Loughlinstown Workhouse

[reigns1989]

Thanks for that Atha i didn't know this.

I'll have to see what I can find out in terms of contact details for the Parish as i'm in England.

Thanks again!

[spstevenson]

If it's any help, the parish is Ballybrack (my grandmother was born to an unmarried mother in Loughlinstown in 1923). It's the Church of St. Alphonsus and Columba, Church Avenue, Killiney - http://www.ballybrack-killiney-parish.org/.

I ended up taking the Ancestry DNA test to try and find grandmother's birth parents - it's been an interesting journey 

Out of curiosity - did you look up the birth record on irishgenealogy.ie? I had some luck for the father of an illegitimate great uncle where the father was listed on the cancelled cert on the same page.

[Kiltaglassan]

Out of curiosity - did you look up the birth record on irishgenealogy.ie?

There's no father listed.
William 1901
https://civilrecords.irishgenealogy.ie/churchrecords/images/birth_returns/births_1901/01967/1758501.pdf

Also James in 1905.
https://civilrecords.irishgenealogy.ie/churchrecords/images/birth_returns/births_1905/01797/1704867.pdf

KG

[reigns1989]

Hi KG,

Thanks for your help.

I did indeed look on irishgenealogy and as you've seen nothing there.

I had ancestryDNA for Christmas and have already sent it off so hopefully I  get some results in the next month or two.

Thanks for the parish info that I didn't know so thankyou for that!

[reigns1989]

Hi, everyone.

I wondered if anyone may be able to suggest something I may have missed. I have 2 questions, apologies its a long one.

I've searched irishgenealogy and the records show his mother Catherine Carr but no father is listed.

I sent off AncestryDNA on 28th December and also have emailed the parish where the Workhouse was to see if they have any more info.

Just so I'm sure, is there anything else I can try while I wait for the DNA?

Also, story has is that when my grandad was in the Irish Guards over in Germany he may have had a child with a German lady - we don't know for sure.  Obviously I'm interested in persuing this as i feel if there is someone they deserve to know about their father.

I know the potential mothers first name and a rough time period it could have been.  Is there anywhere that anyone would suggest looking?

thanks for your help!

[ourgang]

Good morning reigns 1989. Did you find out anything from the DNA test?

I was fascinated to see the 1901 census returns posted by athacliath62. I never knew that there were nuns involved in the running of the workhouse. For some reason I assumed it was all lay people and run by the Poor Law union. I have lived near it all my life and never queried how it was run when it was a workhouse.

I was saddened when I saw that Kate had her children in the workhouse but have been assured that it wasn't because she was destitute and an occupant but, at that time part of the workhouse was used by locals for maternity reasons.

Kate was my grandmother's sister and probably had her own reason for keeping the name of her children' father secret. She was remarkable in the fact that she kept and cared for the children in what must have been a very difficult Roman Catholic environment at the time.

[spstevenson]

This may not help Reigns1989 but others may be of use to other -

My grandmother wrote to the AIRR project in Hawkins House, Dublin a few years ago to see what information they had on her. We received a page of the minutes from one of the Board meetings.

It appears my grandmother spent the first ten months of her life in the Workhouse before going to a foster home on the Commons Road (just across the dual carriageway from hospital). She was one of several children "boarded out" from this place.

https://www.gov.ie/en/publication/85e31-access-to-institutional-and-related-records-airr-project/

[ourgang]

Hello spstevenson,

Thank you so much for that link to AIRR. I am sure Reigns 1989 will find it helpful. I am going to explore this to find out for myself if Gt. Aunt Kate's children were fostered out for a few years. It will also be helpful in my search for details of family on my Paternal side of the family. Like so many families various members, through poverty, spent time going in to the workhouse.

[DescendantsofMaryChambers]

We are searching for any trace of our ancestor Mary Chambers born circa 1935 before she left Ireland (County Dublin) in 1950 with other Earl Grey Orphans bound for Sydney NSW via Plymouth on the Maria. The Maria came into Plymouth Port late after it was discovered that 38 orphans to be transported on the ship were discovered to be suffering from the 'The Itch', in order to give them time to recover. It set sail on 7.3.1950. Mary was listed on the transportation document as being able to read but not write, that her profession was nursemaid and that she was Catholic.
A reference that a researcher in Australia read when he visited the Archives when they were in Dublin Castle read a government report on emigrants suffering from 'The Itch' and noted that a Mary Chambers name was listed amongst the 38 girls and that she came from Rathdown Workhouse. The reference that he took down for this archived material was CSORP 1850 0 2718. We have not been able to verify the researcher's notes yet and so we are looking a copy of the archived reference above or for any information on a Mary Chambers from Rathdown Union Workhouse (or any workhouse) who might have been discharged circa early 1950 bound for Plymouth.
Can anyone assist please?