450 Sham Marriages Stopped in Ireland

The Journal.ie is reporting that a total of 450 marriages have been halted in Ireland since the introduction of sham marriage legislation.

Garda  set up a dedicated operation – codenamed Vantage – two years ago to tackle an alleged trafficking ring which was using women who had been trafficked illegally into Ireland to take part in sham marriages.

Since the operation was set up in August 2015, General Registrar Offices can alert gardaí if any doubts arise about the legitimacy of any potential marriages

The latest figures from An Garda Síochána show that since August 2015, there have been more than 250 objections to marriages raised by registrars.

Gardaí confirmed that over 80 marriages have been cancelled by the General Registrar and An Garda Síochána following enquiries and investigations by Operation Vantage.

When “no shows” on the date of the ceremony are added to the picture, an excess of 450 marriages have not been completed since Operation Vantage was launched.

“Operation Vantage has supported the marriage registrars in compiling a large number of marriage objections,” a garda spokesperson said.

“[It] also supports interview training and investigative techniques to the registrars.

“A number of international investigations are also underway in the EU and are led by Operation Vantage.”

The crackdown has also resulted in a fall in the number of notifications of intention to marry between EU and non-EU citizens.

Figures from Gardaí show that 1,468 notifications were received in 2015. Last year a total of 694 notifications were received, this shows a drop of 53%.

Levels have continued to fall in 2017 with notifications recorded in January to September 2017 dropping 41%.

Security sources told TheJournal.ie earlier this year that there were ‘hundreds’ of attempted sham marriages in recent years involving the women, who are EU citizens, and men who are predominantly from Asia and seeking to secure residency in Ireland.

National Library Puts National Photographic Archive Free Online

This wonderful photograph is taken from the huge archive of images from the National Photograph Archive held by the National Library of Ireland.

This photograph depicts members of O'Gorman Bros. Social Club in a variety  of Humber, Austin and Chevrolet cars taken at Tramore Train Station on Saturday 26 June 1920.

However it does look as if the women in the car behind the Humber with registration number HI78 were feeling a little camera shy!

O'Gorman Bros was a motor works factory based in Clonmel at 12 Wellington Street and advertised 'Motor Bodies of every description built on the premises'.

They were special agents for Austin, Humber and Ford cars. Shortly after the First World War, John F. O'Gorman travelled to Germany and secured the first main dealership in Ireland for Mercedes-Benz cars.

One of the unexplored parts of Ireland's heritage is the huge volume of photographs taken in Ireland starting in the mid 19th century when photographic cameras started to become more common and these photographs capture Ireland and many aspects of Irish life that are no longer with us.

The National Photographic Archive held by the National Library of Ireland contains over 5 million photographs and they have been made available online.

To help bring this unique collection to the attention of the public we will be posting some of the most curious or intriguing photographs regularly here on our blog at Civil Certificates.

If you would like to view some of the historical photographs in Ireland's own national collection visit the National Library's flicker stream here:

https://www.flickr.com/photos/nlireland

Woman Challenges Refusal By Registrar To Add Father's Details To Birth Certificate

The Irish Times is reporting that a woman seeking an order from the High Court to overturn a refusal by the Registrar of Births, Marriages and Deaths, to allow her register her child’s surname under the name of his father.

The child’s father is opposed to his name being put on the birth certificate, the court was told on Monday.

The woman came to the State from Africa and sought asylum and had the child with an Irishman, the court heard. However the couple has since broken up.

The mother wanted the father’s surname put on the birth certificate but he will not consent to that, Feichin McDonagh SC for the woman, told the court.

Under the law, she is entitled to apply to have the father’s name on the certificate providing she received a court order which she had, counsel said.

The matter is governed by the Status of Children Act 1987 which provides for maintenance orders where the man did not offer any defence to the allegation of parentage or was not a party to proceedings where parentage was being adjudged.

When the woman got an order under the 1987 Act, she applied to register the child in the father’s surname but was refused on the basis that there was no power to include the Irish father’s name, counsel said.

Under current legislation a court order allows the father to be named on the Birth Certificate were the father's name, address and occupation are added to the Birth Record and the Birth Certificate but the child does not acquire the father's surname as he has not consented to this, and the child remains registered under the mother's surname only.

Mr McDonagh said the Registrar General does have the power and his client wanted a High Court order requiring it to exercise that power.

