Graham Norton Shocked By Shotgun Wedding At 8 Months | Who Do You Think You Are

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Graham Norton - or Graham William Walker, as he was born - left Ireland when he was young and hasn't looked back - until now. He always felt out of place, growing up in a small Protestant family in the predominantly Catholic south of Ireland. But he now admits that he feels drawn to the country, and wonders if his discoveries might change his view of Ireland. There is only one way to find out.
Graham begins his journey on the trail of his great grandmother, Mary. On her daughter's birth certificate, she is listed as Mary Reynolds, formerly Dooey. But a handwritten document in his mother's possession tells Graham that there was some confusion over her name, and that she was also known as Mary Logan. There is a mystery here. Was there something to hide?
Graham tracks down Mary's marriage certificate of 1895, where she is listed as Mary Logan. No father's name is provided, suggesting that Mary was illegitimate. From baptism records of Mary's children, Graham realises that she must have been eight months' pregnant at the time of her wedding - and recognises the shame that this held in her society. Graham also locates Mary's own baptism record, where she is Mary Jane Logan. So where does Dooey come from? The answer is nestled in the baptism records of one of Mary's siblings, where the father was listed as Fred Dooey, but the name has been scratched out. It is very likely that Fred Dooey was Mary's father, but was not married to her mother when the children were born. Thus Graham has solved the mystery of the Dooey name, and recognises how unusual it was for Mary's mother to have produced four children out of wedlock - and to remain living in the same community throughout. Her 'misdemeanours' must therefore have been accepted, and Graham is pleased to see it.
Graham then turns his attention to his southern Irish Protestant roots, hoping to discover how far back they go. His paternal grandfather, George Walker, was sexton of the Protestant church in Carnew. Land valuation records reveal that George's father was William (and his grandfather Joseph) and was a tenant of the Fitzwilliam Estate - in other words, he was linked to English Protestant planters. Joseph was a pillar of the Protestant community - vestry minutes at Carnew show that he was a churchwarden, which meant that he had the right to levy taxes from Protestants and Catholics alike for the upkeep of the Protestant Church of Ireland.
Still hot on the trail, Graham uses parish records and the Fitzwilliam estate papers to push the family back another three generations, including Thomas, who lived in Carnew through the Irish Rebellion of 1798, when the town was a royalist stronghold, and Carnew Castle the scene of a famous massacre of Catholics. The records show that a certain John Walker, almost certainly a relation, was shot and piked whilst fighting for the royalist cause.
But Graham has still more to discover. With the help of the Fitzwilliam Estate Papers, Hearth Tax records and baptism registers, he is able to trace his first ancestor who went from Yorkshire to Ireland - in about 1713.
And so, although surprised to be a Yorkshireman, Graham declares that he is comforted that his family have resided in Ireland for so many generations and pleased to be rooted so deeply in history.
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[@onemercilessming1342]

My grandfather used to say, "The first baby can arrive at any time. All the rest take 9 months."

[@msmrsro]

That’s fantastic!

[@mangot589]

😂😂oh my! Grandpa was witty. And right!

[@Madnessofdwing]

what exactly does it mean :D ?

[@mangot589]

@@Madnessofdwing It means that a girl would get pregnant, THEN get married. Then her baby was “early”, to save face. After that, her kids were the usual 9 months or so. Of course they were nine months too. But it was a fib.

[@bonnieblue218]

That’s what my dad used to say, too!

[@jamallama3066]

My great grandma was 6 months pregnant with my grandmother when she married the father of her child. When the baby (my grandmother) was born with physical handicaps he sent the mother and baby out of his home. My great grandma then filed for divorce and WON three years later. This was 1937, women couldn't have their own bank accounts back then but the judge still ruled in her favor and demanded that he paid child support. When he did not the reporters in their town blasted him and portrayed him as the deadbeat that he was- dancing with girls on the allowance from his WEALTHY father. I wish I had known this when Nana was alive so I could give her a high five for handling her business like a BOSS. She raised her baby, worked, AND researched treatments while divorcing during the Great Depression.

[@kellysong2256]

I LOVE this story! 👍 Way to go, Great Grandma

[@HRHDMKYT]

I love Graham Norton. Wish I could see this entire episode of "Who Do You Think You Are"

[@kalinaphillips9779]

My grandparents married on the 27th of December 1921, their first child was born on the 31st of December 1921. 🤔

[@michaeldukes4108]

Damn! Cutting it close.

[@omegasage777]

Wowww

[@lizvtaz6]

Same here. My grandparents married 1 month before the birth of their first child.

[@Commenting-answering]

There is nothing new under the sun.

[@Luna.3.3.3]

_Is it just me..?_ *Or all of these episodes: #1: don't indicate what order to watch #2: never has the ending???* So frustrating!!! If anyone knows how to watch a FULL story IN ORDER please put me out of my misery!

