odd death record names?

Eric Duda

Hi,

Can anyone figure out what this says for parents names on this death record of Thomas Denniston

attached record.

thomas denniston.PNG

Also, he was married in about 1860 to Bridget Heffron i believe in Longford, would marriage records still exist from there?

Thanks,

Eric

Áine Ní Donnghaile

"Cannot Learn" in both cases - in other words, the informant did not know the names of the parents.

Roman Catholic records for County Longford still exist. Civil registration of marriages for non-Catholics began in 1845 while civil registration for Catholics began in 1864.

Eric Duda

where would i be able to search for those Longford records? thanks for letting me know the names on the death record, it was really confusing to me.

Áine Ní Donnghaile

Do you know the religion of the family? That will be important to know, in order to search the correct record set(s).

FamilySearch is indexing the Irish RC registers, but the project is not yet complete, and it is an index only, without images. FindMyPast and Ancestry both have the registers, with an index and images. The National Library of Ireland has the images without an index. https://registers.nli.ie/

Eric Duda

based on a few obits:

Funeral services will

Princeton Catholic church

so i believe Catholic

maybe in?

Baptism Place

Clongish, Longford, Ireland

Residence Place

Lismoy

Parish Variants

Clonguish, Newtownforbes

Diocese

Ardagh

John Curran

Hello @Eric Duda

Speaking as an Irish person, you can often tell the religion of another Irish person from their name. The surname "Denniston" and the given name "Eric" are both very Protestant names, in my experience.

As @Áine Ní Donnghaile mentioned above, although government (civil) marriage records for Catholic people did not commence in Ireland until 1864, marriage records for Protectants started in 1845. Given the foregoing, I thought I would have a look in the pre-1864 records for protestant marriages. And you may be in luck...!

There is a marriage of a Thomas Denniston on 19 January 1860 under the Registrar's district of Longford. Thomas' age is given as "full age" which indicates that he was at least 21. He married Eliza Mitchell who was also of full age. At the date of marriage, both Thomas and Eliza lived in the townland of Ballyclamay (modern spelling) in Forgney civil parish, which is a townland in County Longford, close to the town of Ballymahon and is situated actually on the border between County Longford and County Westmeath.

The couple married in St. Munis Church of Ireland Parish Church, which is in the parish of Forgney, County Longford. St. Munis would be described as an Episcopalian church in modern North American English.

Thomas' father's name was also Thomas Denniston and he was a farmer.

Interestingly Thomas was a widower at time of marriage, although I didn't find a record of a previous marriage. Thomas' profession is described as "Pensioner" which normally indicates that he had served in the British Military. So perhaps his first marriage was outside Ireland.

You indicated that your Thomas married Bridget Heffron in Longford in 1860, so that name does not align with this bride's name. But even given that, could this be your Thomas Denniston?

Áine Ní Donnghaile

@Eric Duda have you considered the possibility that your Thomas Denniston was married multiple times? Could the marriage to Bridget Heffron have been the earlier marriage indicated by Thomas' status as widower in 1860? Or a later marriage, if Eliza did not have a long life?

Oh - and Eric - if you descend from Robert Duda and Grace Hughes, in New Jersey, we're cousins.

Eric Duda

Thanks everyone, all great info! I'll see what i can find out more.

Eric Duda

@Áine Ní Donnghaile

NameThomas DennistonEvent TypeMarriage RegistrationEvent Date1860Event PlaceCounty Longford, IrelandEvent Place (Original)Longford, IrelandPage Number427Volume Number7

i found this? likely that's the marriage? or maybe that's just the index to the one posted above....

I'm assuming the original record would have been destroys? only the index is left?

In some family notes, it saids Thomas Denniston house was in Westport and Rose Cottege Ireland (not sure that that is)

Thanks,

Eric

Áine Ní Donnghaile

@Eric Duda

What you posted is the index/extract of the record that John Curran posted. Note that your index references Page Number 427, and that the image in John's post is Page 427.

Irish civil registrations of vital records were not destroyed.

Eric Duda

what year do the civil registrations start?

John Curran

@Eric Duda

Civil registration for non-Catholic marriages start in 1845. Then from 1864 onwards, all marriages, births and deaths come under civil registration.

So given Thomas Dennison’s age, it would be expected that if he married in Ireland his marriage record would be found in the Irish Civil Registrations. Unless, perhaps, he married outside Ireland when he was in military service, or, he married inside Ireland to a Catholic in his first marriage.

Eric Duda

Thanks for the info!