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My name is Lisa O`Brien. Although it says Lisa Baker on my birth certificate of 17 November 1967.  I am the youngest daughter of Laurence and Gladys O`Brien [Nee Evans],from Stretford Manchester. My first address was 44 Clifton Street,Old Trafford,Manchester. This is where my father lived with his first wife and their 4 children,and he is listed at this address on the 1933 Electoral Register.Laurence was known to everyone as Tony. I am tracing my father`s side of the family. My father was born on 23 Dec 1903 at 6 Back Gold Street,Pendleton,Salford,to Michael and Phoebe O`Brien [Nee Kirkman]. [You can see all these details on the ancestry.co.uk website.] Michael died in July 1946,and Phoebe in January 1951 at home in Trafford Park,Manchester. They had ten children. Their names were, Ellen b.1892, Michael Kirkman,b.1892,Ethel,b.1899,Louisa,b.1903,Laurence,b.1903,Mary b.1906,John,b.1910.Bernard,b. 1913, Winifred,b. 1915 and Wilfred,b. 1916. This list does not include another child called Vincent,whose details I cannot find. Both Michael and Phoebe are buried in Stretford Cemetery Manchester, as are 5 of their children in the same plot,and my own father Laurence [died 15 March 1978 ] is buried nearby. My father`s first wife was called Evelyn.Together they had four daughters,Jean,Maureen,Brenda and Sheila. I don`t know Evelyn`s maiden name or when they were married,although my own mum and dad got married in September 1968,when I was 10 months old, and after my mum`s first husband,William Alfred Charles Baker of London had died in the April. I have been searching for the O`Briens for about a decade. I know that Michael and Phoebe were married on 16 December 1896 at The Mother of God and St.James RC Church,Pendleton,Salford,as I have a copy of their marriage certificate. On it it says Michael`s occpation was Cattle Drover. His father,Patrick it says Army Pensioner [Deceased].Cattle Drover is the same occupation as his future father in law,Robert Kirkman.The story I heard from my half sister Jean is that Michael O`Brien [our grandfather] came from Cork. I met up a few months later with a cousin of mine for the first time, called Roy Atherton,son of my aunty Louisa. He told me the same thing,elaborating further that Mick came from Bantry in Cork. He came over on a cattleboat,he said. I have,on this information been searching for my grandfather`s details online for the past decade with no luck whatsoever. So finally ,after years of frustration at getting nowhere,this October [2014] I hired a professional Genealogist based in Dublin,Georgina Scally, to help me. What a revelation.!! It was the best thing ,genealogically I have ever done and I only wish I had done it years ago. She was able to access the General Register Office in Dublin,look at the Griffith Valuation and the Tithe Applotments and uncover a whole lot of new information in a matter of weeks. My grandfather Michael O`Brien was NOT from Cork. He was born in an obscure place called Money [now usually spelled Munny] in Kings County[Now Offaly]. In further searches it was uncovered that Michael`s mother was from Money and was called Anne Dunne. Now,there are 3 Anne Dunnes in the Tithe Applotment books all from Ballyboy,just to confuse matters. One of them can be completely ruled out as she was married to a man named John Lanigan. However,the other two could be mother and daughter. It appears that Anne Dunne Jnr.is my paternal great grandmother. She was born in Money in 1835. More significantly for me,I found the date of birth of my grandfather,Michael. He was born in Frankford on 28 January 1868. He had at least 4 siblings; Lawerence,born 19 Aug 1865.  Mary,born 7 Sept 1870,Anne, born 31 Oct 1872, and John,born 11 April 1875. Their father Patrick died in Money on 26 April 1879 aged 55.  My next task is to try and find Patrick and Anne`s marriage details,but it is proving tricky. Also looking at records in Dublin,the Genealogist was able to discover that Patrick Brien served in the East India Company.

markova21

Wednesday 26th Nov 2014, 08:26PM

Message Board Replies

  • Afternoon

    Welcome to Ireland Reaching Out and apologies for the delay in getting back to you!

    You could try accessing any potential records from the East India Company at the National Archives in Kew. You can have a look at their website here:

    http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/records/looking-for-person%5Cdefault…

    As you have already hired a genealogist and you seem to have gathered quite a bit of material this could be a good next step. I assume you have already checked the Census:

    http://www.census.nationalarchives.ie/

    Best wishes
    Clare Doyle
    Genealogy Support

    Wednesday 3rd Dec 2014, 02:25PM
  • Hello Claire,Thank you so much for replying to me, and many thanks with the information about the East India Company records at Kew. I didn`t know this,so it`s a great "next step." Kind Regards,Lisa O`Brien

    markova21

    Thursday 4th Dec 2014, 02:26PM

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