I'm sorry I don't get worked up about much.....but I can't let sweeping statements go unchallenged. To say "I've been doing this a long time and have come to accept the Irish didn't know their age or date of birth" is quite ridiculous and to be honest insulting.In the US and UK they did? True pre 1868 the official records arent there and I can understand your frustration on finding records but making sweeping statements in a field of history is ridiculous.I again say....if someone didnt know their age it was due to illiteracy and nothing to do with the Irish person as a whole. Best regards,Kevin, Co Cork. > > Robin I have been doing this a long time and have come to accept that the Irish didn't know their age or date of birth. What really got me recently, working on a family in Jersey City the siblings claim they were born in NY or NJ when I have one birth cert. from England and several of them on the passenger list immigrating claiming they were born in Ireland. I'll never learn where they came from in Ireland. Dolores New York > > ----- Original Message ----- > From: RobinVanM@aol.com > Date: Friday, September 22, 2006 4:41 pm > Subject: Irish Birthdates > To: IRL-CORK@rootsweb.com > > > I was surprised to find wildly differing birthdates for Irish > > immigrant > > ancestors, but Radford and Betit's excellent Genealogist's Guide > > to Discovering > > Your Irish Ancestors said they often didn't know the year they > > were born. It > > just wasn't important in rural Ireland. Radford and Betit said > > Irish > > immigrants sometimes were 5, 10, or 15 years off their actual > > birth year, although > > the day and date were often more accurate. From censuses, > > tombstones, local > > histories, etc. I found birth years for an my Irish ancestors > > would range from > > 9 to 17 years, like 1813 to 1830. When one applied for a Civil > > War pension, > > the pension examiner said he "could not tell his age. We > > should judge him > > 52." Combine that with the fact that they kept using the same > > first names > > over and over (there were five Michael McMahons in a New > > Hampshire town of 1700 > > people), and it's no wonder we have such a hard time finding > > them. > > Robin in Maryland > > > > ------------------------------- > > To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to IRL-CORK- > > request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without the > > quotes in the subject and the body of the message > > > > ------------------------------- > To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to IRL-CORK-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes in the subject and the body of the message > www.ancestralservices.co.uk ----------------------------------------------------------------- Find the home of your dreams with eircom net property Sign up for email alerts now http://www.eircom.net/propertyalerts

I've found birth dates in the US with huge variations as for birth years, even when I'm absolutely sure I have the right person. So I'd say it's probably a universal problem, not one endemic to Ireland. On 9/22/06 6:42 PM, "kevin" <kevinmcc59@eircom.net> wrote: > I'm sorry I don't get worked up about much.....but I can't let sweeping > statements go unchallenged. To say "I've been doing this a long time and have > come to accept the Irish didn't know their age or date of birth" is quite > ridiculous and to be honest insulting.In the US and UK they did? True pre 1868 > the official records arent there and I can understand your frustration on > finding records but making sweeping statements in a field of history is > ridiculous.I again say....if someone didnt know their age it was due to > illiteracy and nothing to do with the Irish person as a whole. Best > regards,Kevin, Co Cork. > >> >> Robin I have been doing this a long time and have come to accept that the >> Irish didn't know their age or date of birth. What really got me recently, >> working on a family in Jersey City the siblings claim they were born in NY or >> NJ when I have one birth cert. from England and several of them on the >> passenger list immigrating claiming they were born in Ireland. I'll never >> learn where they came from in Ireland. Dolores New York >> >> ----- Original Message ----- >> From: RobinVanM@aol.com >> Date: Friday, September 22, 2006 4:41 pm >> Subject: Irish Birthdates >> To: IRL-CORK@rootsweb.com >> >>> I was surprised to find wildly differing birthdates for Irish >>> immigrant >>> ancestors, but Radford and Betit's excellent Genealogist's Guide >>> to Discovering >>> Your Irish Ancestors said they often didn't know the year they >>> were born. It >>> just wasn't important in rural Ireland. Radford and Betit said >>> Irish >>> immigrants sometimes were 5, 10, or 15 years off their actual >>> birth year, although >>> the day and date were often more accurate. From censuses, >>> tombstones, local >>> histories, etc. I found birth years for an my Irish ancestors >>> would range from >>> 9 to 17 years, like 1813 to 1830. When one applied for a Civil >>> War pension, >>> the pension examiner said he "could not tell his age. We >>> should judge him >>> 52." Combine that with the fact that they kept using the same >>> first names >>> over and over (there were five Michael McMahons in a New >>> Hampshire town of 1700 >>> people), and it's no wonder we have such a hard time finding >>> them. >>> Robin in Maryland >>> >>> ------------------------------- >>> To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to IRL-CORK- >>> request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without the >>> quotes in the subject and the body of the message >>> >> >> ------------------------------- >> To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to >> IRL-CORK-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes >> in the subject and the body of the message >> > > www.ancestralservices.co.uk > > ----------------------------------------------------------------- > Find the home of your dreams with eircom net property > Sign up for email alerts now http://www.eircom.net/propertyalerts > > > > ------------------------------- > To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to > IRL-CORK-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes > in the subject and the body of the message