[@amyhughes1270]

They get put on BBC IPlayer but often get taken off again, there’s never normally a lot on there

[@tyl3245]

His great grandmother looked just like one of the pictures he showed Daniel Radcliffe on his show... This is weird🤔

[@chelseahulmston9056]

Hahaah she does aswell 😅

[@dylanvlahos8466]

The Graham Nortan show?

[@4ngelfeet]

Yes I remember that

[@themadplotter]

was it not the same year? 2007?

[@suzeauster2223]

Thank You So Much for sharing!! When my mother was dying… I asked her… Was there any Regrets… She turned to me took my hand… And said Suze...I never made it to Ireland ❣️ So glad You returned and are finding Your Families Roots💐 Stay Safe Beloveds ❤️

[@justineharper3346]

He’s probably got a lot of cousins floating around out there that have no idea they’re related to him lol

[@virtualatheist]

At that time, in that place, I can only wonder about the shame and guilt that people would have poured on her. The pressure must have been intense!

[@sygendron]

''They seem nice...'' That face!!!

[@daireoreilly2548]

I love how the BBC very cleverly zoomed in on the IRA spray paint when he said the loyalist paramilitary murals were painted by terrorists lol

[@katharina...]

Indeed. It was very touching of Graham to refer to the Loyalists as terrorists though, wasn't it? 😁

[@missmayflower]

Hilarious how his grandma looks just like him with glasses and a wig.

[@megwyn1611]

I thought she looked like Mrs Brown

[@melvawages7143]

My husband has ancestors with a similar story. His 3rd great grandfather married his 3rd great grandmother when she was 8 months pregnant with his 2nd great grandfather. Not only that he was 53, a widower, and she was 23. He had a son 24 who was married and had children. We wonder if the son got her pregnant so he married her to save her reputation. We think that because my husband matches a distant cousin who descends from the brother of his first wife. Since his ancestress was the second wife he should not match the first wife's family since the 2 women were not related.

[@melvawages7143]

and lol I found out my grandmother was not quite a 7 month baby. Her parents married mid December 1895 and she was born in early July1896.

[@mayaozen3582]

- Look for the haplotype of the men. It will reveal the father's line. - Unless she got pregnant by her own brother that her baby had the line of the males in her household. (Hopefully not)

[@davidjames1881]

I cant look at Graham Norton without thinking of Father Noel Furlong...

[@hannahmcgahan8920]

Haha and me 😂😂😂😂

[@stereoroid]

The first time I visited Belfast, I stayed at the hotel just opposite from where Graham is standing there on Sandy Row. I wasn’t entirely sure I was in the right place.

[@2eleven48]

Sweet, but what's your point?

[@sophiesto6122]

In our village, it was SO important to have kids that marriages were NOT pronounced unless the bride was obviously pregnant and the wedding will be guaranteed to produce children. A practical solution for a village plagued by infertility issues at a time of massive deaths ( wars, plagues etc) . Practically, that means that most wedding are 4-5 months before birth of first child which would bear a funny name of "fast kid" ( about 3 months to confirm the pregnancy plus one month to prepare the wedding) And yes, they were super religious, bound by the " make kids and cover the earth". Even the traditional wedding dress is a testimony to the tradition.

[@veronicaaccouche1478]

I've never heard of that before. Where is this?

[@lizclegg7556]

Where is your village? In Ireland?

[@cliftonmcnalley8469]

Very interesting!

[@baldrickt.adder-slayer287]

That is SOOO amazingly interesting. I'm going to go with the other question: which village is this? I, so much, prefer to hear the REAL stories of the people, in their own experiences, rather than "official" cultural descriptions, that ALWAYS come with some industrial, religious or political slant.

[@mumblic]

So much text in description but did not bothered to mention the date of first broadcasting. ;-(

[@rivertam7827]

Google is your friend. 2007

[@conitorres9774]

She was quite along in her pregnancy when she married, but maybe it was because the father was away? Maybe working elsewhere, or maybe even in jail? It could have been any reason

[@captaincabinetz]

The child was still conceived out of wedlock - that in itself was the problem

[@stewartw.9151]

In those days that was a terrible stigma and shame on the family, and remained so until at least the 1960s in Britain!

[@nutcracker2916]

@@stewartw.9151 Even longer in southern Ireland.

[@stewartw.9151]

@@nutcracker2916 I agree, my Mum was born a McClusky!

[@troubler2115]

Yes, many reasons. My husband went military when I got pregnant for their health ins. We got married when he got leave between bootcamp and school starting.

[@unseelie63]

My grandmother was married...but not to my dad's father.

