Looking for Great Grandmother Mary Lynn

I checked Larne Workhouse. There's no sign of Mary there in 1911. Could she have been in a Mental Hospital? There are two possible women of the right age, marital status and denomination in Holywell Asylum just outside Antrim town. (The hospital is still functioning today). In the census, inmates were only identified by their initials:

http://www.census.nationalarchives.ie/pages/1911/Antrim/Antrim_Rural/Ho…

I am fairly sure the patients records for Holywell are held in PRONI. Those less than 100 years old are normally closed but you should be OK for records up to 1919.

Yes, a mental hospital is a real possibility. She got married in 1897, and a month later had a stillborn child. Then in 1909 her 9 month old son died. The only relative we ever knew about was my Grandfather John Campbell Lester Lynn.b1900, Larne.

It wasnt until I started doing the family history and my DNA, that I discovered Mary Lynn had 7 brothers and sisters, my Father and grandfather used to see Mary most days, and these siblings were never mentioned, it came as a great shock to my Dad, I have been in touch with some of the grandchildren of the siblings who I found through DNA matches, and am now piecing it all together.

Its my theory that she was abandoned by her siblings, probably because she was expecting a child out of wedlock, then she lost 2 babies, and its rumoured that her husband was not a very nice man. Probably enough to drive anyone mad, unfortunately these days she would have just been diognosed with depression.

I really appreciate your help, my cousin and I have been trying so hard to work out what happened to her.

Being in Holywell doesn't necessarily mean she was committed there. The vast majority of patients were voluntary, mainly suffering from things like severe depression and sometimes issues to do with alcohol abuse. And many recovered.

Thanks Elwyn, I would think from looking at her life, she was suffering with severe depression. I tried to access the Holy Well Asylum records this afternoon, without success, eventually I had a live chat with someone at the National Archives, who told me "Unfortunately, records of lunatic asylums are not held in one place and often not all records have survived. Many records of asylums, prisons ansd houses of correction are kept in local archives and especially those of the patients and inmates. However,most patient files have been destroyed" 

They suggested I start with https://www.flintshire.gov.uk/  and http://www.workhouses.org.uk/Holywell       but from what I can see, its not just a case of looking it up online, which is a pity because the lead you gave me for National Archives:census of Ireland 1911 looks very promising. The age is a little out, but she was always a house keeper. Its not clear on any of these websites exactly how to go about making your enquiry. IE; visit/phone/email, I found myself going round in circles.

Deborah,

The records you need are not going to be on-line. They are in paper format and you need to go to PRONI (or get someone to do that for you). My guide to PRONI’s records indicate that “Registers of admissions to Antrim District Lunatic Asylum 1849 – 1920” are in a file HOS/26/1/3A 1-2 in PRONI.

There are numerous other files in that HOS/26 series eg Register of Paying patients (this was pre NHS), casebooks for female patients 1899-1946, night attendant’s returns 1909-1916; Record of visits 1899-1931 record of visits 1899-1952. Some of them might help.

THank you very much Elwyn, thats all really helpful, I do have a cousin who lives nearby, so I can ask her to have a look for me.

Thanks again,

Deborah.