My gg grandfather Thomas Fitzgerald(c1820-c1890) lived in the village of Milford, Co Cork. On his daughter Ellen's marriage certificate his occupation was stated as being a butcher.
Upon searching through the Milford(Freemount) parish marriage register I noticed that for a period during the 1860's a certain Thomas Fitzgerald was nominated as a witness to the marriage on a rather extraordinary number of occasions. His name was appearing 3, 4 or 5 times on each page of the register.
Could his butcher shop have been next door to the church and he was grabbed each time someone was short of a witness?
Might he have been a lay helper to the priest on wedding days?
Could he have been doing it for a fee?
I would be interested to know if any forum members have encountered this phenomenon before.
Marriage witness for a fee?
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pj.culligan
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Re: Marriage witness for a fee?
More than likely he was the local matchmaker, and so would appear as a witness at the wedding.
Re: Marriage witness for a fee?
Yes PJ, you may have it there. It would be a very plausible explanation.
By coincidence only last week I saw a clip on TV about matchmaker Willie Daly at the Lisdoonvarna Festival.
http://matchmakerireland.com/history/
How widespread was this tradition. Did most villages and towns have a matchmaker?
By coincidence only last week I saw a clip on TV about matchmaker Willie Daly at the Lisdoonvarna Festival.
http://matchmakerireland.com/history/
How widespread was this tradition. Did most villages and towns have a matchmaker?