Parochial Registers
A s will be seen from the next section the registers of Baptisms from at least 1764 were in existence in 1811. Fr. Hackett, who was translated from the parish on 21 September 1811, appears to have taken the registers with him and they are no longer in existence. New registers of Baptisms and Marriages were begun in September 1811 and they continue to date. The Register of Deaths begins in January 1813 and ends in September 1820. The next register of Deaths begins in 1861.
New evidence has come to light indicating that a Register predating 1811 existed. The evidence comes from a n Australian source. A native of Drumconrath parish, one James Carolan travelled to Australia following the death of his wife, Ellen, taking with him a baptism certificate. According to the certificate Fr. O’Brien stated that I certify that according to the register of the United Parishes of
Drumconrath and Ardagh, James Carolan was baptised on 13 March 1807′. He signed it and dated it 19 May 1857. Obviously, the pre-1811 register was in his possession at this time. It seems likely therefore that it was mislaid between 1861, when Fr. O’Brien’s house ‘Violet Hill’ passed into the hands of his relatives following his death and November 1862 when Fr. Magrane completed the new
parochial house.
Researched and Compiled by Kathleen McArdle, “Brookville”, Drumconrath. Source: Faith History of Drumconrath – Meath Hill.