[@crystalwood-rich2152]

He is funny, smart and soooo goodlooking!!!

[@catrionagarde4410]

Oh wow, thank you so much for the upload!

[@susanorr8348]

After spending many years searching records about my scots-Irish great grand parents-I have discovered there are often spelling/pronunciation errors to be taken into consideration and experimentation to increase possibilities.

[@lallred1911]

Yes! I agree. I have also found that some of my ancestors went by nicknames that had no similarity to their given names. SO frustrating!

[@cliftonmcnalley8469]

I'm using my Dad's device. He and I both grew up believing we were Irish. Living in the south, our last name would often be mispronounced in a way that would make me cringe - always a nasal-ly, overdone hillbilly pronunciation - that would require a very different spelling. Dad and sis did DNA tests a few years back. Turns out due to my grandfather's illiteracy (Dad's dad), someone else had carved his name incorrectly into a keepsake which caused 3 generations of people to be mis-named! I'm actually kind of glad, as the true spelling still gets butchered here in the south. And the DNA search put us in touch with an unknown cousin who had confirmation that we are indeed Scotish. Not a big deal, but unexpected. Stranger yet, my Grandfather's widow (2nd wife) has the original Scottish spelling on his grave.

[@susanorr8348]

@Larry Lawayne my great grandmothers death certificate lists her mothers name as ellen kivlin from county kerry as provided by her eldest daughter and i spent ages looking for kivlin only to discover its pronounced kivlin but is spelled kivilihan.

[@beckyp9700]

If this marriage took place in Northern Ireland, perhaps the reason the woman's maiden name and/or lack of parent name suggests the marriage was outside the faith? Some families just did not bend that far. I am referencing the movie " Fiddler on the Roof" just as a line of thought.

[@ukgirlinlv]

I would have liked to have seen showing his mum what he found out

[@erinrising2799]

when was this filmed? the computer at around the 2 min mark looks antediluvian

[@lucycoakley9593]

Based on Graham’s hair colour I would guess mid to late 2000’s

[@silverlve70]

October 2007 apparently

[@alexpond648]

Seems around 2007, but you've got to take in mind, that they're not privat computers, so they're almost always way outdated

[@Peter_Scheen]

I have done some genealogy of my own. What you find is astounding.

[@rebecca.m6068]

My mother is a Logan. Family originally from Scotland. I believe the town of Laggan. Logan's from Laggan :)

[@klarissaclairiton9010]

It is very hard to trace one's roots back before 1800 in N. Ireland. I have found through research that when the child is illegitimate, only the mother's maiden surname is recorded.

[@BarbRob11]

My paternal grandparents were married 4 days before my dad was born

[@JaneHenderson]

why would iit be so hard to believe as my father took my mother who was pregnant with me on at four month gestation by another man, the married her 4 months later and I was born Jan the following year. Dad was a very good natured person and was evtake on mum other illigitament Daughter as well.

[@annettefournier9655]

Hats off to a man like that. Commendable.

[@paolagrando5079]

Because it doesn't happen that often.

[@Rhianalanthula]

Looking after another's child from birth does happen but, as mentioned, not often. We know of the most famous person who did that and he never gets recognition - a carpenter living around the Galilee area a little over 2000 years ago called Joseph.

[@knittingknut]

Rhianalanthula that’s just a myth. How can you believe that ancient fairy tale?

[@lucygray6162]

@@paolagrando5079 Perhaps not these days, when both men and women are randomly having babies with people they met a month ago. But in a different era, there were gentlemen who stepped forward to help out a woman in distress. A wonderful man did that for my grandmother, and they were married over sixty years. As late as the 1970s, I knew men who married a girl in trouble, and made the best of it. Today's culture is totally different. So much breeding, so little care from the mom or dad except when it comes to child support. No family history, no roots, no personal heritage for the kids. Sad.

[@rebeccajohnston5411]

Your great grandparents are the same era born in the 1890s as my paternal grandparents. I’m around the same age as you...

[@birdied9535]

Granny looks like Phil Donahue in drag

[@teresah.6696]

Damn, you're right!

[@derekwalters4980]

NO, the "biggest problem imaginable" at that time, might be a man who was dealing with his homosexuality being revealed. THAT would be the perfect person to have married a woman 8 months pregnant. Mutual interest in social standing. HOW EXHAUSTING!!!

[@StrangeFractaLS4]

His great grandmother looks related to Greg Davies.

[@extanegautham8950]

those nerve wracking narrow irish roads!

[@Dani_sister4peace]

I'm guessing this was done before the virus I adore Graham!

[@rivertam7827]

This was done before LCD monitors lol

[@keithp6699]

This is years old. At least 10 I'd say

[@angemaidment5640]

Yeah, he looks much younger.

