Hello,
According to the Fedamore County Limerick baptism registers at the National Library of Ireland, Patrick Shaughnessy was baptized on 26 November 1852. His baptism is the second entry in the right-hand baptism register page: https://registers.nli.ie//registers/vtls000634982#page/116/mode/1up
You can enlarge the baptism register by means of round icons in the upper center/ right of the screen. The icons are white with green backgrounds. You can also access the full-screen function by clicking on the last icon on the right with the two arrows pointing northeast and southwest.
The first names of Patrick and his parents are in the Latin form. For example, Patrick would be Patritius. Edmund is Edmundi. The mother Bridget’s first name is abbreviated as “Brit.”
Below the names of the parents in the baptism record are the names of the sponsors, or godparents. The first name of the godfather is also Edmundi. His last name is very difficult to make out but I believe it is Enraght, though in the baptism record it looks like “Earaght.” This could be a variant of the surname “Enright.”
The godmother is Cath (Catherine) Clifford. There is a name or a word to the right of Catherine’s name that I couldn’t make out.
Unfortunately, the baptism does not record where the Shaughnessy family had been living at the time of Patrick’s baptism in 1852.
Patrick would be the first-born child of Edmund Shaughnessy and Bridget Hannon, as Edmund and Bridget were married just a year earlier in the Fedamore Catholic Parish on 25 November 1851. Their marriage is on the left-hand marriage register page, 4th entry down from the top at: https://is.gd/d6HFZj
The witnesses to the marriage were Daniel Howard and Honora Shaughnessy. Honora may have been Edmund’s brother. The residence of Edmund and Bridget is not recorded in the marriage record.
I next uncovered the Fedamore Catholic Parish baptism records for three more of Edmund and Bridget’s children. Their names and years of baptism follow. I’ve also included Patrick again so you can see the full chronology of the four baptisms:
Patritius Shaughnessy, 1852
Maryann Shaughnessy, 1855
Jacobum Shaughnessy, 1860
Edmundum? Shaughnessy, 1862
____
Maryann Shaughnessy’s baptism is very difficult to decipher because of the handwriting and because the writing in the baptism register is faded. Her baptism is on the left-hand register page, first entry below the April subheading toward the bottom of the page at: https://registers.nli.ie/registers/vtls000634983#page/7/mode/1up
The first name of the godfather looks like it could be James. I could not tell what his last name was. The first name of the godmother is Margarita. Her last name looks like it could be Hannon.
Jacobum (James) Shaughnessy was baptized on 17 March 1860, St. Patrick’s Day. His baptism is on the left-hand page, 8th entry down from the top at: https://registers.nli.ie/registers/vtls000634983#page/23/mode/1up
The first name of the godfather looks like James. I couldn’t tell what his last name was. The name of the godmother looks like it could be Maria Dillan or Dillon.
The name of the next child may be Edmund, but the writing in the baptism register is very faded and difficult to read. This child was baptized on what appears to be 10 August 1862. It also looks like the baptism is the 5th entry down from the top of the left-hand register page at: https://registers.nli.ie/registers/vtls000634983#page/31/mode/1up
The first name of the godfather looks like James. I couldn’t tell what his last name was or the name of the godmother.
MARGARET SHAUGHNESSY
I did a pretty extensive search for the baptisms of Thomas, Margaret, and Bridget Shaughnessy in the Fedamore Catholic Parish registers, but came up empty. But, I did find the civil registration birth record for Margaret Shaughnessy at the free irishgenealogy.ie website. Margaret was born in a place called Skule, County Limerick on 30 June 1867. Her father is Edmund Shaughnessy, a labourer residing in Skule. Her mother is Bridget Shaughnessy, formerly Hannon. The person who was present at the birth and who reported the birth to the registrar was Mary Shaughnessy, whose residence was also Skule. Mary may have been Edmund’s sister of perhaps mother. The deputy registrar for Croom named James Hynes, recorded the birth on 19 July 1867. Margaret’s birth is Number 84 in the birth register at: https://is.gd/AmkszB
Knowing that Margaret was born on 30 June 1867 I went back to the Fedamore baptism registers and looked for her baptism in late June and July of 1867, but didn’t find it.
Her birth record shows that Margaret was born in Skule. This would be a reference to Skule, or Skule Hill. On some older maps these townlands are spelled Skool and Skool Hill.
