Even though I still very much believe that our, John Cornelius O’Connor, was born in County Kerry, Ireland, I have been following a possible paper trail for the, O’Connor family.

After trolling the birth index’s I came across two birth index’s, one for, John’s brother, Thomas,

and another for John. 

Both give the mothers maiden name as, Arter. 
In my excitement I order the corresponding birth certificate for John, 

Not realising that Johns year of birth was out by a year.
We know that he was born on the 29th February 1872 (a leap year).

When the certificate arrived in my inbox on the 6th September 2022, I realised my stupid mistake. (Brain fog got the better of me)

As you can see this John O’Connors father, was called, Patrick, which fits in a way, as we know he was named, Patrick, on one of Annie Dorothy O’Connors, marriage certificates. 

His occupation fits with the census’s I am following, but not the occupations on, John, Annie and Rosina’s marriage certificates.
The biggest issue with the birth certificate is, the date of birth, 14th March 1873. Born at 14 Albert Road, North Woolwich, Kent.

It is disappointing to say the least but all hope is not lost. 

I scanned the birth index’s again and came across another possibility.

I ordered the corresponding birth certificate on the 6th of September 2022.

Fingers crossed. 🤞 
To be honest, at this point, I’m grasping at straws, it is seriously like trying to find, a needle in a haystack, but I have to try.
After years of searching, I’m convinced we may never find it, because if he was born at sea, his birth may never have been registered, and if we are lucky enough, that it was registered, it could have been anywhere in Ireland or England or even in Scotland or Wales. It all depends on where abouts at sea they were at the time.

I’ll keep you updated as my search continues.
Until then, If you are a descendant of our O’Connors, please feel free to join our Facebook group, “Descendants Of John O’Connor”. You can find it here. We would love to see and hear from you there.
Too-da-loo for now.

🦋🦋🦋