ireland 1897

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Profile	Posted by	Options	Post Date
Member Since: May 2007 Posts: 80 Send Message	Angela	Report	3 Sep 2008 14:03
Member Since: May 2007 Posts: 80 Send Message	hi , not sure if this is the right board but , here goes - i have a child's birth , joseph kelly born 29/5/1897 court, donegal . birth cert states mother mary ann mcfadden no father given . why would she give the child a different surname yet not put his father's name on cert ?mother never married at all . any clue / speculation , anyone ? thanks , angela
Member Since: December 2004 Posts: 10,522 Send Message	Potty	Report	3 Sep 2008 14:15
	I don't know if Irish birth certs are in a different format to English/Welsh, but on an English cert there is no place for a surname. The child's surname is assumed to be the same as the father's. If no father is listed then the child takes the mother's surname. On an English cert, an entry like this would have the names "Joseph Kelly" under the childs name, ie they would be his christian names. Maybe the father was a Kelly and the mother gave the child his name as a second christian name.
Member Since: May 2007 Posts: 80 Send Message	Angela	Report	3 Sep 2008 14:20
Member Since: May 2007 Posts: 80 Send Message	thanks potty , that was one of my thoughts but wanted to get other opinions/ ideas . ireland can be so " different "! angela