Apologies for coming back so soon with another pile of confusion and apologies for it being Ireland, but I couldn't sleep last night for going over and over this. I've had a fresh look this morning, but I'm still none the wiser. Maybe I'm now overthinking this, or missing something obvious.
Firstly, as my dad had died before I started genealogy, I knew nothing about his Irish family other than his parents' names, Thomas and Mary. Dad's sister however told me that Thomas's mother was called Bridget and that he was illegitimate. She had tried to get a copy of his birth cert when she was in Ireland, and was told there was no birth registration for him. She did find a baptism record in Carrick on Shannon which confirmed he was illegitimate.
Ages ago, I found Thomas McDermott's army records, dated 11th January 1908. They give Thomas's age as 19 years 10 months, putting his birth around March/April 1888. His address is given as Kiltogert, Carrick on Shannon.
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As you can see his next of kin is slightly ambiguous. The first line says "mother" and what looks like Bridget next to it, but then it states his grandmother as being Bridget, but under the name Bridget, is very lightly written Margaret. Not surprisingly, no father mentioned.
in 1911, a 37 year old Bridget Delaney is living on The Green, Boyle (the address on the army record) with children William aged 16 and Margaret aged 14, which (more or less) confirms that a now married Bridget is the mother, and possibly, Margaret is the grandmother.
In 1901, Bridget Delaney is in
Kiltogert, Carrick on Shannon as follows:
Gallagher William 65 Male Head of Family Roman Catholic
Gallagher
Margaret 65 Female Wife Roman Catholic
Delaney
Bridget 28 Female
Step Daughter Roman Catholic
McDermott Thomas 12 Male
Grand Son Roman Catholic
Delaney William 6 Male Grand Son Roman Catholic
Delaney Margaret 4 Female Grand Daughter Roman Catholic
Delaney Patrick 2 Male Grand Son Roman Catholic
Places - names - a perfect fit on all accounts! So obviously, after Thomas's birth, Bridget married a Delaney.
I found William and Margaret Delaney's births - father is Patrick Delaney and mother's maiden name
should be Bridget McDermott. But it's not. It's
Bridget Keegan.
To be continued ................