I am looking for some information about my grandmother May Cronin. She was born in 1899 in County Longford and then lived in Athenry. Her parents were Bartley Cronin and Catherine Body and she was one of 12 children. She came to England in about 1916. It came out at her funeral, in 1970, that when she was young she had to go to a special school. This was a shock to my father who had never heard that. It was known in the family that she had a violent temper. I'd like to find out more about the special schools in Galway at that time, which from what I have been able to find out, would have been either an industrial school or a reformatory. Is there any further information I can find out about this?
Tina Nichols
Wednesday 9th Oct 2024, 04:29PMMessage Board Replies
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Are you sure that May's birth was in 1899, I could not find a birth record to match with Catherine Body as her mother. The nearest cert is as below ie 1869.
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Eileen
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The same couple had another daughter Mary Anne in March 1864, presumably this child died and the second child above is so named.
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Eileen
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Do you have the names of any of her siblings? dates? could Bartley/Bartholomew have married more than once? strange that with so many children I am not finding records. If May was in any industrial school in Galway than her life would have been miserable and cruel, the industrial schools were appalling , cruel , bleak places, that is the sad reality and legacy of how children were treated in that time.
Eileen
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1911 Census in County Galway
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Eileen
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In this census , Mary is 13 years old and living at home, Barthley and Catherine are married 20 years and eleven of their twelve children survived.
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Eileen
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Here's a birth for James Francis Cronin in 1909 in Newford, near Athenry that seems to be the family in Ballygarraun in 1911. Parents were Bartley Cronin & Kate Kerr. So I wonder if Catherine’s maiden name was Kerr not Body.
Also Florence Elizabeth’s birth in Roscommon in 1903 where again the mother’s maiden name was Kerr.
https://civilrecords.irishgenealogy.ie/churchrecords/images/birth_retur…
Elwyn, IrelandXO Volunteer ☘
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Thank you to those who have for information for me. The 1911 census is correct for the family and those are all the children. I accidentally put Catherine's maiden name as Body. Her name was Catherine Kerr and her mother was Anne Body!
We haven't been able to find many of the birth records of the children but I do have them for Florence and James. I consulted a genealogist when we were last in Dublin a few years ago and he was very helpful. It was him who found Florence and James for me. He thought the reason why I can't find the others could be that they weren't registered. Bartley was an agricultural worker and they moved around quite a bit. Haven't come across a marriage for Bartley and Catherine either, which I think would have been in Gortletteragh parish, Co. Leitrim and where John, the oldest child was born.
I have found out a lot about my Dad's family but I would still like to know why she was sent to a special school! Maybe I'll find something eventually
Tina
Tina Nichols