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Subject: [DESUSSEX] Birth to Baptism in Ireland
Date: Sat, 19 May 2001 07:06:53 EDT

Again I received this from another mailing list! :)

Ronnie Ranew wrote:
>
> Does anyone know the average length of time
> form birth to baptism in Catholic families in
> Ireland in the mid-19th century.
> Ronnie

<1 to 5 days. Later, it was the first Sunday after the birth. Most
sacramental record has the birth date and the date of baptism, except
for adult converts. On occasion, I have seen "child appears to be age
stated." I have found that the birth date and baptismal date were not
always the same as the birth date in the Civil Register. The priest knew
what a newborn infant looked like! The Civil Registrar may not have even
seen the infant. There was a fine for failing to register the birth in a
timely manner so the informant may have fudged it a bit in order to
avoid the fine.
Ellen>

I understand that there was a cost involved to register a birth &
if the family did not have the money at the time of birth--it could be
a year or more before the birth was registered. Hence, the original
birth date was not given! Please consider this happening in other
countries, too.

Anything to confuse the family genealogist even more! :)

Happy hunting, Helen (DCGS)

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