Mr Justice Seamus Noonan granted the ex parte (one side only represented) application for leave to bring judicial review proceedings against the Registrar General and adjourned the matter to January. He also ordered the father be notified of the proceedings.

Source: The Irish Times

George Victor Du Noyer: The Irish Painter Who Painted Thousands of Watercolours of Ireland in the 1800s

A Mill in Kanturk, County Cork by George Victor Du Noyer from the collectiom of the Royal Society of Antiquaries of Ireland

The Crawford Gallery in Cork has launched a major new exhibition of the work of George Victor Du Noyer from17 November 2017 to February 2018.

Born in Dublin in 1817 Du Noyer went on to paint nearly 5000 watercolours and drawings of Ireland dating from his school days to the year of his death in 1869.

The Irish painter, geologist and antiquarian was employed by Ordinance Survey and the Geological Survey, with Du Noyer walking the countryside documenting everything that he saw through his scientific drawings.

When he started his work as a surveyor, photography hadn’t been invented, but by the time he died cameras were well-advanced.

Despite this, Du Noyer never used a camera, he documented towns, villages, landscapes, coastal scenes, and archaeological features through line drawings and watercolours.and its landscapes during the 1800s.

The exhibition called  “Stones, Slabs and Seascapes” features 150 pieces with loans from the collections of the Royal Irish Academy, National Botanic Gardens, the National Museum of Ireland, the Royal Society of Antiquaries, the Geological Survey Ireland and the National Archives.

The last exhibition of Du Noyer's work in Ireland was 20 years ago by the National Gallery.

http://www.crawfordartgallery.ie/Du-Noyer.html

Minister for Health Simon Harris Launches 50 Million Euro School Meals Plan

Photo Credit: Minister for Education Richard Bruton with Minister for Health Simon Harris with the Minister for Social Protection Regina Doherty at the launch of the new School Meals Plan - Photo: Gavin Chaney

The Minister for Health Simon Harris has launched a major new School Meals Programme funded through the three government departments of Health, Education and Social Protection.

Launching the new School Meals plan the Minister for Health stated that while the levels of obesity was levelling off among 7 year olds, this trend is not seen in children from poorer backgrounds and hence the revision of school meals provided by the State.

The new School Meals programme will be available to 240,000 school children in disadvantaged areas who will be served up a diet of healthy fare now that the school meals menus have been reviewed by a team of nutritionists.

A typical breakfast could include a bowl of low-sugar, high-fibre wholemeal or wholegrain breakfast cereal or bread. This could be accompanied by fruit or a glass of milk, or yogurt or cheese.

Breakfast cereal bars cannot be served as a substitute for a bowl of cereal.

A snack should contain one serving of vegetables and fruit. Whole fruits such as apples, bananas and oranges are a better choice than fruit juice. Every lunch or after-school meal should have two servings of vegetables, salad or fruit.

Children should be given two thin slices of wholemeal bread and one serving of meat, poultry, eggs, beans, cheese or nuts.

Nearly all types of bread are allowed but white bread cannot be served more than twice a week.

Potatoes, pasta or rice are allowed but the traditional spud must be either boiled or steamed with no oil or butter added. Salt cannot be added to pasta or rice.  

High fat sauces to garnish vegetables are out while the vegetables must be boiled or steamed in a small amount of water.

Red meat should be on the menu at least twice a week but not more than three times.

Sausages, chicken nuggets and rashers can still make an appearance on the dinner plate but once a week at a maximum.

Pizza may also make the grade but it has to have a wholemeal base with a topping of fruit and vegetables with a low fat cheese.

Source Eilish O'Regan, Irish Independent

Jennie Hodgers : The Irishwoman Who Fought As A Soldier In The American Civil War

Photo: Jennie Hodgers on the right - Aka Albert Cashier with a fellow soldier)

"Jennie Hodgers : Saighdiuir Lincoln" (Lincoln's Soldier)
Friday 10 November 2017 -  TG4 19.30

Tune into TG4 this Friday to see the fascinating true story of Jennie Hodgers, an Irishwoman who posed as a man to join the Union Army and fight in the American Civil War.

Jennie Hodgers completed a three year tour of duty in the American Civil War and earned a military pension and carried her amazing secret for over 50 years.

The Irish woman fought as a union soldier at the battles of Vicksburg, Nashville and the 10-week River Campaign.

Jennie was the daughter of Patrick and Sallie Hodgers and was born in Ireland in Clogherhead, County Louth on Christmas Day 1844.