A Google Map shows that Skule and Skule Hill are just east of Fedamore: https://is.gd/CvPI4x
A Google Street View of Skule can be viewed at: https://is.gd/fUIQWO
For a Google Street View of Skule Hill go to: https://is.gd/pzHbtN
When I located the four baptism records for the Shaughnessy children, I wasn’t sure if they had been baptized in the Fedamore Parish Church in Fedamore, or in a chapel in one of the outlying districts of the Fedamore Catholic Parish. However, Skule and Skule Hill are close to Fedamore, which means the Shaughnessy children would have been baptized in the Fedamore Catholic Church. The church is called St. John the Baptist. You can see the location of the church in a Google Map of Fedamore, though the name of the church is labeled “Fedamore Church” on the map: https://is.gd/pu987S
According to the National Inventory of Architectural Heritage/Buildings of Ireland website, the St. John the Baptist Church in Fedamore was constructed in 1830, and is situated in a section of Fedamore called Ballyea. For more information and a slide show of the exterior and interior of the church, go to the Buildings of Ireland link at: https://is.gd/Hkd9ez
You can view the location of St. John the Baptist Church and cemetery in Fedamore from a modern-day Buildings of Ireland map at:
https://maps.archaeology.ie/historicenvironment/?REG_NO=21902222
If you enlarge the map by clicking on the + sign in the upper left corner, you’ll see the church is labeled, “Saint John the Baptist’s Church.”
THE MARRIAGE OF PATRICK O’SHAUGHNESSY AND CATHERINE RYAN
THE CHURCH MARRIAGE RECORD
Your information shows that Patrick Shaughnessy and Catherine Ryan were married in 1874. Based on this information I found their church marriage record as well as their civil registration marriage record.
They were married in the Fedamore Catholic Church on 19 January 1874. You can view a copy of their church marriage record from the National Library of Ireland. Their marriage is on the right-hand page, second entry up from the bottom of the register at: https://registers.nli.ie//registers/vtls000634983#page/90/mode/1up
Patrick’s last name is spelled, “OShaughnessy” in the register.
First names in the marriage record are in the Latin form. Patrick is Patritius. Catherine is Catherina. The witnesses to the marriage were Michaela (Michael) Browne and Bridgida Clifford. The priest who married Patrick and Catherine was Joannes (John) Hallinan.
THE CIVIL REGISTRATION MARRIAGE RECORD
The civil registration marriage record shows that Patrick and Catherine were married din the Roman Catholic Chapel of Fedamore on 19 January 1874. This would be the St. John the Baptist Church. Patrick O’Shaughnessy is shown to have been a 21year old bachelor whose occupation was labourer. His residence at the time of marriage was Fedamore. His father is Edmund O’Shaghmessy, a labourer.
Catherine Ryan is shown to be a 20 year old spinster whose occupation was labourer. Her residence at the time of marriage was Fedamore. Her father is John Ryan, a labourer. The priest who married Patrick and Catherine was John Hallinan, C.C. The initials C.C. stand for “Catholic Curate.” The witnesses to the marriage were Michael Browne and Bridget Clifford. Bridget signed her name with her mark in the form of the + sign, meaning she could not write. Someone else wrote in her name.
When Patrick signed his last name in the marriage register he signed it as Shaughnessy, rather than O’Shaughnessy. Catherine Ryan made her mark in place of her name as she could not write. The marriage record is Number 119 in the register at: https://is.gd/F5lEWV
I didn’t know if you had the church marriage record for Patrick and Catherine, or their civil marriage record, or a transcription of their marriage, and so I located both records.
Concerning American records, I found that before Patrick and Catherine Shaughnessy lived in Warsaw, Wyoming County, New York, they had lived in nearby Perry, Wyoming County, New York. This information comes from the1880 U.S. census from Ancestry.com
You can access the census at the Ancestry.com link: https://is.gd/LeYZO5
The Shaughnessy family begins on Line 40 of the census. Both Patrick and Catherine are shown to be 24 years old. But, if Patrick’s age of 21 and Catherine’s age of 20 in their 1874 marriage record are accurate, Patrick would have been 27 in 1880 and Catherine 26.
At the beginning of this reply you saw that Patrick was baptized on 26 November 1852. The Shaughnessy family was enumerated in the 1880 census on 12 June of that year, which means Patrick would have been 27 when the census was taken on 12 June, but would have turned 28 in November later that year.
Back to the census, Patrick’s occupation is “Farmer.” Catherine’s occupation is “Keeping House.” In the household with them is their 5 year old daughter Catherine, who was born in New York.
A Google Map shows that Perry, New York, by the shortest route, is 8.7 miles east of Warsaw: https://is.gd/trvptQ
For a Google Street View of Perry, New York, go to: https://is.gd/GADFXp
Kind Regards,
Dave Boylan
