Hello Colonel Daily,
Based on the baptism indexes in your Daily Family Tree, I found a copy of the original Mountmellick baptism record for your ancestor, Patrick Daly at the National Library of Ireland website.
During the 19th bentury County Laois was called Queens County.
The baptism record, which is attached to this reply (green arrow), shows that "Patt" Daly was baptized in the Mountmellick Catholic Parish on 23 January 1831. His parents are John Daly and Sally Dowling. The godparents or sponsors are Patt Malloy and Ellen Kelly.
To the right of Sally Dowling's name you'll see the upper case letter D. This tells you that the last name of the child being baptized begins with the letter D. To the right of the upper case letter D you'll see the numerals 2 and 6. This tells you that John Daly and his wife Sally Dowling donated 2 Shillings and 6 Pence to the Catholic Church for performing the baptism.
The present-day Catholic Church in Mountmellick is St. Joseph's, located in Sarsfield Street.
But, this is not the Catholic Church where Patrick, or any of the Daly children would have been baptized.
According to the National Inventory of Architectural Heritage/Buildings of Ireland website, St. Joseph's Catholic Church was constructed in 1878. See: https://tinyurl.com/2eprnd98
I suspected that the Catholic Church where the Daly children were baptized in Mountmellick, is no longer standing. To find out if I could locate its former location, I accessed an Ordnance Survey Map of Mountmellick from the 1829 to 1841 time period.
I accessed the Ordnance Survey Map from the Tailte Eireann website, and found the location of the R.C. Chapel, and graveyard, northwest of the town centre, in Chapel Lane, which today is Chapel Street.
The Ordnance Survey Map of Mountmellick is attached to this rely. The location of the R.C. Chapel and Graveyard is indicated by the green arrow.
I've also attached magnified Ordnance Survey Map views of the old R.C. Chapel and of Mountmellick. This is how the R.C. Chapel and Mountmellick would have looked when your ancestors lived there. You can enlarge the maps even further with your mouse wheel, aka, the scroll wheel.
While the old R.C. Chapel may be gone, you can visit the location of the graveyard where the church stood. The graveyard is called the "Graigue Cemetery," in Chapel Street (the N80 Road) on Google Maps: https://tinyurl.com/4b7wbz2x
The following link will take you to a Google Street View of the cemetery: https://tinyurl.com/4ru47z7j
According to the Find A Grave website, the Craigue Cemetery dates from the 18th century, and was “replaced by St. Joseph's in 1878. The graveyard contains memorials dating from the 18th to 20th century." See:
https://www.findagrave.com/cemetery/2589302/graigue-cemetery#:~:text=Cemeteries
No one has submitted grave memorials for Dalys or Dowlings buried in the Craigue Cemetery.
Another description of the Craigue Cemetery can be found at the historicgraves.com website: https://historicgraves.com/graveyard/graigue-mountmellick/la-ggmk
In addition, see the following from the cemeterylink.com website: https://cemeterylink.com/cemetery/graigue-cemetery-mountmellick-laois-ireland/
In your Daily Family Tree, you have a fragment of a Griffiths Valuation page, recording John Daly in Mountmellick.
IrelandXO Volunteer Roger had also mentioned John Daly in Griffiths Valuation.
Griffiths Valuation for the 32 counties of Ireland can be searched at the Ask About Ireland website: https://www.askaboutireland.ie/griffith-valuation/
The valuation for Mountmellick was completed by the year 1851, as that is the year the valuation was printed:
A transcription of the Griffiths Valuation page below shows that John Daly’s lease was located in Main Street Lower, Mountmellick.
Griffith's Valuation Record Information
Tenant
Family Name 1 DALY
Forename 1 JOHN
Landlord
Family Name 2 PIM
Forename 2 THOMAS
Location
County QUEEN'S
Barony TINNAHINCH
Union MOUNTMELLICK
Parish ROSENALLIS
Townland MOUNTMELLICK, TOWN OF (PART OF)
Place Name MAIN STREET, LOWER
Place Type OTHER
Publication Details
Position on Page 55
PRINTING DATE 1851
Act 9&10
Sheet Number
Map Reference 55 82
Source: Ask About Ireland
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I couldn't find Main Street Lower on a map of Mountmellick, nor did I locate Main Street Lower on the aforementioned Ordnance Survey Map of Mountmellick.
If you have time when you are in Mountmelick, stop by the public library and ask the librarian if they can help you locate where Main Street Lower is, or was, in Mountmellick.
The library is located in O'Moore Street, according to Google Maps: https://tinyurl.com/58y7tvzv
Here is a Google Street View of the library, overshadowed by the Mountmellick Civic Offices: https://tinyurl.com/jk4bzxe8
Being as the old Mountmellick Catholic Church was replaced by St. Joseph's Catholic Church in 1878 (as noted above), the library may have pictures of the former Catholic church in Chapel Street, where Patrick and his siblings were baptized from 1826 to 1840.
MEET AND GREET
The Ireland Reaching Out website has a Meet and Greet form you can fill out to see if there is a volunteer available in the Mountmellick area who can guide you around the town during the time period you are there. You'll be leaving for Ireland very shortly, and I'm not sure if a volunteer can be located in time before you leave, but it may be worth it to find out if a volunteer can meet with you in Mountmellick.
The volunteers are very knowledgeable about the area where they live and may provide you with information you would not otherwise be aware of concerning the ancestral townland of your Daly and Dowling ancestors.
The Meet and Greet form can be accessed at: https://irelandxo.com/meet-and-greet
Colonel Daily, along with IrelandXO Volunteer, Roger, I'd like to thank you for your service to our country.
I hope you and your wife have a memorable trip to Ireland.
With Best Wishes,
Dave Boylan
SOURCES
National Library of Ireland
National Inventory of Architectural Heritage/Buildings of Ireland
Tailte Eireann: Ordnance Survey Map of Mountmellick, Queens County
Google Maps
Google Street Views
Find A Grave
historicgraves.com
cemeterylink.com
Ask About Ireland: Griffiths Valuation
Ireland Reaching Out: Meet and Greet