Here's one for you.....for records found in mid 1800's in South West Cork, Ireland, I have a family member who's baptismal record was dated a few months earlier then the later found birth record. Please correct me if I am wrong but I believe at one time, it was customary for children of Catholic families to be baptized with in 24 hours of birth. That's fine if the crops weren't being harvested or turf didn't need turning Keep in mind that transportation wasn't always readily available for the farmers that lived on the far outskirts. My discussion with Father put in perspective for me. He said Ireland was a very difficult time for 99% of it's people in earlier times (I am researching the 1700-1800's). Giving birth, never mind the high mortality rate for new born, being able to put food on the table each night and getting through the other normal everyday hardships were hard enough (and it was here in the US too for many). The Priests knew that the babies were older, even though it was recorded as born a few days prior. Yes it was frowned upon but they understood the families situation and the time period. I agree with Kevin, it's not just the Irish. Look at your census research or family Bible recordings. The only correct birth date for my grandmother is her birth record-1887. She would never have told people that she was 3 years younger then my grandfather. Her social security records and her drivers license didn't even have the correct year. But she was consistent....1900 on EVERYTHING...even her memorial stone. LOL. My thought...the older the record is, the more chance for it to be not accurate. For me...... I am content that I can find the records of my early ancestors here and in Ireland. And if the records are a bit off.....so be it. kevin <kevinmcc59@eircom.net> wrote: I'm sorry I don't get worked up about much.....but I can't let sweeping statements go unchallenged. To say "I've been doing this a long time and have come to accept the Irish didn't know their age or date of birth" is quite ridiculous and to be honest insulting.In the US and UK they did? True pre 1868 the official records arent there and I can understand your frustration on finding records but making sweeping statements in a field of history is ridiculous.I again say....if someone didnt know their age it was due to illiteracy and nothing to do with the Irish person as a whole. Best regards,Kevin, Co Cork. > > Robin I have been doing this a long time and have come to accept that the Irish didn't know their age or date of birth. What really got me recently, working on a family in Jersey City the siblings claim they were born in NY or NJ when I have one birth cert. from England and several of them on the passenger list immigrating claiming they were born in Ireland. I'll never learn where they came from in Ireland. Dolores New York > > ----- Original Message ----- > From: RobinVanM@aol.com > Date: Friday, September 22, 2006 4:41 pm > Subject: Irish Birthdates > To: IRL-CORK@rootsweb.com > > > I was surprised to find wildly differing birthdates for Irish > > immigrant > > ancestors, but Radford and Betit's excellent Genealogist's Guide > > to Discovering > > Your Irish Ancestors said they often didn't know the year they > > were born. It > > just wasn't important in rural Ireland. Radford and Betit said > > Irish > > immigrants sometimes were 5, 10, or 15 years off their actual > > birth year, although > > the day and date were often more accurate. From censuses, > > tombstones, local > > histories, etc. I found birth years for an my Irish ancestors > > would range from > > 9 to 17 years, like 1813 to 1830. When one applied for a Civil > > War pension, > > the pension examiner said he "could not tell his age. We > > should judge him > > 52." Combine that with the fact that they kept using the same > > first names > > over and over (there were five Michael McMahons in a New > > Hampshire town of 1700 > > people), and it's no wonder we have such a hard time finding > > them. > > Robin in Maryland > > > > ------------------------------- > > To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to IRL-CORK- > > request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without the > > quotes in the subject and the body of the message > > > > ------------------------------- > To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to IRL-CORK-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes in the subject and the body of the message > www.ancestralservices.co.uk ----------------------------------------------------------------- Find the home of your dreams with eircom net property Sign up for email alerts now http://www.eircom.net/propertyalerts ------------------------------- To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to IRL-CORK-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes in the subject and the body of the message