Rathdowney Roman Catholic Parish

Baptismal Index 1859

This is a baptismal index of the names of children baptised in the Roman Catholic parish of Rathdowney (Co. Laois/Queen’s Co.) during the year 1859

The following table of baptisms is transcribed from Microfilm No. 5014 held online by the National Library of Ireland accessible through their Roman Catholic Parish Register Search page.   All names and surnames given here are as I read them.

The register is in English.  Place names are given.  My list is sorted by year, alphabetically using the surname of the child. Question marks indicate letters or words I had a problem reading.  The letters ‘sic’ indicate that is how I read the letters I have typed.
[ ] indicates that the letters within the brackets are my best guess at what the letters are
n.g.=Not given

Nicknames, Shortened names used in Irish records

I am currently transcribing all the Rathdowney parish records and decided to analyse these entries. There are 72 baptisms and when we look at the names of men and women we see that there are 23 female first names and 18 male first names.  These figures include the names of father and mother.  Of the total 72 baptisms there is only one child who was given two first names and that is Mary Jane Leahy.  The following table will give you an idea of which first names were the most common, or it will show you how little some names were considered.  The Index table follows this.