Bride (1908–1999) and Patsy Judge (ca. 1912–1989)

Bride Judge was born in Patrick’s Cove to Andrew and Celina Miller. She left school in sixth grade—she was about 12-years-old—to go and care for her aunt and uncle in Gooseberry Cove. Her uncle, James Doyle, was a whistle player and singer, and the source of much of Bride’s music.

Also of Patrick’s Cove, Patsy Judge was orphaned when he was only six weeks old. He was adopted and raised by members of his extended family. Patsy, like Bride, learned his music on visits to the Doyle household in Gooseberry. These visits provided opportunities for a bit of courting along with the music: Bride and Patsy eventually married on 1 January 1936.

Patsy had many jobs throughout his life. He was a fisherman and, like many men from the region, worked for the Department of Highways in Newfoundland. He also sailed on the Canadian National Railway’s coastal boats; he was based out of Argentia, and his routes ran along the coast of Newfoundland and Labrador and across the Gulf of St Lawrence.

Bride and Patsy’s home in Patrick’s Cove included vegetable gardens, farm animals (cattle, sheep, and horses), and hayfields. Cutting the hay was accomplished by hand, a task that Aidan O’Hara caught on camera when he interviewed Patsy for The Forgotten Irish documentary (Radharc, 1981).

Bride and Patsy had five children, two of whom survived infancy. They also fostered eighteen other children and adopted two. Their home was regularly full of music and people. Indeed, their daughter Florence Coffey once commented:

The Judges also performed further afield. During the mid-1970s, folklorist Wilf Wareham took them to Ottawa to perform at the National Arts Centre. And within Newfoundland they were regulars on folk festival stages throughout the province. The Judges performed publicly until the 1980s when Patsy’s health went into decline.

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Further Reading

“Bridget (Bridie) Judge.” The Globe and Mail (15 November 1999).

McCarthy, Dermod (dir.). 1981. The Forgotten Irish. Radharc documentary. Reported by Aidan O'Hara, recorded by Donal Wylde and Pat Hayes. Dublin: RTÉ. 

Placentia Bay Historical Society, and The Research Centre for the Study of Music, Media and Place. N.d. “Bride Judge.” Voices of Placentia: Songs, Stories and Tunes from around Placentia Bay. 

Sullivan, Joan. 2006. “Bridget (Bridie) Judge, 1908–1999.” In Newfoundland Portfolio: A History in Portraits, 88–90. St John’s, NL: Jesperson Publishing. Walsh, Agnes. 2011. Answer Me Home: Plays from Tramore Theatre. Newfoundland: Breakwater Books.