Private Patrick Byrne (52889) - my Grandfather

Finding my grandfather Paddy Byrne in the 1926 census was not an easy task as outlined in an earlier post. I found a "Patrick Byrne" who matched name, age, and birthplace, but much to my and my family's surprise - it showed him as a Private in the Defence Forces (Irish Army). I was not 100% sure that this soldier was my grandfather. So, I contacted the Defence Forces Military Archive, and after establishing that I was a descendent, they sent me a copy of the service record of the man in the census! 

My grandfather's service book.

Within minutes of opening the file I was certain that I had found my grandfather. He was "17 1/2" when he enlisted on 20th February 1923 - the Irish Civil War was still raging, it ended three months later on 24th May 1923. I expect that he did not see action as a new recruit so close to the end of this sad civil war. I now know from my aunt Bernie that he did not live in the family home and that he was an apprentice blacksmith. My aunt tells me that he told her years later that he "ran away and joined the army". His next of kin is listed as "Mrs M Byrne" - his mother Maggie. Note that he did not give his father as next of kin - more about this in later posts.

We have always had some confusion about the spelling of the "Byrne" surname. In 1957, when Paddy sought a passport before emigrating to Canada, a birth certificate was required. One in the name of "Patrick Byrne" could not be found, so he tried "Patrick Burns" - which worked. In the service record, his surname is given as: Byrne, Byrnes, and Burns. Also, his first name is either Pat or Patrick.

My grandfather was discharged from the army as "Medically unfit" on 21st October 1930.

Much of the documentation is difficult to read as it is provided in low resolution (to send to me as an email). I plan to visit the Cathal Brugha Barracks where I can see original file and get better copies. More blog posts to come!

Note to family:

If any members of the Byrne family reading this would like a copy of the (low resolution) Military Archive Service Record for Patrick Byrne, please PM me and I'll get a copy to you.

Census 2022 - Folks will be disappointed in 2122

The recent release of the 1926 census records has been a huge success. One hundred years after the census was conducted, folks like me have been pouring over the records looking for family, and who lived where. I have found a lot of family and have had great fun researching this precious archive.  

The recent 2022 census records should be released in 2122, most of us alive today will be dead by then. If the enthusiasm for the 1926 census is anything to go by, future generations will be itching to see the 2022 records. It was the first census that allowed a freehand section at the end to allow people to write anything they wanted - it was called the "Time Capsule". As I was a Census Enumerator in 2022, I got to see a lot of these when I collected the forms after census night. I saw hand-drawn pictures of the family pet and references to the war in Ukraine. Many people added the names of family who were not in the house that night (they still would not have been counted).

However, if my experience collecting the forms is anything to go by, I found that at least 60% of households (I had 480) left the Time Capsule blank. Many folks said that they did not know what to write in the space or that they could not think of anything to say. What a pity! Imagine the enthusiasm when someone in 2122 opens up a record to see where their grandparents lived and what they wrote in the Time Capsule, only to be disappointed to see a blank! I think at the time of the census that this should have been publicised more. I know I filled mine out with trivia about the family that hopefully my descendants will get a kick out of in 2122. 

What many people will see in 2122 - a blank Time Capsule.

Image taken from CSO website.

1926 Census - my Grandparents IV

My grandfather Paddy Byrne was the most difficult of my grandparents to find, and I can't be certain that the one I identify as him is actually him. First to check was for his family in the Lorrha/Terryglass area for North Tipperary - this is where the family lived at the time of the 1911 census. His mother and father are listed as living in Terryglass along with Paddy's brothers Jimmy, Tommy, and Billy. His sisters Mary, Bridie, and Margaret are also present. Paddy is not there and neither is his older sister Julia (Eileen)...

My grandfather Paddy Byrne on his wedding day 12th November, 1933.

I know that Paddy Byrne was born on 20th July, 1905. This means that at the April 1926 census he was he was 20 years and 8 months old. He was born in Lorrha, Co Tipperary, so with these two clues I set off to find him. The first problem was that his name is common - there are 252 "Patrick Byrnes" listed in the census in Ireland. I tried Tipperary and Galway (where his father was from) with no luck. I then reduced the search to the age range 20-29 years - there are twenty-nine 20 year-old Patrick Byrnes. Many of these were easy to eliminate as the man listed was the son of another family. Only one matches the name, age, and place of birth. Much to my surprise the census return form seems to be from the Curragh Barracks - this Patrick Byrne was a private in the Defence Forces. 

