Person:Bridget Sweeney (8)

Bridget Sweeney was baptised on 20th October 1861 at Castleconor in County Sligo, Ireland, daughter of Bridget Sweeney, formerly McLoughlin, and her husband James Sweeney, an agricultural labourer. Shortly after Bridget's birth the family left Ireland and moved to south-west Scotland, settling in the village of Sorbie, Wigtownshire. Bridget appears in the 1871 census living with her parents and siblings in a one roomed house on Wigtown Road in Sorbie. Of the five children listed in the 1871 census, Bridget was the only one attending school at that time.

By 1881 Bridget had left home and was working as a general servant for a farmer in Kirkinner.

In 1885 Bridget married a ploughman named William Donachie. They had at least three children born in Sorbie in the late 1880s. The 1891 census finds Bridget and her three children living with Bridget's parents back at Wigtown Road in Sorbie. Bridget's husband William was away from home on census night.

By 1901 Bridget was living at 289 Broad Street in Glasgow. Her name is given as 'Bessie' in that census, which may have been how she was known. She also described herself as a widow and had reverted to her maiden name. Her sister Catherine (Kate) was living with her. Bridget has yet to be traced after 1901.

1. ↑ Roman Catholic Church. Castleconor Parish Records.
   1861 Baptismal Registry
   

   Date	Names	Parents	Sponsors	Residence
   October 20th	Bridget	James Sweeny	Patrick Kilcullen	Emblemoran
   		Brid[ge]t McLaughlin	Mary Judge

2. ↑ General Register Office for Scotland. 1871 Scotland Census. (Edinburgh)
   897/00 006/00 003, 2 Apr 1871.

   Address: Wigtown Road, Sorbie Village, Sorbie, Wigtownshire
   Rooms with one or more windows: 1
   Children attending school: 1
   James Sweeney, head, married, male, 40 [1830/1], Agri[cultural] lab[oure]r, b. Ireland
   Bridget Sweeney, wife, married, female, 30 [1840/1], Wife of Agri[cultural] lab[oure]r, b. Ireland
   Mary Sweeney, daughter, female, 13 [1857/8], b. Ireland
   Bridget Sweeney, daughter, female, 9 [1861/2], Scholar, b. Ireland
   Patrick Sweeney, son, male, 6 [1864/5], b. Sorbie, Wigtownshire
   Peter Sweeney, son, male, 4 [1866/7], b. Sorbie, Wigtownshire
   Catharine Sweeney, daughter, female, 2 [1868/8], b. Sorbie, Wigtownshire

3. ↑ General Register Office for Scotland. 1881 Scotland Census. (Edinburgh)
   3 Apr 1881.

   Address: Moorpark, Kirkinner, Wigtownshire
   [In household of Peter Anderson, farmer of 412 acres of which 262 arable employing 5 men & 1 girl:]
   Bridget Sweney, servant, unmarried, female, 19 [1861/2], General servant, b. Sligo, Ireland

4. ↑ General Register Office for Scotland. 1891 Scotland Census. (Edinburgh)
   5 Apr 1891.

   Address: Private House, Wigtown Road, Sorbie, Wigtownshire
   James Swiney, head, married, male, 60 [1830/1], Agricultural labourer, b. Ireland
   Bridget Swiney, wife, married, female, 50 [1840/1], b. Ireland
   Bridget Donachiew, daughter, married, female, 27 [1863/4], Plough Mans Wife, b. Sorbie, Wigtownshire
   Cathrine Rodger, daughter, married, female, 22 [1868/9], Plough Mans Wife, b. Sorbie, Wigtownshire
   John Swiney, son, unmarried, male, 14 [1876/7], b. Sorbie, Wigtownshire
   Mary Donachiew, granddaughter, female, 5 [1885/6], b. Sorbie, Wigtownshire
   Peter Donachiew, grandson, male, 4 [1886/7], b. Sorbie, Wigtownshire
   Jennie Donachiew, granddaughter, female, 1 [1889/90], b. Sorbie, Wigtownshire

5. ↑ General Register Office for Scotland. 1901 Scotland Census. (Edinburgh)
   664/02 043/00 032, 31 Mar 1901.

   Address: 289 Broad Street, Glasgow (Barony), Lanarkshire
   2 rooms with windows
   Bessie Sweeney, head, widow, female, 35 [1865/6], b. Sorbie, Wigtownshire
   Mary Sweeney, daughter, single, female, 15 [1885/6], b. Sorbie, Wigtownshire
   Peter Sweeney, son, single, male, 14 [1886/7], Trade Grocer, worker, b. Sorbie, Wigtownshire
   Jane Sweeney, daughter, single, female, 11 [1889/90], Scohlar, b. Sorbie, Wigtownshire
   James Sweeney, son, single, male, 9 [1891/2], Scholar, b. Sorbie, Wigtownshire
   Kate Sweeney, sister, single, female, 29 [1871/2], Domestic, b. Sorbie, Wigtownshire
   John Rodgers, boarder, single, male, 29 [1871/2], Railway Carter, worker, b. Mouchrum [sic], Wigtownshire

   Bridget appears to have become 'Bessie' and reverted to her maiden name - however, the children exactly match the 'Donachiew' children of the 1891 census, plus the sister Kate (who was married to a John Rodgers by this time) supports the fact that this is really Bridget.