O'Hara & Kilpatrick Conundrum - Mystery Solved

[Ann Baker]

Hi All

One of my brick walls I'm hoping for some help with. John O'Hara (spelled many ways in different records) married Mary (sometimes recorded as Martha) Kil or Kirkpatrick on 3rd February 1834 in Abbey Parish Paisley.

Up to this point it's not so bad. John is recorded on the 1841 as from Ireland and on the 1851 as being from Co. Antrim. Mary/Martha is recorded as born in Paisley. John died before 1855 so there's no death certificate and I haven't found Mary/Martha's yet.

My query is really to veryify an assumption I suppose. Their marriage is recoded in both the Church of Scotland records with them being recorded as living in Charleston (South end of Paisley) but it is also recorded at St Mirin's which is the RC church in the centre of Paisley. (It wouldn't have been in the current one cos that was built in the 1930s but in the original one nearby - both of which are in the town centre). Their children were all baptised as Catholic yet all of them ended up marrying in the Cof S as did their children.

At the time a mxed marriage would have been frowned upon and my gtx3 grandfather was most definitely on the way when they married as he was born on 12th July 1834. Is it reasonable to assume that John wasn't Catholic ? I haven't even begun to look for him yet as I'm sure that one really is going to be a needle in a haystack.

All opinions welcome

Thanks

Ann