John Daly ,Royal Irish Fusiliers

mentorscotus · 21-03-2008, 9:53 PM

In the book,"Coatbridge Men of the Great War," I have at last found a little information on my grandfather.It shows his address at East Stewart St,Coatdyke and says he was in the Royal Irish Fusiliers.
However,I still cannot find a pension record,medal index card,or name on the CWGC site that matches him in age,or next of kin.
Can anyone suggest my next step in the search.Thank you in advance.

**Mona** · 21-03-2008, 10:11 PM

What other information do you have?
Did he have another name?
The reason I ask is, I tried for over a year to find a Michael McDermott, my great-uncle, on the CWGC. I had his medal card, and the date he died in action.
I eventually searched for all the McDermotts killed in 1916 (why didnt i think of that sooner, doh!)
He was listed as Patrick!, parents and address confirm the right person. So maybe he was christened Patrick Michael. So why was his medal card Michael only, and the CWGC Patrick only! I emailed CWGC. I now know his burial site in the Somme.

mentorscotus · 22-03-2008, 5:51 PM

Mona,
Thank you for the help.As far as I know he was just called John,however I have written to P.R.O.N.I. for his birth certificate...he was born in Armagh...so if there is an added name hopefully we will know in a few weeks.
In the Coatbridge book it spells his surname Daley when it should have been Daly.I have checked all the usual sites under both spellings and any other one that even sounds like Daly.
One soldier seemed to fit my criteria with regard to age etc, but the next of kin details for his parents on the card ,were other folk.I seem to be in a neverending circle.

Thank you for your advice ....I SHALL follow it up.
Also any other clues people put here.Thank you all.

**peter nicholl** · 22-03-2008, 8:29 PM

This doesn't quite fit, but ..........
Soldiers Died .. shows a John Daily, Private 24896, 1st Battalion, Princess Victoria's (Royal Irish Fusiliers), Residence Coatbridge. Killed in Action 18 July 1918, France & Flanders. CWGC shows him as J Daily, Mont Noir Military Cemetery, St Jans-Cappel, II B5.
However, his birthplace is given as Tartlachan, Co. Tyrone.
If you have access to the 1901 Census, it may help, even in a negative way, if there is a John Daly as well as a John Daily. At least you can then eliminate one.
Peter
PS Does the Coatbridge book mention John Daily?

mentorscotus · 25-03-2008, 3:36 PM

Dear Peter,
You echoed my own words exactly...."Something does not fit"....My John is in the 1901 Scotland census,living as a boarder,with another Irishman and a couple from Coatbridge.At that time he lived at Main Street and the ennumerator had written...John "Dalay",mispelt again you see.
He had a job at the Imperial Tube Work in Airdrie where he obviously met his "father-in law to be," a man called Bennett, whose own family had come to the area from Northern Ireland.By 1902,he married Bridget Bennett,of East Stewart Street Coatdyke,which is where he resided from then on,as far as I am aware.
You can see now, why I have had such trouble trying to find my grandfather's details.I have gone from the CWGC site,via the Medal rolls site,to the Scottish National War memorial site: and the numerous John Daly candidates have either had the wrong parents,the wrong place of birth,the wrong age,the wrong service number or something else.His name is not on the local war memorial....so I thought perhaps he was on an Armagh one,but the name given for the parents of the man on Dungannon memorial are incorrect.
As my dear departed father,had no memories of his father,it is quite sad that I cannot find him.Perhaps with the snippets you put above I can rule one of these two either "in or out."Thank you for your help.....and also anyone else who can assist.

p.s...No DAILY on the Coatbridge book ...only Daley

**peter nicholl** · 25-03-2008, 4:15 PM

I did have a subsequent rush of mud to the head and wonder whether you, or SKS has access to a large library. When I worked in Bristol, the Central Library had the Soldiers Died .. in hard copy and the volumes were broken up by regiment. It would be relatively easy to look up all the entries for the Royal Irish Fusiliers to see what variations exist.
Peter

Terry Reeves · 25-03-2008, 5:39 PM

Peter has found your man I think. Check this link for the Medal Index Cards at The National Archive:

https://tinyurl.com/3y2dbh

As you will see, there are two cards for the same man. The reason for this is the spelling is wrong on one of them and a second card was made out to reflect the correction. This is quite a common occurrence with these cards.

War memorials and memorial books do contain errors with the spelling of names, and even the designation of units. I think in this case Daly and Daily leave themselves open to error, in the oral sense, but also to someone who is writing or typing a list.

All part of the fun, and the frustration!

Terry Reeves

mentorscotus · 26-03-2008, 2:57 PM

I do believe we have our correct John Daly now.I am actually a bit emotional at the moment.My dad was a young boy when his father went away and he had scarcely any memory of him.John's widow took a nervous breakdown when she was informed of his death and was committed to an asylum as far as we know.My father's beloved granny brought up the children, but they did not remember much about their father or mother.Dad always wanted to trace his father's grave ....but sadly did not.
I would love to know more about grandfather John and wonder where there might be more information, such as his military record.Would the Royal Irish Fusiliers have anything do you think?
Now that I am sure that this is probably my grandfather I would like to visit the war cemetery.Also if I can establish a clear connection to this John, is it possible to have his name added to the war memorial at Coatbridge?

I cannot thank you enough for your input in this search.I have been going round in circles for so long......many,many,thanks.

**peter nicholl** · 26-03-2008, 6:09 PM

The Royal irish Fusiliers have a Regimental Museum. Their website address is [email protected] .
The National Archives at Kew have the 1st Battalion's War Diaries (Ref WO95/2505) including Feb 1918 to Feb 1919. I had a quick check, but it looks as though they are not yet available via Documents on Line. Having said that, personal experience is that Other ranks don't very often get mentioned by name, but it should give a clue as to what the 1st Battalion was up to on the day.
Peter

mentorscotus · 27-03-2008, 5:26 PM

Dear Peter,
Thanks for these ideas.I will look at the site and check to see what I can glean from them.
I have found a record of his birth on a Northern Ireland site.He was born at Charter School Lane,Armagh.I notice from looking at old parish and homeland boundaries that Tartlaghan,Clonfeacle and Tullysaran are all in adjoining parishes and close to each other.Also some of them are partly in Armagh....and partly in Tyrone.He was definitely baptised at Tullysaran and his parents married at Clonfeacle.
Advice from yourself and others who posted on this have been a godsend.Thanks to you all.