This is the moment a man whose birth certificate was falsified because he was born to an unmarried mother in Ireland breaks down in tears when visiting the grave of his birth father on Long Lost Family.
Retired financial sales manager Arthur Fitzharris, who lives in the south of Ireland with his wife Geraldine, was adopted at the age of five but had no idea about his life before then.
In 2001, the father-of-four began searching for his birth parents by requesting to see his adoption file. But at the time, he was told he had no right by law to view it and was instead offered a summary of the information.
He was shocked to learn from this that his birth certificate failed to correctly note who his birth parents were. Instead, the foster parents he stayed with as a baby on the Isle of Man had been wrongly registered as though they were his biological mother and father.
The couple reported it to the police after realising the incorrect registration, and it was later ‘cancelled’. But this left Arthur unable to find out the names of his real parents, until he turned to Long Lost Family for help. In last night’s episode, viewers watched as the grandfather-of-five visited his birth father’s grave for the first time.
In an emotional scene, Arthur walked up to the grave of his father, John, and placed a bunch of white flowers with a note reading: ‘Thinking of you, Arthur Fitzharris’.
As he placed his hands on the grave, he became upset while his daughter Clodagh, who had joined him, stayed close.
‘I think it’s important for anybody to be able to visit your father’s grave,’ he told the cameras after his visit. He added: ‘It meant the world to me, that I’m getting closer to who I am.’
In last night’s False Identities special episode of Long Lost Family, the team followed Arthur as he tried to discover who his birth parents were.
He was born in Ireland to an unmarried mother at a time when having children outside of marriage was seen as sinful, and the Catholic Church went to great lengths to cover it up.
In the last five years, 151 illegal registrations – where no formal adoption order ever took place and the adoptive or foster parents were named falsely and illegally on the register of births as the birth parents of the child – have been proven.
According to the programme, these are thought to be the tip of the iceberg. It had been a criminal offence to enter false information into the birth register since 1874, yet the practice was relatively widespread in the 1950s, ‘60s and ‘70s in Ireland.
Retired financial sales manager Arthur Fitzharris (pictured becoming emotional at his birth father’s grave), who lives in the south of Ireland with his wife Geraldine, was adopted at the age of five but had no idea about his life before then
In 2001, the father-of-four (pictured with his daughter) began searching for his birth parents by requesting to see his adoption file. However, at the time, he was told he had no right by law to view it and was instead offered a summary of the information
Arthur’s summary explained: ‘Unfortunately there is no information available on your birth mother or birth family.’
There is no indication why the foster parents notified the police about the incorrect birth registration but, when Arthur was five, he was removed from their care, left the Isle of Man and returned to Ireland.
He recalled: ‘My earliest memory was coming back to Ireland – trying to put my hand out through the window of the plane to feel the clouds you know, the fluffy clouds…and then realising I couldn’t put my hand out through the window.’
When he arrived back in Ireland, Arthur was left at an orphanage known as Temple Hill – part of a network of Catholic institutions which looked after children of unmarried mothers.
On Sundays, prospective parents would come to the orphanage and meet the children, and this is how Arthur was chosen by his adoptive parents, Beatrice and Robert Fitzharris.
Arthur had a great childhood with them and always knew he was adopted. He said: ‘My parents were fantastic, and I never wanted for anything. I was so content and happy with them that the subject of my own adoption never arose. As far as I was concerned, they were my parents.’
Years later, when he started searching for the truth about his identity, he hoped the orphanage might have records of his birth parents. Unfortunately, their records of Arthur were very limited.
Arthur (pictured left, and right, with his daughter) was shocked to learn his birth certificate failed to correctly note who his birth parents were – instead the foster parents he stayed with as a baby on the Isle of Man had been wrongly registered as his biological mother and father
The couple reported the matter to the police after realising the incorrect registration, and it was later ‘cancelled’. Pictured, the flowers Arthur left at his birth father’s grave
Arthur (pictured as a young boy) was unable to find out the names of his real parents – until he turned to Long Lost Family for help. In tonight’s episode, viewers watched as the grandfather-of-five visited his birth father’s grave for the first time
In an emotional scene, Arthur (pictured centre, with his wife, left, and his daughter, right) walked up to his birth father John’s grave and placed down a bunch of white flowers. A note on the bouquet read ‘Thinking of you, Arthur Fitzharris’
‘I would have thought they would have had a lot more information and it became very, very frustrating,’ he admitted, before adding: ‘I just felt that children weren’t…treated the way they should have been treated.’
After coming to Long Lost Family, a specialist team analysed Arthur’s DNA and viewers watched as he travelled from Ireland to London to meet with the team’s lead social worker, Ariel Bruce.
The secrecy surrounding Arthur’s birth and identity made the search exceptionally challenging for the team, but the DNA analysis yielded significant results.
It narrowed Arthur’s possible birth parents down to, on the paternal side, one of three, now deceased, brothers in a particular family.
Given that the brother with the name of John was the only of the three in Waterford at the right time, Ariel felt it is highly likely that John was Arthur’s birth father.
Further DNA results after the episode was filmed confirmed that John was indeed Arthur’s father.
As he placed his hands on the grave, Arthur (pictured with his family) became visibly upset, while his daughter Clodagh, who had joined him at the graveyard, remained nearby
There is no indication why the foster parents notified the police about the incorrect birth registration but, when Arthur (pictured right) was five, he was removed from their care, left the Isle of Man and returned to Ireland
On the maternal side, Arthur’s birth mother had to have been one of several, now deceased, sisters in another particular family.
In explaining this to Arthur, Ariel offered him the complete information – including the full names and surnames – which Long Lost Family did not reveal to viewers because cases like this are ‘still so sensitive’.
‘I’ve found out things today that I didn’t know before,’ said Arthur, while his daughter added: ‘To finally have names on a piece of paper to give him an identity was really so important for him.’
Given the particular challenges of Arthur’s search, Ariel suggested that a personal approach would be most effective, so with the team on hand, Arthur and his daughter Clodagh took the search forward.
Clodagh soon contacted all the people Ariel suggested, along with descendants – and eventually, Arthur met some maternal cousins away from the cameras.
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