In England it was, until 1907, illegal to marry your dead wife's sister, and until 1921 to marry your dead husband's brother. The amending acts also seem to have applied to Ireland: http://www.irishstatutebook.ie/1907/en/act/pub/0047/print.html http://www.irishstatutebook.ie/1921/en/act/pub/0024/print.html Something else to consider is that one of the former spouses may not have been certified dead, but presumed dead. In this situation different rules applied in different countries - but the rules were generally more relaxed in the colonies (certainly in Australia). Hope this helps, Peter > About a year ago I did some Irish research for a friend whose > ancestors had left Co Cork for Massachusetts in the 19th century. The > people who emigrated came from 2 different families. One woman had > married in 1859 & had 5 children before her husband died in 1875. > Another man married in 1874 & had 3 children (1 of whom died young) > before his wife died in 1880. The family story is that the widowed > woman had known the widower man before their marriages. Whether this > is true or not, I do not know, but both families lived in nearby areas > to each other in the parishes of Carrigtwohill & Midleton in E Cork, > and both had married someone named Murphy. It seemed possible that > the deceased spouses may have been siblings, but this has not yet been > proven. At the end of 1881, both families sailed together to Boston - > she with her 4 children (1 daughter having left earlier) & he with his > 2 younger children. Exactly 28 days after docking in Boston, they > married in a small town in ! > Massachusetts. It would seem that both left Ireland in order to > settle together in a new land, but the question is why didn't they > marry first in Ireland - rather than waiting until they arrived in > Massachusetts? If they had been married to siblings before, would > this have made any difference to their ability to remarry in Ireland? > I have looked through information on consanguinity, but do not find > this situation among those described. (They were RC by the way.) Is > there something that would have made it difficult for them to marry > in Ireland but easier in Massachusetts? (It is possible that the > man's father died early in 1881, but I don't see how this could have > made a difference to their marriage plans.) Any ideas?