I beleieve in the 1860's Irish was more prevalent aound the country.Here in Co Cork we would consider the Ballyvourney and Ballingeary area as the Gaeltacht.Irish was more widely spread in those times. I can't believe someone being forced to sign with an X though. Regards,Kevin. > > Yes, it would be interesting in that respect to view an 1860's BDM for = > > persons bred, born, reared and died in the strictly Gaeltacht areas of the = > > western seaboard. > > > ***** Reply to the LIST ONLY - Please ***** > ***** Thanks for your consideration ***** > > P=E1draig M=F3r, > An Sean Gabhar > ----- Original Message ----- = > > From: "Cheryl Dynan" <cdynan@rcn.com> > To: <irl-cork@rootsweb.com> > Sent: Saturday, September 23, 2006 4:42 PM > Subject: Re: Irish Birth Certificates having an 'X' for Signatures > > > And I believe often that the X was not because the person was > illiteratre but because they were literate in a different language. As > pointed out before many people had Irish as their only language not English, > and the English insisted that births be recorded in English. > Cheryl > ----- Original Message ----- = > > From: "P=E1draig M=F3r =D3 Gealagain" <padraigogealagain@rogers.com> > To: <irl-cork@rootsweb.com> > Cc: <irl-limerick@rootsweb.com>; <irl-clare@rootsweb.com>; > <cotipperary@rootsweb.com> > Sent: Saturday, September 23, 2006 10:57 AM > Subject: Re: Irish Birth Certificates having an 'X' for Signatures > > > > > I can assure you from my experience that it was illiteracy, compare > > marriage certs and entries.....the old x. was very prevalent...> > > > > Yes, for sure there are nearly all signed by the mark 'X', but I can not > > believe that such a mark meant it was always a result of illiteracy on > > the part of the informants. > > > > Consider this probable scenario of a time before the invention of > > photo-copiers and computer digitisation as to how the process of > > registrations might have been accomplished: > > > > > > = > > ------------------------------- > To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to IRL-CORK-request@root= > sweb.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