My Curran Cousins

John Curran (1867-1944) of Lawrence and Lynn

Update!

This week I received an email from Ireland Reaching Out.  The subject was Irish Naming and Baptism Traditions.  Since I was familiar with the Irish naming patterns, I almost chose not to read the email.   At the last minute, I retrieved it from the trash and settled down to read what proved to be a lengthy article.

One phrase toward the end of Irish Baptism Traditions and Customs caught my eye:

The poorer class of Catholics (rarely named on land records, but living in a townland in some sort of extended-family rundale system) followed a specific godparent convention to the letter: every sponsor/ godparent was either a sibling or a sibling in-law of one of the child's parents. It's that simple.  Surnames that do not match the parents' surnames are in-laws and key to knocking down brick walls.

I knew that John Curran's godfather was Thomas Grady and I was sure there were no Grady in-laws in my family.  John's mother, Catherine Houlihan, had three sisters, Mary, who married Tom Griffin, Honora, who married John Gould and Margaret, who disappeared.  There were no Gradys hiding there.  But I hadn't considered the Currans.  

On  30 January, 1866, just a year and a bit before John's birth on 8 February, 1867, Thomas Grady married John's paternal aunt, Margaret Curran.  So John's godfather was indeed a sibling in-law.

Marriage of Thomas Grady and Margaret Currane, 30 January 1866

John Curran is the earliest immigrant I have found in my maternal grandmother's extended family.  Thomas Grady was one of the sponsors or associates of John I wanted to follow up on, to see if he may have assisted John in emigrating to America.  John and Margaret are listed living in the Commons of Milltown, Dingle, in the 1901 Irish Census, with their youngest surviving child, Brandon.   Since John emigrated in 1883 and the Gradys were still in Ireland in 1901, they were not the ones to help him emigrate.

Margaret (Currane) Grady died 6 October, 1913, and her death was witnessed by her widower, Thomas.  They did not emigrate to America, although some of their children may have.

Death of Margaret Grady, 6 October 1913, Commons of Milltown, Dingle

If you would like to read this very informative (and helpful!) article, click here.

Irish Naming and Baptism Traditions

Copyright 2019, Kathleen Sullivan. All Rights Reserved