William Cahill born 1923 Mountmellick

Dear Mulberry,

Public records stop around 1920 due to privacy protection of living people. The last Irish census that is public is the census from 1911.  As a rule we can not help finding people who in theory could still be alive. If you know the name of Williams mother we can research back in time

HI Mallow Cork.

Thanks for your reply, unfortunately we don't know his mothers name - someone in the family thought it might be Sarah. We know very little information!

We have now found from the marriage certificate that William's father was John Cahill (deaceased in 1948). We also wondered if there was anyone still alive in Mountmellick who may remember him. William Cahill returned to Ireland in May 1948 with his new german wife, who gave birth to a daughter in July 1948 in Mountmellick. We think they  lived in Davitt Road at the time.  Thanks for any help, its greatly appreciated.

We have now located the Baptism certificate for William Cahill. He was batised at St Josephs, Mountmellick and William's mother as Ellen Cahill. We believe she was very young when William was born (perhaps 16 or younger). The sponsers shown are James Kirwan and Joespine Byrne - we do not know if these people were relatives.  We would be grateful for any help in identifying these people and Ellen Cahill or her parents.

Hello, my grandparents were Cahill and lived in Davitt Road Mountmellick until early 60s. I think my Grandfather James Cahill may have been a brother.

Hi Maryt, That's really interesting. Do you know who else lived at the address - did your grandparents live there for a long time? What was your grandmothers name and do you have any idea who their parents were?  It's possible they are related to William Cahill but we think he may have had half siblings through his mother Ellen Cahill.

Charlie Cahill lived at 1 Davitt Road until some years ago when he passed away. The house was sold and is now a meeting house for the ICA (WI). He had a brother & sister in law who lived in the area of Mountmellick known as Irishtown but they have also passed away. I'm not sure if there are any cousins or relations living elsewhere in the town. You could get in touch with Mountmellick Heritage and perhaps they might be able to direct you further, Mountmellick is not a big town and most people know most people.

Alternatively, you could write to (or email) the Leinster Express newspaper which is based in Portlaoise, (the main county town of Co Laois), which is close to Mountmellick. You could send a letter requesting information on the Cahill family to their "letters page".

The Leinster Express is widely-read locally so your letter might be read by someone who has some information to help you further.

Hi apologies I have only seen these most recent responses so I hope i can help. My grandparents James and Kathleen Cahill lived in Davitt Road Mountmellick and sold this house in 1960s to live in the UK. They had one Son Paddy and three daughters Peggy (Margaret), Bridget and Kathleen. However they also had another much younger relative living with them Sally (my grandmother took in from a relative i.e. believe her father after her Mother passed away). My uncle Paddy confirmed to me that our Granddad James also had a brother John. There was also a brother called Thomas. Both my grandparents are buried in Mountmellick with Thomas. I have a picture of their Home house in Davitt Road and their gravestone. I am the Daughter of Peggy (Peggy was born in 1939). Let me know if any of this helps.

Hi Maryt,  Many thanks for your reply. It's possible they may be relations of William Cahill (our Dad). Through baptism and marriage certificates his parents were John and Ellen Cahill.

Would any of your living relatives have any recollection of a child whose mother married and whose husband would not accept this child?  

Or is it possible anyone has any recollection of him returning to live in Davitt road in 1948 with a German bride and shortly afterwards his daughter was born there? We would be grateful for any information if these Cahill's can be identified! Thank you

Hi unfortunately my Mother and siblings have passed away. However I can clearly remember my Mother talking about an Uncle or cousin marrying a German girl and they had a daughter called Sally. Sally was left in the care of my Grandmother Kathleen. At some stage Sally's Dad came back to Davitt Road to take Sally to the UK. I am told my Grandmother was heartbroken but Sally was soon returned to her as the uk did not work out. That is as much information as I have. My Uncle passed away only January last year but just before he did he gave me a photograph of my Grandad James, his Brother Jack (I think I may have misled you as i thought that was John. Just routed out the old photo and that is what is written in back). I hope this helps? If you want to discuss further please contact me with your email address or phone no.