Great grandmother from Down

I think that the couple were Hugh Keenan and Mary Nesbitt whose marriage was registered in Downpatrick in Jan ? Mar 1901, vol 1, page 607. Hugh?s father was also named Hugh.

You can order a photocopy from GRO Roscommon for ?4 per certificate. Put the place, year, quarter (where there is one), volume & page number on the application form (anywhere). http://www.groireland.ie/ You have to post or fax the form to them but they will e-mail the copy certificate to you if you wish. Tick the relevant box on the form.

Tradition was to marry in the bride?s church (assuming the couple attended different churches) so that may be the place to look for the bride?s baptism and that of any siblings. Unless it was a registry office marriage, the church will be on the certificate.

Well, on the 1911 census they state that they were married 12 years. Which would place it about 1899. Would it be common for the registration to take that long?

I doubt it?s anything to do with a delay in registering the marriage. Simply that information on censuses at that time was notoriously inaccurate. Ages and lengths of marriages etc were often out by many years. Many people weren?t that literate and even when they were, they weren?t that bothered about accurate data.