Batt Ryan's Baptism

We are analyzing Catholic Church records from County Tipperary, as one of our ongoing projects.  The National Library of Ireland provides free online access to its old Catholic parish records.  St. John’s Catholic Church was built in 1796 to serve the thriving Catholic population in Newport, County Tipperary.  This parish recorded our ancestors’ marriages, baptisms and deaths.  Although quite old you can still see this church in Newport, but unfortunately it has no roof.  Today, Newport Catholics attend mass at the Church of the Most Holy Redeemer, which was built in 1933.

Several years ago we contacted Tipperary Family History Research as they have official access to Catholic records for the Archdiocese of Emly and Cashel, which includes Newport.  Our ancestors, James Ryan and Nancy Ann Campbell (or Camel), lived in Gortnaskehy Townland, Kilnarath Civil Parish, in County Tipperary.  This organization found James and Nancy Ann Ryan’s marriage record, as well as most of their children’s baptismal records.  The only record they could not find was our  ancestor Batt Ryan’s baptismal record.    

The Waukon, Iowa, Catholic parish record shows a marriage between Maurice Ryan and Eliza Hill.  Perhaps we had not found the right baptismal record because we did not know Batt’s real name, we thought.  Actually, Batt’s baptismal record does appear in Newport’s parish records but may have been indexed incorrectly by the Tipperary Family History Research group.  Early parish baptisms were written in Latin; however, by the mid 1850s all baptisms were written in English.  

The parish record below reads ‘Batt of James Ryan & Nancy Camel, Gurthanskeha, sp. Mary Kenedy.’  The priest’s name, J. Tenelly, appears after Mary Kenedy’s name.  Mary Kenedy or Kennedy was Batt’s baptismal sponsor.  Father Tenelly was the same priest who baptized Batt’s brother, James Ryan.  At first glance you may ask why this record shows ‘Batt’ instead of ‘Bartholomew’.  This appears to be the norm for these Tipperary records.  In these records you see ‘Cate’ for Catherine, ‘Kitty’ for Catherine, ‘Patt’ for Patrick, ‘Nancy’ for Ann, and so forth.  As you might know, Batt Ryan’s tombstone shows he was born in 1850 so we can correctly assume the tombstone’s date is wrong.

February 25, 1849

 

St. John’s Catholic Church in Newport, County Tipperary

This is one church we might want to see while touring Ireland.  It still exists although it no longer has a roof.  This structure is registered with the Irish Architectural Society due to its historical significance.  It was built after the Irish Penal Laws were repealed in the late 18th century.  The online description for this church appears below even though much of it :

Detached cruciform-plan former church, built c. 1796,now roofless, with chamfered junction to nave and transepts. Coursed snecked rubble limestone walls to entrance gable topped by dressed stone belfry with cross finial and with rendered rubble limestone walls elsewhere. Dressed stone quoins and copings. Round-headed openings with dressed sandstone voussoirs and brick jambs. Tall window openings to nave partly blocked up. Doorways to front gable and to north walls of transepts. Inscribed foundation stone and holy water fonts set into walls. Set behind rubble limestone boundary wall with cast-iron piers and decorative cast-iron gates.

Appraisal
An historically-significant post-penal era Roman Catholic church, forming a picturesque ruin through its form, materials and location.

 

              

This old church’s location is shown on the following Newport map.