According to an inscription in Lorum Old Church Cemetry, Clonmulsh (https://sites.rootsweb.com/~irlcar2/Lorum_Cemetery_4.htm) Joseph died in 1704 aged 70. The inscription also indicates he had a son Joseph (the younger) who's wife was Mary, born in 1732 (died in 1778) and also grandchildren.
If Joseph (the elder) was born in 1634 it was likely that he married between the ages of 20 and 30 i.e. between 1654 and 1664. His son Joseph (the younger) was most likely his first or second born son as he was named after his father. I have concluded that the younger Joseph would have been born about 1660. Joseph (the younger) would also have married between the ages of 20 and 30 i.e. approximately 1680-1690. It is therefore highly unlikely that the Mary, mentioned on the inscription was his wife. She was probably the wife of one of Joseph (the elder’s) grandsons or great grandsons.
In the Irish Records Index, 1500-1920 (Ancestry.co.uk) there is an entry for a Joseph Bernard in 1694 for Straw Hall [written as Shaw Hill], Carlow. This could refer to either the older or younger Joseph. Straw Hall remained in the Bernard family for decades after but this is the first reference I have found to it.
Although there was a Joseph Bernard in Carlow who married a Mary, that Joseph was born in 1692 and was married in 1717 in Carlow to Mary Edwards who was born in 1696. That Joseph was the son of Thomas Bernard and was mentioned in his father’s will of 1720.
The Registry of Deeds started collecting records in 1707. Having reviewed every deed from the 1700s in the Registry of Deeds where a Bernard was cited as a grantor, I have not found any deeds mentioning either of the two Joseph’s who were buried in the Clonmulsh cemetery. However, I have come across Bernard’s whom I cannot connect to any of the other two Bernard families descending from William (born about 1636) or Charles Bernard (born about 1638). It is possible that they were descendants of Joseph Bernard.
One of the most perplexing of these unattached Bernard’s is William Bernard. Probably born about 1730. As an adult he lived in Cloghristick. Cloghristick is very close to Clonmulsh, the cemetery where the two Joseph’s were buried. I have no information about a marriage for this William but his only daughter, Susanna (probably born about 1750) married in 1767 to Humphrey Perkins (eldest son of John Perkins of Ballintrane). There was the death of a Humphrey Perkins of Carlow in 1776 but I cannot tell if it is the same person. Franks Bernard and Thomas Bennett were parties to the pre-marriage settlement.(1)
This William had leases in Clogheristic in 1765 and 1767. He was also a trustee for the 1765 pre-marriage settlement for Anne Bernard (of Carlow, daughter of Joseph and Mary Bernard) who married Humphrey Michell.(2). William later became guardian to Perkins Michell, son of Anne and Humphrey (3)
It is obvious from these deeds that William was closely connected to both Franks and Joseph Bernard, his cousins but I cannot find confirmation of a relationship between them.
References:
Registry of Deeds: Vol #, Page #, Memorial #
(1) Memorial 257/385/168536 Image# 205
(2) Memorial 245/101/157643 Image# 58
(3) Memorial 344/189/230897 Image# 120
To find the Memorial go to Registry of Deeds Index Project Ireland. Insert Volume# and Image #
Registry of Deeds: Vol #, Page #, Memorial #
(1) Memorial 257/385/168536 Image# 205
(2) Memorial 245/101/157643 Image# 58
(3) Memorial 344/189/230897 Image# 120
To find the Memorial go to Registry of Deeds Index Project Ireland. Insert Volume# and Image #
Back to Introduction to the Bernard Family of Carlow, Laois and Offaly, Ireland