Christening Dates

[aggiebagwash]

I think I understand it now. Thank you myluck!. It confirms what I suspected. The few Baptisms I've found in my family were always weeks or months after the birth but they were all in urban areas and finding the opposite was happening in Ireland threw me off track. I just presumed that Baptisms were always conducted in a Church but I can totally understand why they were done in the home in Ireland. One difference is that, in urban areas there was always a Church close by but in the more rural areas walking to the local Church would have been difficult for some families so it would also be more convenient for a Priest to travel to the home. I knew a lay person could Baptise a child if it was in imminent danger of dying but  I didn't realise that it was common practice in certain areas.

Did the midwife Baptise you for a reason Sinnann?

Isn't it fun when we learn something new every day. 

Margaret

[Sinann]

I was baptised in a church, the midwife was my godmother, that's why I was baptised the day after I was born because she had to leave.
I think you might be misunderstanding, most children would have been baptised in a church, it was only if they were expected to die before they made it to a church that they were baptised at home, but they would be baptised quite quickly (with in a day or two) just to be sure they didn't end up in limbo.
Later when country women started to use hospitals they insisted on baptising babies before they left hospital, when my mother refused they made a terrible fuss, on her second baby she hid in the toilet when they called them to go down to the chapel. Must ask her about getting churched in the hospital.

[aggiebagwash]

The family I'm looking at had 6 children that I've found so far between 1903 and 1915 and they were all Baptised within four days of their birth. The next generation back, on both sides,  follows a similar pattern and I wondered why.  My Irish lines came from Dublin and some of  the Baptisms admittedly were within the first couple of weeks because of poor living conditions but most were about a month after the birth. I know that women were expected to be confined for at least two or three weeks after giving birth and that made me curious as to why the Baptisms were so close to the birth in Killorglin 


Margaret

[myluck!]

Some of my 1870-1895 born relatives
if the records are to be believed
were baptised before they were born!
There were fines for late registrations
and it seems they gave a date that would be within the time limit!
FamilyTree soft ware hates it:)

[aggiebagwash]

That is so funny I wonder why that happened.

My grandmother was one of 14 children and her father forgot to register her birth and when he did remember he gave her birthdate as 6 weeks previously to avoid paying the fine. She was given a birth date of November the 1st so she never actually knew her real birthdate sadly.

Nothing is straightforward in genealogy is it?

Margaret