Help needed please to decipher a Census

Hello all

My maternal relatives are from County Mayo and I have found them in Ormskirk on the 1851 Census return.  However I am having difficulty trying to read exactly where in Mayo they originated and wondered if anyone could throw some light on this for me please?

To my untrained eye it seems to read 'Brascote' or 'Brinscole', really am unsure.  The name of my relatives are 2 x Patrick Brogan, father and son.   I cannot find them on the 1841 Census so am assuming that they arrived probably in Liverpool between 1841 and 1851 and onwards to Ormskirk.  Thank you in anticipation of any help you may be able to give me !

Barbara Cooper

Hi Barb!

Welcome to the Community! 

It's always exciting learning about your ancestors and where you came from, and we know how challenging it can be gathering all of this information.

Never worry, you've come to the right place! There are lots of people that come here looking for information on their relatives, so maybe they can share some tips with you that they found most helpful.

You can also take a look here for some more information to assist you in your research! 

The writing looks as though it says "Bruscole", although I can't be sure as it's not finding a lot in my searches. 

Hopefully you are able to find some more information, and let us know if you have any other questions!

Thanks,

Shane

Hey Barb!

I had a look at your attached pictures out of curiosity more than anything. One thing led to another and I think I found some info you’re after!

I basically compared the script you were unsure of with the rest of the writing on this census. It definitely looks like ‘Bruscole’ to me, though it’s not a place I’m familiar with (or heard of) – and I’m no graphologist.

In any case, I decided to search for ‘Bruscole Ireland’ in google and came up with this page.You can see that it includes ‘Hants Lane’ which is listed as the street in Ormskirk that they resided in.

Looking further, I noticed that a child of Patrick’s was Catherine Brogan born circa 1849. Now, if we look under Patrick Brogan’s name in the first picture, we see a Catherine Brogan, listed as being 2 years of age. That also matches up with the fact that this census was done 2 years after Catherine’s birth. So, long story short – I think this is the family you’re looking for.

This website appears to be genealogical research of the webmaster’s ancestors – so my advice would be to get in touch with them. I daresay they’d be able to give some great insight considering what’s recorded there.

This is more a hobby thing for me more than anything, but I hope it helps and you find the right people to point you in the right direction!

Cheers,

Gerard

Hi Gerard

You're a genius!   Cannot thank you enough for following this up for me, am blown away by your response and the leads you have given me.   I know what I'm going to be doing this weekend!    This is definitely the right family and will compare with the information I already have.

I'll keep you posted on any further developments and once again a massive thank you!

Barbara

Hi Barbara

I was wondering if the birth place of 'Ireland Bruscole' refers to the parish of Burrishoole in County Mayo?

An examination of the index to mid-19th century Griffith's Valuation on the Rootsireland.ie website lists households headed by John and Patrick Broggan in the townland of Derryloughan North in Burrishoole Parish, County Mayo.

Hi Brian

Thanks so much for taking the time to help me out.  That sounds like a great lead which I'll follow up.   It does sound quite feasible particularly to an untrained enumerator's ears listening to an Irish accent. 

Many thanks for your help

Barbara

Hey Barb!

You have us sitting on the edge of our seats, just checking in to see how you got on with your research?

Definitely keep us in the loop on any new findings. We love seeing a plan come together, and we'll always be on hand if you need anything else!

Thanks,

Shane