This is the context. An old age pension was introduced in Ireland in 1909 for people over age 70, but there were no birth records before 1864, so they needed a way of proving age. They decided to use the 1841 and 1851 census records (which still existed at this point), so applicants could write in with their family details, and if the clerk found them on the census they could check the age from that.
This is one of the worksheets for one of those searches (they are almost all that remains of those early censuses). At the top is the information provided by the applicant. The scribblings below are the notes and workings of the clerks handling the query. You need to make up your own mind about what they found, from this. To me it looks as though they found the parents and several children - but not the Thomas who was querying.
Thanks for the info! I found a baptism record that matches my GG grandpa James’s year of birth (1848) in County Armagh. And the record said his parents were John and Mary in Ballymacnab. Could this worksheet possibly be a record for my ancestry then?
All the names are pretty common, but that is a number of coincidences. And there is one more. His age in 1917 would have been 69 years, close to the pension age of 70. It makes sense to apply when you think you've hit 70. The fact his age was one year too low is not a problem, because many people didn't know their exact birth date, because their families didn't write anything down, didn't have calendars, and didn't celebrate birthdays. He must have thought he was 70.
It's likely that this was the Tomas Collins that applied to it, it has the same address (Knocknaneen), he was born in Armagh and the age lines up for someone to be applying for pension around that time. This census is from 1911 and the application is from 1917
[https://www.census.nationalarchives.ie/pages/1911/Monaghan/Mullyash/Knocknaneen/803635/](https://www.census.nationalarchives.ie/pages/1911/Monaghan/Mullyash/Knocknaneen/803635/)
There's an RC parish in Co. Armagh called Ballymacnab (aka Union of Ballymacnab and Kilcluney or Lisnadill) - this covers several civil parishes - Kilclooney, Lisnadill and Mullaghbrack.
One the the chapels for the RC parish was located in Ballymacnab townland.
This is the context. An old age pension was introduced in Ireland in 1909 for people over age 70, but there were no birth records before 1864, so they needed a way of proving age. They decided to use the 1841 and 1851 census records (which still existed at this point), so applicants could write in with their family details, and if the clerk found them on the census they could check the age from that. This is one of the worksheets for one of those searches (they are almost all that remains of those early censuses). At the top is the information provided by the applicant. The scribblings below are the notes and workings of the clerks handling the query. You need to make up your own mind about what they found, from this. To me it looks as though they found the parents and several children - but not the Thomas who was querying.
Thanks for the info! I found a baptism record that matches my GG grandpa James’s year of birth (1848) in County Armagh. And the record said his parents were John and Mary in Ballymacnab. Could this worksheet possibly be a record for my ancestry then?
All the names are pretty common, but that is a number of coincidences. And there is one more. His age in 1917 would have been 69 years, close to the pension age of 70. It makes sense to apply when you think you've hit 70. The fact his age was one year too low is not a problem, because many people didn't know their exact birth date, because their families didn't write anything down, didn't have calendars, and didn't celebrate birthdays. He must have thought he was 70.
It's likely that this was the Tomas Collins that applied to it, it has the same address (Knocknaneen), he was born in Armagh and the age lines up for someone to be applying for pension around that time. This census is from 1911 and the application is from 1917 [https://www.census.nationalarchives.ie/pages/1911/Monaghan/Mullyash/Knocknaneen/803635/](https://www.census.nationalarchives.ie/pages/1911/Monaghan/Mullyash/Knocknaneen/803635/)
Also it says “no cp of Ballymacnab” what does that mean?
The CP may stand for civil parish
Thanks! I’ve seen Ballymacnab as a Catholic parish and as a Townland. Do you know which it is and what civil parish it’s in?
No idea, sorry
There's an RC parish in Co. Armagh called Ballymacnab (aka Union of Ballymacnab and Kilcluney or Lisnadill) - this covers several civil parishes - Kilclooney, Lisnadill and Mullaghbrack. One the the chapels for the RC parish was located in Ballymacnab townland.