Brady line from County Cavan, early 1800s

Hi, I'm looking to trace my Brady line in Ireland.
Word of mouth in my family is that the Brady's came from County Cavan. My 3rd great grandfather, George Brady, was born in May 1834 in Ireland.
He was married in America in 1857, so emigrated between 1834 and 1857.
I would love to find his parents, so any information would be greatly appreciated. Thank you! 

Hi Mary, 

It's great that you are researching your Brady roots! The Irish name Brady originally appeared in Gaelic as Mac Bradaigh, possibly derived from bradach, which means spirited, which is in turn derived from brad, which means urging. The name was first found in Galway, on the west coast of Ireland. 

The records for England in the 1800s can be found in the National Archives. Have you searched for his birth record there yet? It might mention the names of his parents, and from there you can search back until you find the ancestor that is from Ireland.

I hope this was helpful, and keep us posted on your findings! 

Thank you for the reply, but I’m a little confused by it. He IS the ancestor from Ireland.

Hi Mary, 

My apologies for the confusion! I see indeed that you mentioned that George Brady was born in Ireland, and not England! So sorry about that. Are you trying to find out where in Ireland he was born? 

Knowing where on the island he was from is important because then we will be able to point you to the right archive. Before 1864 records were kept in the form of church and parish records, and all of the remaining records have been sorted into county-based genealogical centres. Once we know which county George was born in, you can get in touch with the archive of that county for more information. 

Family stories are very helpful when doing research, and there is probably a good chance that your ancestor was from County Cavan. Do you possibly have any records about his immigration that could point us in the right direction? Or is there possibly some information on his marriage or death certificate to give us a clue to where he was from? 

No, sadly his death certificate only states he was born in Ireland. That's all I have to go on. His name was George, he was born in May 1834 probably in County Cavan and his father's name was George Brady.

Hi Mary

The closest match that database of church records at Irishgenealogy.ie records is the following:

Baptised 10 May 1835 in St Mary's Church of Ireland, Dublin
George of Robert and Mary Brady of Brady's Row

Rootsireland.ie records one birth entry of a George Brady in 1834 to a father George Brady in County Dublin. 

It must be emphasized that the failure to find a birth record of George in County Cavan in 1834 doesn't mean that he wasn't born there: it is always possible that he was baptised in a church whose registers don't survive for that time period.

Hi Brian, 

Thanks so much for your message! I hope this will be helpful for Mary's research. :) 

Thanks again! 

Hi Mary, the fact that you know his father's name is hugely helpful as there are likely to be more records relating to his father than to him as he emigrated when possibly quite young. 

Searching the tithe records (indexed on www.rootsireland.ie for a number of counties), I found two individuals named George Brady renting land in Co. Cavan in the late 1820s/early 1830s. This is not a full listing of all those of that name as it only listed those who were renting land not those renting only a house, for example in a town or village or non-farmers in the countryside. 

George Brady, Cullis townland, Annagelliff parish, Co. Cavan, 1828
George Brady, Tonymore townland, Kilmore parish, Co. Cavan, 1831

The website www.rootsireland.ie does not yet have records from every church on its site as this is an ongoing project. Once you have explored everything available online, we offer a wide range of research services and would be delighted to visit the archives and search  through the church registers not yet online looking for George's baptism. You can find out more here: https://www.ancestryireland.com/research-services/

All the best with your research,

Gillian Hunt
Research Officer
Ulster Historical Foundation

Hi Gillian,

Thanks so much for these super helpful tips! :) We hope it'll help Mary with her research.