Private Patrick Byrne - last name listed.

My Mum has no recollection of ever hearing that her dad Paddy was in the army, my uncle thinks it unlikely as he had a bad accident with his leg when he was young. We do know that he later served in the Local Defence Force (LDF) during World War II. All the evidence points to this man being my grandfather, but I can't be certain. The chances of there being two (or more) Patrick Byrnes exactly the same age and born in a small place like Lorrha, seem very low.

The next step is to check out the military record of the above Patrick Byrne who was in the army in 1926 for more clues - this is available form the Defence Forces archive section. I'll report findings here when I get them.

1926 Census - my Grandparents III

My maternal grandmother Kathleen Cullen was 14 years and 11 months old on census night in 1926. The means that she was too young to be included in the 1911 census which was held on 2nd April 1911 - she was born just 12 days later on 14th April.

In 1926 she lived in Ashford Street in Stoneybatter in Dublin. What number I do not know, but the family address is later the very nearby 5 Ashford Cottages. She lived with her father Richard, mother Annie, and brothers Dick and Des. Her occupation is "At school". She was born in Dublin, though both her parents were from Gorey in Co Wexford. Her father Richard was a plasterer working for the Office of Public Works.

My grandmother Kathleen Cullen on her wedding day 12th November 1933.

Screen grab of Ashford Street from Google Maps.

The Cullen household.

1926 Census - my Grandparents II

My maternal Grandmother was Kathleen Hurley who lived in Church Street, Newmarket, Co Cork. She was listed in the 1911 census 7 year old "Katty Teresa" along with her father Thomas, mother Bridget, sisters Hannah Mary (later Sr Bridget) and Eileen Agnes, and her brother Patrick Peter. Her two other brothers were in boarding school in Roscrea at the time of the census.

My Grandmother Kathleen (Hurley) O'Loughlin
on her wedding day 23rd January, 1930.

Kathleen Hurley is recorded in the recently released 1926 census records as Kathleen Hurley living with her brother Patrick and sister Eileen in the same house as in 1911 on Church St. Her mother Bridget had died in 1916, and her father in 1921. We know they ran a shop from the house and that they had a small 20 acre farm. Kathleen's occupation is listed as "Assisting on brother's farm". Interestingly, she and her sister Eileen had originally given "House Keeper" as their occupation, but these were crossed out by the Enumerator. 

The house on Church St is now demolished. I took the photo below in 2008 when my Dad and I visited Newmarket. I have no idea why the house was knocked down - the site is now part of a public garden.

The house on Church St Newmarket where my
grandmother Kathleen Hurley lived in 1926.

1926 Census - my Grandparents I

It was with great relish that I opened up the 1926 census after its recent publication. Like many Irish people I was excited to see what I could find, so my first job was to set about finding my grandparents and where they lived in 1926. In this first of four posts, I find my paternal grandfather - PJ O'Loughlin.

PJ O'Loughlin, unknown date in 1920s.

In the 1911 census, PJ is listed as "Pattie Loughlin" living with his father Joseph Loughlin, aunt Mary Loughlin, and a servant Eugene Loughlin in Barnacurra near Newmarket in Co Cork. Pattie was 6 years old. By 1926 when he was 21, he is listed as "Patrick O'Loughlin" having acquired an O and an apostrophe - still living in Barnacurra. By then he was head of the house and lived with his aunt Mary O'Loughlin, a cousin Maggie B Murphy, and a farm labourer Daniel O'Callaghan. The farm size was 76 acres.

My Dad Joe outside his father's house in Barnacurra (2008).

In less than four years, PJ's life was soon to change. He married my grandmother Kathleen Hurley on 23rd January 1930, Daniel O'Callaghan was his best man. He soon moved to Carnew in Co Wicklow where they raised their family (including my Dad Joe). According to my Dad, PJ was a frequent visitor to Newmarket after he moved away. He was an only child, but had lots of cousins in the Newmarket area. He died in 1965.

Who is your audience?

