(Part 1)
The road to find Bridget Magurn was a long and rocky one. Up until the day in 1994 when I found the birth registration of my grandfather, John Magurn, we’d understood his parents to be Edward and Mary Monaghan Magurn. But this record blew up the theory. His mother was Bridget and no father was named.
There are no stories of Bridget passed down in the family. All we know of her is from the paper trail she unwittingly left behind.
Civil Birth Registration (transcription below)
No.45 1878 Twenty Sixth July, Carn male (no father named) (mother): Bridget McGurran no profession (Informant): Edward McGurran X His mark, Occupier, Carn
Registration Twenty Seventh July 1878
Registration Twenty Seventh July 1878
Carn is the small town in County Fermanagh Ireland where they lived.
After that birth registration document, we found nothing more about Bridget. Did she marry? Move away? And how could we ever find out who John’s birth father was? Because he was Catholic, I knew there was a good chance his father would be named on a baptismal record, but Irish records are notoriously difficult to locate, where available at all. It took nearly 30 years until finally Julie Cottrell Ferguson and her mother Linda Forman Cottrell were able to locate John’s baptism certificate. And finally, we knew who John’s father was! (In Latin)
Transcription: Julii (July) 27 Joannes (John) Bridgeta McGurn (Pater putat et Protest.) Robertus McKinsey (The "putative" or supposed, father is Protestant. Robert McKinsey
So what happens after that? We can’t find Bridget Magurn anywhere. On his first marriage certificate John lists his parents as:Edward Magurn and Mary Magurn Monnaghan. This is who John’s daughter, Mary Sarah (Sister Margaret) thought his parents were. On his marriage certificate to Josephine Decima Canham, he lists his parents as Edward Magurn and Bridget Magurn. So he must have known something about his true parentage.
But what happened to Bridget?
Stay tuned for Part 2
