John O'Brien
I have naturalization papers from the Mercer County, PA courthouse indicating that my great-great-grandfather, John O'Brien was a native of Ireland, born in the county of Waterford, about 1845, emigrated from Liverpool in June 1881 to Philidelphia, PA.
The family left Ireland sometime after 1845 and moved to Wales where he met and married Jane Williams, a native of Wales.However, they were listed in the census and elsewhere as John and Jane Bryant and family, not as O'Brien, which we speculate as a name change to lessen the possibilities of job discrimination that many of the Irish, fleeing the potato famine experienced in Wales.In 1881, they immigrated to PA and all the paper trail thereafter has them named O'Brien.
I'm guessing that O'Brien was the surname in Ireland and the second change was switching back to the original Irish surname of O'Brien.
If anyone can help me track down any info on John O'Brien, born in County Waterford, about 1845, I would be extremely grateful. Thanks
Jim Mahaney