The Bergins in Ireland

Well, I'm done resting on my laurels after finding "Baby Jack", so it's back to work.  A few weeks ago I got a newsletter from ancestry.com and they usually tell you about new databases they have.  This being the March newsletter, they had new databases from Ireland, you know, St. Patrick's Day and all that.  The Database they had a link to was: Ireland, Catholic Parish Registers, 1655-1915.  So I decided to try it out.

First I searched for Bradys in Swinford, County Mayo - no luck.  Then I entered my mom's grandfather, William "Pop" Bergen, and it was like the little Dutch Boy taking his finger out of the dike.  I found baptism records for William, Thomas, Patrick, Mary and Kate Bergin.  I found a baptism record for their father, Edward "Ned" Bergin, and a marriage record for Ned Bergin and Mary Malone.

In order to keep you awake while reading this, I have refrained from hammering you with dates, and sponsors for everyone.  But I did create an excel spread sheet and took a screen shot of it to make it a photo that I can post here:

You're welcome.  These records were all hand written into ledger books between 1840 and 1868, so some of them are tough to read, that's why there are question marks in the spread sheet, because some I just could not read.  Some of them, however, were in beautiful handwriting which has survived over 150 years.  "Pop" Bergin was one of them, I had no trouble finding him in the ledger.

There were alot of interesting things that I found in all of these records.  For example sometimes Edward Bergin is listed as "Ned".  I didn't know that Ned was a nickname for Edward.  Some of the baptism dates are before birth dates that I had gotten from other documents - but I should be used to that.  Some of the sponsors' names sound familiar, beside all of the Bergins and Malones.  You can see that "Pop" Bergin's Godmother is Ann Phelan.  Well I found another baptism for a Mary Malone, and her mother's name is Mary Phelan, and they are from Camross, Laois, Ireland which is very close to Borris-in-Ossary.  So I am thinking that this is my Mary Malone, but I am still working on it.

I'm not sure if I have it right, but I think that Borris-in-Ossary is a town, but the Bergins actually lived in Clonagooden, which is an Election District of Borris-in-Ossary.  I think that Camross is another Election District of Borris-in-Ossary in a county I never heard of.

I did this research for two reasons.  First, because ancestry.com had the available database, and second to prepare for a trip back to "the old sod".  My wife and I, and some of my children will be crossing the pond this year.  Now I will have Churches, graveyards and research centers to visit.  The kids will be thrilled.  They thought we were going for the Irish pubs.

I am publishing this at about 9:00 PM DST, so it is actually St. Patrick's Day in Ireland. Eire go Bràgh, which means Ireland Forever.