Her father was a coachman and horse trader, who travelled around the country going to fairs.
Jennie was dressed as a boy for reasons of both safety and convenience.

She was one of hundreds of women who enlisted for active duty on both sides in the American Civil War.

Unlike the rest of those women, Jennie’s male disguise was un-discovered.

She passed the medical to enlist because the doctor only checked the feet and hands – the limbs needed for marching and pulling a trigger.

She served as Albert D J Cashier, Private First Class, when she enrolled in the Union Army on August 6 1862, following President Abraham Lincoln’s call for an extra 300,000 men. Jennie was just 18 years old at the time.

Jennie went through the same physical and mental torture as her male accomplices, surviving bloody sieges and even a capture by rebels.

Jennie escaped the imprisonment by cunningly out-smarting a guard and fleeing back to the Union camp.

Jennie's full story is recounted in TG4's fascinating documentary this Friday 10 November 2017 at 7:30pm. The programme is broadcast in Irish with English subtitles.

Source: Extracts from Lyndsey Bohan, Independent.ie

Census 2016 Results Reveals More Irish Admit to Mental Health Problems

According to the latest data gleaned from Census 2016, the Central Statistics Office reports that the number of people in Ireland reporting a psychological or emotional condition has surged, up from 96,004 in 2011 to 123,515 in Census 2016.

The growth of 28.7pc in self-reported mental health problems has outpaced the level of increase of all other forms of disability.

The Census figures show 643,131 now have some kind of physical or mental disability, a rise of 47,796 since 2011.

Commenting on the higher prevalence of mental health conditions Prof Jim Lucey of St Patrick's Hospital said: "We live in an age of anxiety."

He said it is important the figure is not dismissed or brushed away with calls for people to pull themselves together.

"The increase would be due to stress-related conditions such as anxiety, self-harm, addiction and post traumatic stress disorder," he added.

The economic collapse and factors such as people living longer and often alone contribute to the rise, he said.

Dr John Hillery of the College of Psychiatrists said the increase in awareness of mental health wellness in recent years would have helped de-stigmatise it and encourage more people to include it on their Census form.

It is important to respond to this valuable data by recruiting more mental health specialists and also supporting people's psychological health, he said.

"Counselling can be patchy and depend on your ability to pay.

"It's also about people having access to social activities that are good for the body and mind," he said.

The Census shows that among those aged over 25 some 8,723 have an intellectual disability.

Around 9,142 people have a difficulty with learning, remembering or concentrating, and 9,356 are suffering pain, breathing or have a long-term illness.

For 10,163 people their disability means they have problems participating in other activities.

Women account for 51.6pc of people with a disability.

One in 10 people under the age of 45 has a disability, but this rises to one in five by age 60.

Rates increase sharply as people enter older age and 73.3pc of women aged 84 or older have a disability.

Cork city has the highest rate of people with a disability at 18.1pc, while the lowest are in Fingal in north Dublin and in Monaghan.

Some 112,904 people with a disability live long in private homes and 61,756 of these are over the age of 65. Another 45,532 are living in communal residences, a slight fall from 2011 when the figure was 44,952.

Just slightly more than a fifth of people with a disability over the age of 15 are at work. This compares with 53.4pc of the same age group in the general population.

This reflects the ongoing problems faced by people with a disability getting suitable employment, which in turn affects their standard of living.

The unemployment rate among the disabled is 26.3pc, which was more than twice that of the population as a whole in 2016.

Overall, the number of people who have a visual impairment rose by 6pc to 54,810 since the last census.

Source: Eilish O'Regan, Irish Independent

Ireland's US Soldier Brides from World War One

One of the lesser known aspects of Ireland's involvement in the First World War was the military presence of thousands of US naval serviceman in the country, principally on vessels operating out of Cork Harbour but with many stationed also at the United States Naval Air Service bases in Cork, Wexford, Dublin and Lough Foyle.

The presence of so many young American serviceman understandably had a substantial impact on a mostly rural social scene in these locations and the Midleton Archaeology and Heritage Project have conducted some very extensive research on this period in Irish history and lists some details of the 100 Irish women who married US serviceman during and after the war and returned to the US to start new lives....

See the full fascinating article here by Damien Shiels

https://midletonheritage.com/2016/04/27/100-of-irelands-world-war-one-american-women-in-pictures-part-1-the-database/