[@heatherspence3848]

This is so exciting!

[@irishguy9311]

O4:30 I thought it said squirter, but yeah that’d be a bit to much information for a form like that!!!🤷🏻‍♂️😅

[@lalamar08]

My family are from ballymena too this was interesting to watch

[@aprilgail5]

Part 2! 😍 🥳

[@phoebesmith9089]

The torture of being a woman of that age. I can only imagine. It’s hard enough now.

[@catbeara]

Lol, my family are farmers and have all been from the same area, for like... The past 300 hundred years at least? So, no need for me to wonder about them. 😅

[@tedium37]

She looked like Brendan O'Carroll's Mrs Brown as I'm sure many did.

[@vivienmcnaul109]

Sad but true. 💚

[@debbiecooper1677]

thats where my famuly is from.

[@peachygal4153]

Lol doing genealogy all the skeletons come out of the closet. One of my grandmothers was a "7 months" baby. We knew she was the eldest child, but we did not know the real wedding date when her parents married until research finding the court records, we discovered about 15 years ago their wedding date was 3 months later than she believed. she believed she came 10 months after their wedding. She died almost 40 years ago so she never knew this.

[@peachygal4153]

and my hubby had an ancestor that was 8 months pregnant at her wedding, his great grandfather was born a month after his parents married. His mother was 23 and his legal father 53. Because my hubby matches this man's first wife's sister's descendants, we think maybe this man's son who was married and aged 24 when his dad married this ancestress, we think the son got a girl "in a family away" that was not his wife, so his widowed dad married her to save her from shame. We already learned their other children (5 kids total) that their descendants do not match the first wife's sister's descendants. Genealogy and DNA tests have uncovered many a long-buried family secret.

[@Dani_sister4peace]

My Irish family is from wexford. That's southern right?

[@keithp6699]

Right at the bottom of the island 😂

[@hannahmcgahan8920]

Mine are from what they call "the Midlands" (Cavan, Monaghan) when I first went over we drove round the area and ended up on the tip of the Southern Ireland - Northern Irish border x

[@jimmyryan5880]

as south as you can get before your feet get wet

[@fiachraswaz]

@danielle gager its in the south alright. On the east coast between county wicklow and waterford. Tis about a 40 min drive to dublin

[@ciaragildea998]

Very southern

[@rebekahbridges-tervydis5054]

Funny how great gran was nice but, her daughter was so proper?

[@redzora80]

In my family tree, up to 3-4 genertions back i am a phenoenon. I was born more then 9 month after the marrige. apart from me there was just one, the first cousine of my other. So on my mothers side i can only speak it was a bit like a tradtion being pragnent at the wedding. A lot of 3 month or 5 month preganancys ;-) one was even born 3 month before. So marry late in prganancy maybe isn't a thing of putting the head in the sand. Sometimes it maybe is like it is today. you relay don't want to marry thet person just because you get pregnant. Or sometimes it was a bit harder. First the priest must be avalible and then you have to annonce the marrige before some time. Priest ill or died new priest on the way came late, then the bans took another 3-4 weeks i think it was... so time runs

[@CS-pi5oc]

Please! Treat the records with greater care when turning pages. Wear gloves so that oils from the hands is not left behind. You r hurting me here. Great story. I’ll say what someone said to me once. Know that ppl have differing libidos before judge. I’ve done so.

[@annettefournier9655]

At that age libidos are pretty equal. It's the conviction to abstain that is difficult.

[@TheFrigidsnow]

Washed hands are better than gloves since gloves can snag and tear the paper.

[@arr255]

@@TheFrigidsnow exactly, this is the practice now

[@TheFrigidsnow]

@@arr255 i can't wait until all the cotton gloves are burned.

[@martynnotman3467]

Depends on the item. Some places prefer no gloves as people tend to take more care turning pages without gloves.

[@amyclarke41]

ok

[@lauraleecreations3217]

❤️❤️❤️❤️👍👍👍

[@francaperotti5934]

My birthday is 5 December

[@awomansfriend5784]

I thought Irish was Genuinely a catholic country

[@sgk2511]

"Norton"... Nort-on... God's servant land -Came from Heaven...😅🤭🤣🐣🐍🦌🐟🐉🐎👹

[@RockDove5212]

Can't believe that woman applied the word "illegitimate " to a human being. Is that word still used? There's no such thing as an illegitimate person! Everyone is legitimate 😄She meant born outside of marriage.

[@angelamalcomb1373]

….. which means illegitimate 🤷🏼‍♀️

[@nylanelson5212]

What’s with the weird bubble pockets on the side of the genealogist skirt? She’s too young to be dressing like an old woman & needs a makeover fitting for her age

[@irairod5160]

I rather like her vintage look, it's quite evocative of her profession!