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| Map of County Limerick from The Families of County Limerick by Michael C O'Laughlin |
It was going
to be a simple project, check the Catholic Parish Registers for my Grandfather’s
baptismal records. Found him: Michael, son of Patrick Connery and Mary
Leahy on 16 June 1861. He was baptized
in Kilfinane, County Limerick, Ireland and his Godparents were Michael Leahy
and Helen Leahy. They are most likely
the brother and sister of Mary Leahy.
The custom of the day was that godparents were either a relative or a
very close friend of the family.
After
finding Michael’s record I realized that I needed to do the same for his siblings. All ten of them!
While I was
recording all of their information, it became
apparent how “surname spread” happens.
Each has two godparents. In
recording the baptismal entries for
Michael’s siblings I actually added 3 new surnames and found several siblings
for eachof the parents. The new names are Brigid Barrett, Joanna
Howard, and Marie O’Donnell. While I
have no evidence, I strongly suspect that these women later married the man she
was paired with for the Baptism.
Individuals
I suspect are the siblings of Patrick Connery are Dionysius and Michael
Connery. Those I think may be siblings
of Mary Leahy are Thomas, Johanna, Patrick, Michael, and Helen.
Helen was a
sponsor on two occasions. Thomas
Hennessy does appear to be unrelated to the Connerys and Leahys but I am sure
there is a connection. Later Michael
would marry Alice Fleming, a granddaughter of John Hennessy. Sister Ellen married Michael Hayes and sister
Catherine married Patrick Walsh. Brides
of the brothers add more surnames to the count.
***
Kilfinane, County Limerick; Diocese of Limerick
Baptisms and Marriages 1832 to Jul 1856, microfilm 02429/03
Baptisms ans Marriages Aug 1856 to Mar 1859 microfilm 02429/04
Baptisms Mar 1859 to Mar 1880 microfilm 02429/05
