Miltownmalbay baptisms and marriages in stages

Genealogy, Archaeology, History, Heritage & Folklore

Moderators: Clare Support, Clare Past Mod

Post Reply
Sduddy
Posts: 1826
Joined: Sun Sep 26, 2010 10:07 am

Miltownmalbay baptisms and marriages in stages

Post by Sduddy » Tue Dec 12, 2017 10:48 am

Here is my transcription of Miltownmalbay baptisms 1831 – 1855: https://registers.nli.ie/registers/vtls ... 1/mode/1up.

Note 1: The middle name given for the father of the child, in the earlier part of this register, is a marker for which family he belonged to – not a middle name as we think of it nowadays. This way of distinguishing families is still used in west County Galway, where Irish is still spoken.

2: The priest used his own shorthand for the townlands (Residence), which I thought I would grasp as time went on, but never fully grasped. I hope the Miltownmalbay people, at least, will be able to make something of my efforts, or that somebody will improve on them.

3: There are no gaps in the baptisms until we come to January 1839. Maybe the Night of the Big Wind (Jan. 6, 1839) caused damage to the chapel and put the register out of reach. The following few months are in higgledy-piggledy order – it looks like pages fell out and were stuck in back to front. There are more examples of disorderly pages in the late 1840s.

4: This register shows more variety in the notes on offerings (payments), than any other register I’ve transcribed. Apart from the word “poor”, which signified that the priest did not expect an offering, I did not attempt to transcribe these notes, but they are interesting. The word “collop” turns up at the top of page 102, right-hand side – I think that’s the amount of land needed for the grazing of a cow. The word “Bailwick” turns up at the bottom of page 108, right-hand side – I don’t know what that could refer to, but it sounds quite medieval .
The word “clear” is the usual note, meaning nothing more is owed, but as time goes on and we enter the 1840s, we see that work was often accepted in lieu of cash and there are a couple of examples of a tally system being used to count off the number days owed, i.e. three upright strokes are crossed off. Also, the Irish word for work, Obair, in Gaelic script, appears. Were these variations used in order to be perfectly clear and to hold people to their word? Who can say. Sometimes payment is deferred until “after Michaelmas”, or until “after Miltown Fair, 2nd Feb.”

5: As usual I will have confused some names, for example, Carny and Canny, Keavy and Keary, Thynne and Flynn, Liston and Sexton, Morony and Molony, Goonan and Gorman, O’Connell and O’Connor, Coghlan and O’Loghlan, Burke and Rourke, Kinnelly and Kinulty, Moony and Morony. I hope researchers will take this into account.

Sheila

The transcription, which was attached here, has been transferred to Donated Material: http://www.clarelibrary.ie/eolas/coclar ... 1-1881.htm
Last edited by Sduddy on Sat Apr 06, 2019 11:31 am, edited 2 times in total.

Sduddy
Posts: 1826
Joined: Sun Sep 26, 2010 10:07 am

Re: Miltownmalbay baptisms and marriages in stages

Post by Sduddy » Tue Dec 12, 2017 10:52 am

Here is my transcription of Miltownmalbay baptisms 1855 – 1858: https://registers.nli.ie/registers/vtls ... 1/mode/1up.

Some marriages were entered by mistake in page 27. I included these in my transcription of the marriages, 1857-1858.

Sheila

The transcription, which was attached here, has been transferred to Donated Material: http://www.clarelibrary.ie/eolas/coclar ... 1-1881.htm
Last edited by Sduddy on Sat Apr 06, 2019 11:32 am, edited 1 time in total.

Sduddy
Posts: 1826
Joined: Sun Sep 26, 2010 10:07 am

Re: Miltownmalbay baptisms and marriages in stages

Post by Sduddy » Tue Dec 12, 2017 10:56 am

Here is my transcription of Miltownmalbay marriages 1856 – 1858: https://registers.nli.ie/registers/vtls ... 1/mode/1up.

A couple of baptisms were entered by mistake in page 53, right hand side. I included these in my transcription of the baptisms: 1855 - 1858.

By very early 2018, I hope to have completed baptisms and marriages 1858 - 1880.

Sheila

Edited July 05, 2018, to amend marriages by bride's surname - I hadn't sorted the data correctly first time round.

The transcription, which was attached here, has been transferred to Donated Material: http://www.clarelibrary.ie/eolas/coclar ... malbay.htm
Last edited by Sduddy on Sat Apr 06, 2019 11:34 am, edited 2 times in total.

Lucille
Posts: 144
Joined: Wed Jan 19, 2011 6:59 pm

Re: Miltownmalbay baptisms and marriages in stages

Post by Lucille » Tue Dec 12, 2017 9:42 pm

Sheila

Your work on these transcriptions is absolutely phenomenal, but I really have to take my hat off to you to have tackled Miltownmalbay. I have been up and down those records and they are difficult. Well done and thank you.

