 years. | Also her two children | JOSEPH & THOMAS | Who died young. | And her son JOHN died 23rd Nov. | 1894 aged 38 years| R.I.P.
Most of the details of this inscription match very closely the details of the life of Lilly's grandfather, James Mernin, who died in Waterford on the 20th December 1891, aged 65; who's wife was named Margaret and who had a son named John (Lilly's father), who died on the 22nd of November 1894. However, if this match is correct (which seems highly probable since almost everything is correct) it implies that the year of James' death, 1898, on the tombstone is incorrect. Perhaps 1898 was the year the grave stone was erected, or the mason just got the wrong information.
The memorial also reveals new information as it provides the names of two other Mernin children: Joseph and Thomas who apparently "died young". According to my research this brings the total number of children of James and Margaret Mernin to 7.
