Hi,
Unfortunately, the original parish registers for St. Peter’s for the period that would answer a lot of questions for us all, were destroyed during the troubles in 1922, but some transcriptions still survive:
http://www.corkrecords.com/PetersParishRegisters.htmI pass by the church regularly, and will make a point of taking a walk through the cemetery at the back and see if any of the Rai(y)n(e)s memorials still exist and keep you posted:
http://www.corkrecords.com/StPetersGraveyard.htmThe Churchwarden’s of St. Peter’s also include Joseph Raines in 1783, whilst John Raines was removed out of the parish in 1784:
http://www.corkrecords.com/StPetersChurchWardens.htmI corresponded with the late David Phillips (he descends from the Raines/Wrixon’s on Ballyhay, Mallow and Cork, and very meticulous in his research and note taking) in the early 1990’s whilst I was living out in West Cork, and brought up the subject of religion amongst the Cork Rai(y)n(e)s’s as it was as relevant then as it is now. If a Protestant settler married a Catholic girl, even if he didn’t convert to Catholicism upon marriage, his children would certainly have been raised as Catholics. Another version of this I’ve heard is that the sons would be raised in the father’s faith, and the daughters in the mothers. Marginal entries often appear in original registers made by the priest to this effect.
It appears that the various Raynes captains and harbour master in Cork City at the start of the 19th century were Catholic. Captain James Raynes spoke Irish, therefore must have been raised in Ireland; his brother John married Teresa Sullivan, 4th daughter of Francis Sullivan decd in 1819 as reported in the Southern Star: Tue 13 Jul 1819 on Monday morning by the Rev. Dean Collins, John Raynes Esq. master of the brigg Hibernia, of Cork, to Theresa, 4th daughter of the late Francis Sullivan of Warren’s Quay Esq.
The Rev. Dean Collin’s was a Catholic Priest very active in supporting the Presentation Convent in Cork and raising funds for school buildings etc.
The point of this observation being that when a Protestant converted to Catholicism upon marriage, they were often disowned and disinherited by their often well-to-do family, and shunned socially. Within a single generation, families went their divergent ways. I have seen this in my maternal Cork ancestry as well.
The Irish Deeds Registry lists for Rains:
http://members.pcug.org.au/~nickred/deeds/search_index.htmlJohn – timber merchant, Cork City, 1778
William – gent, Cork City, 1778
John – gent, Cork City, 1795
Joseph – gent, Charleville, 1771 (Ballyhay is with Charleville)
But for Raynes, and apparently a generation earlier we find:
Joseph Raynes, schoolmaster, Youghal, 1739
Elizabeth Raynes, widow, no place given, 1737
Elizabeth Raynes, widow, no place given, 1742
James Raynes, gent, Youghal, 1760
And finally for Raines
Arundel Raines, no place given, but refers to ploughlands around Mallow, 1711
John Raines, esq, no place given, but refers to ploughlands around Mallow, 1711
Hugh Raines,no place given, but refers to house in Dusncombes Marsh Cork City, 1721
James Raines, servant to John Longfield of Longville House, Mallow, 1741
James Raines, servant to John Longfield of Longville House, Mallow, 1741
I have a 62 page pdf of various notes and extracts for Rai(y)n(e)s I’ve collected from many sources over the past 25 years, including my own extract of Raines from the original Christchurch registers, and newspaper references as well. I’d be happy to email on to anyone interested in hoping that a fresh set of eyes may unravel the riddle a little more.