Probably the reason for the difference in quality, and also quantity, of the records after 1839 is that the parish was divided that year, with the southern half being hived off to make a new parish of Kilmurry Ibrickane, the northern half being named Kilfarboy. The PP of the old Miltownmalbay parish, Father Anthony McGuane, died that year, his brother, Father Patrick McGuane, took over in Kilfarboy and his nephew, or grand nephew, Father Edmund Patrick Barry, took on the new Kilmurry Ibrickane parish. I'm quoting "History of Kilmurry Ibrickane" by Father P Ryan PP (1969) in case anyone thinks I'm making up this nepotism!!!

Lucille

Sduddy
Posts: 1826
Joined: Sun Sep 26, 2010 10:07 am

Re: Miltownmalbay baptisms and marriages in stages

Post by Sduddy » Wed Dec 13, 2017 10:50 am

Thank you Lucille.
Congratulations to you on the publication of ‘Women of Clare’ (Clare Roots Society 2017). I bought it the last time I was in Ennis as a Christmas present to myself, and have put it away until then. It’s a precaution I take every year – I don’t leave it to chance that someone else will know what to give me. I’m looking forward to unwrapping it and reading it.

Sheila

Lucille
Posts: 144
Joined: Wed Jan 19, 2011 6:59 pm

Re: Miltownmalbay baptisms and marriages in stages

Post by Lucille » Wed Dec 13, 2017 12:48 pm

Hope you enjoy it Sheila

Lucille

Sduddy
Posts: 1826
Joined: Sun Sep 26, 2010 10:07 am

Re: Miltownmalbay baptisms and marriages in stages

Post by Sduddy » Thu Dec 28, 2017 11:20 am

I now have doubts about the surname I transcribed as “Curreen”, and think it might be “Cunneen”. If somebody gets back to confirm that it should be Cunneen, I will make the necessary changes.

Sheila

Sduddy
Posts: 1826
Joined: Sun Sep 26, 2010 10:07 am

Re: Miltownmalbay baptisms and marriages in stages

Post by Sduddy » Thu Dec 28, 2017 11:24 am

Here is my transcription of Miltownmalbay baptisms 1858 – 1881: https://registers.nli.ie/registers/vtls ... 1/mode/1up

There are a couple of instances here of the names Joan and Susan being used for the same person. I think the actual name was Siobhan. If you check “Siobhan” on Wikipedia and you will see that it comes from the same stem as Joan and Jeanne. In Scotland it was anglicized as Judith.

Here are my ideas on the subject: There is no letter “J” in the Irish alphabet and “J” words entering the language (from other languages)* were spoken with a “Sh” sound*, similar to a French “J”. The name James became Seamus (pronounced “Shaymus”), and John became Sean (pronounced “Shaun”). I believe that, when presented with a Seamus, or a Sean, the priest wrote James, or John, and that on being presented with a Siobhan he usually wrote Joan, or Joanna. But (and here it gets a bit more difficult) he sometimes thought that Susan fitted better. The official in the local registration office, likewise, sometimes wrote Joan/Jane, and sometimes Susan. I believe (and remember) that Susan was spoken with a Sh sound, and I believe that, in Irish-speaking districts at least, Judith was spoken with a soft “J”, and that Judy was interchangeable with Susy. Judith, according to Wikipedia, was another anglicisation of Siobhan.
The names Susan and Joanna did not always come by the “Siobhan” route, of course, and then they presented no problem to anybody.

A note on the pronunciation of Siobhan: The letter “h” in Siobhain signifies a softening of the “b” which precedes it – in Gaelic script it was just a dot over the “b”. In the South and East of Ireland “b” is softened to “v” and the name is pronounced “Shivaun”, with the stress on the second syllable. As you go towards the North West, “b” is softened to “w” and the name is pronounced “Shewan”, with the stress on the first syllable - this sounds very like Joan.

*In earlier Irish, the letter “J” entered the language as “I”, or “E”, and so “Jesus” is “Iosa”, and St. John the Baptist is “Naomh Eoin Baiste”. This Eoin can be Owen, Eoghan, Eugene, or John.

Sheila

The transcription, which was attached here, has been transferred to Donated Material: http://www.clarelibrary.ie/eolas/coclar ... 1-1881.htm
Last edited by Sduddy on Sat Apr 06, 2019 11:36 am, edited 1 time in total.

Sduddy
Posts: 1826
Joined: Sun Sep 26, 2010 10:07 am

Re: Miltownmalbay baptisms and marriages in stages

Post by Sduddy » Thu Dec 28, 2017 11:35 am

Here is my transcription of Miltownmalbay marriages 1859 – 1881: https://registers.nli.ie/registers/vtls ... 1/mode/1up

Thank you Jimbo for freeing up the space. Next time there's a problem I will do some more pruning of my own attachments.