My blog posts are very rare these days - quite often I forget I have a blog. Many of my blog posts are about holidays; what I did on day 1, day 2, etc. I'd always add a few photos. When on holiday I made a point of writing up the day's activities every evening. I mainly did this because I knew my Dad would be reading my post the next morning - he was my audience. I knew he would enjoy reading the post on Facebook, and that later in the morning he would read it out to my Mum. So I was really thinking of him when I was writing. 

Now that Dad is gone, my audience is also gone. On my recent two-week trip to Mexico, I made just one post instead of 14, and waited until I was home to do so. I don't think I will ever get back to the frequency of the past, but I'll keep this blog going with occasional posts - my audience is now myself!

Mexico

I am just back from a two week break in Mexico where Roma and I stayed in Cancún and Mexico City. It was nice to get away from all the wet weather here, though it is raining heavily in Dublin as I write this!

At Torre Caballito.

We first stayed in central Cancún and immediately enjoyed walking around the Downtown area in t-shirts, shorts, and sandals, after the wet winter in Ireland. Cancún is a much bigger city than I expected, The central area is marked by a small park with a statue of former Mexican president Benito Juarez, and a large Cancún sign for tourists to take obligatory selfies at. Sadly, later in our holiday we noticed that the sign was gone and that the white building in the background of photo below, plus the statue of Juarez (see top right corner of "N" in sign) were covered in protest graffiti.

Cancún Centro.

We had just two full days in Cancún city before heading off to Mexico City. While Cancún city was very good value for accommodation, food, and beverages, there is not that much to do there - so we were happy to move on.

Mexico City was a wonderful experience. We stayed in a hotel close to the Monumento a la Revolución which was a great location to explore the heart of this vibrant city. Wow -  they have a lot of traffic here, but we got a travel pass to use the buses and metro to get around. A metro trip anywhere in the city costs just 5 pesos (€0.25), while bus fares were slightly more expensive at 6 pesos (€0.30). This makes Dublin's €2 fare look like a rip-off!

One of Mexico city's top attractions is the Anthropology Museum - it is a fantastic place to see and learn lots about Mexico's before the Spaniards arrived to mess things up in 1521. Be warned, it is a very busy place with long queues. There are so many exhibits, most without English labels. that take a long time to go through. We also did a walking tour of the city's cultural centre, and a food tour with Mezcal tasting. While I enjoyed the mostly taco-based food tour, I was paranoid about avoiding hot spices and kept telling food stalls "no picante".

Enjoying street tacos on food tour.

Mezcal tasting.

Another attraction in Mexico City is the Xochimilco Canal complex. This is a long way from the city centre, we took a train and an Uber to get there. This was one of the most uncomfortable days I've ever had. While on the road to Xochimilco in our Uber car, the driver was approached by a scooter rider who stayed beside us. He was clearly intimidating our driver and was forcing him to follow and bring us to a different place to where we were going. Our driver told us that where we were going was "closed" and the his "friend" was a "guide" who would show us a "better" place to go. We also noticed other scooter riders doing the same at other cars. We checked online and found that this is a common tactic to get tourists to go to a different unofficial and more expensive location. We demanded our driver to keep going to where we wanted to go, but he was clearly being intimidated by the scooter rider. We got out of the car and walked the rest of the way to the Xochimilco canal area by ourselves - relieved to be out of the car. Despite this, when we got to the canal area we were quickly marked by another "guide" and more than likely paid more for our one-hour canal trip. Once on the canal, it was a very enjoyable experience. But being targeted as a meal ticket by local chancers made for an uncomfortable day.

At the Xochimilco Canal.

The highlight of our Mexico City visit was undoubtedly a free concert by Shakira in the Zócalo square. There were several big screens showing the concert in nearby streets, one of which was right beside our hotel. While I only recognised two of her songs we stayed for the full concert and are now Shakira fans! It was later reported that this concert was a record 400,000 people attending - the biggest gig ever in the Zócalo square, nice to be part of a record!

Shakira, Shakira!

After four days in Mexico City is was back to Cancún and beach time. Near the city there is a long strip called the Hotel Zone. Here we enjoyed sea swims and some relaxation. The area was much more expensive than Cancún city, which was only about 10kms from the city centre. Our only effort at tasting culture here was a short visit to the Mayan Museum, where we got to see a real Mayan pyramid.

Viva Mexico!