Sheila

The transcription, which was attached here, has been transferred to Donated Material: http://www.clarelibrary.ie/eolas/coclar ... malbay.htm
Last edited by Sduddy on Sat Apr 06, 2019 11:38 am, edited 1 time in total.

murf
Posts: 365
Joined: Fri Mar 20, 2009 12:58 am
Location: Qld Australia

Re: Miltownmalbay baptisms and marriages in stages

Post by murf » Thu Dec 28, 2017 10:20 pm

Re Curreen/Cuneen
Not sure if this helps Sheila, but I did a quick search on the 1901 census:

Cuneen - 21 bearers of the name in Clare, 126 in all counties
Curreen - zero bearers of the name in Clare, 40 in all counties, including one family in Galway for which the household return shows an unmistakable spelling of Curreen

Sduddy
Posts: 1826
Joined: Sun Sep 26, 2010 10:07 am

Re: Miltownmalbay baptisms and marriages in stages

Post by Sduddy » Fri Dec 29, 2017 10:40 am

Thanks Murf for helping with Cunneen. I’ve changed all the Curreens to Cunneens and put them in red to show where I’ve made the changes. There are only 9.

Cunneen and Rabbit/Rabbitt/Rabbitte are the same name. The Irish word for rabbit is coinin. The interchangeability of Cunneen and Rabbitt is mentioned on this forum in a posting by Paddy Casey on the topic “Bourke/Cannenn family”: http://www.ourlibrary.ca/phpbb2/viewtop ... neen#p4622

The Doora-Kilraghtis baptisms, 1821 – 1862, show that on the occasion of the baptism of Patrick Fitzgerald on 14 March 1830 (pg 45 right-hand side) the careful priest gives his mother as Rabbit/Cunneen.

Sheila

deirdre carroll
Posts: 37
Joined: Mon Nov 15, 2010 3:43 pm

Re: Miltownmalbay baptisms and marriages in stages

Post by deirdre carroll » Fri Jan 05, 2018 10:05 pm

Hello Sheila,

Well done on the transcription of these records. My great great Grandfather was Jeremiah (Darby) Leary. I had found his records before through the usual channels but your transcription of a baptism in 1842 (child name John) added two words "free, turnpike" in townland "Cluain". The latter could be Cloonboney? The usual land records show him in Breaffa and/or Leigard. It is likely he held small plots in both townlands. I am assuming the word free means he was not required to pay the priest because perhaps he managed the turnpike?? No payment by the priest may have been required. I have been unable to find out where the turnpike was but it may be relevant that his daughter, my great grandmother Mary Leary married Bernard Carroll, who lived in Ennis and was a coachman on the Mail Car. You or perhaps others may have views on this unusual insertion in the record.

Deirdre Carroll

Sduddy
Posts: 1826
Joined: Sun Sep 26, 2010 10:07 am

Re: Miltownmalbay baptisms and marriages in stages

Post by Sduddy » Sat Jan 06, 2018 5:27 pm

Hi Deirdre

I agree that “free turnpike” was a payment in kind for the baptism. That particular priest thought of all kinds of methods of payment. I looked for a turnpike on the 1842 map http://maps.osi.ie/publicviewer/#V2,505593,679189,11,7 but found none, but I suppose Jeremiah/Darby Leary did operate a turnpike somewhere in the area and that’s how his daughter met her future husband. Nice story.

Sheila

deirdre carroll
Posts: 37
Joined: Mon Nov 15, 2010 3:43 pm

Re: Miltownmalbay baptisms and marriages in stages

Post by deirdre carroll » Sun Jan 07, 2018 6:23 pm

Hi Sheila,

Thanks for reply. I couldn't find the turnpike either on various maps. At any rate, the discovery of the turnpike gave a new impetus to research on my family history. Anything I have discovered on my Leary, and much of my Carroll history, has been based on my own research as my grandfather Michael Carroll of Ennis died when his children were quite young and I had little to go on. This find was a real nugget!

Deirdre C,

Sduddy
Posts: 1826
Joined: Sun Sep 26, 2010 10:07 am

Re: Miltownmalbay baptisms and marriages in stages

Post by Sduddy » Tue Apr 27, 2021 2:49 pm

As I’ve mentioned in my first posting above, some pages of the first baptism register (1831-1855), appear to have come loose and then been stuck in somewhat randomly. And now someone has provided evidence of this - he has drawn my attention to a blot, which starts to develop on page 177 of that register and becomes larger and larger until page 187. Then the next page (188 - left hand side) shows only one side of the blot. He points out that the other side of that blot is on page 118 - a sure sign that page 118 is completely out of place - it should have been put back in so that it faced the left hand side of page 188. Excellent detective work, I thought, and so I've changed the date of the 11 baptisms concerned from March 1839 to January 1846. The amended transcription (with changed dates in red) is in Donated Material: https://www.clarelibrary.ie/eolas/cocla ... 1-1881.htm

Sheila

Post Reply