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Surname differences in Liber Mat Marriage records

MeathNavan (Meath)

Hello! In doing family research, I discovered something confusing and wondered if someone might be able to explain why it happens?

While researching the Navan Parish Liber Mat records written in Latin, (specifically beginning in January 1876) many brides and grooms parents' surnames don't match their children's. At first I thought it was twospelling mistakes along with aswitcheroo on the part of the priest, but the more I looked, the more I found it almost typical for the surnames of the bride and/or groom to completely not match theirparent's surnames. Not just a small spelling error, but completely different surnames for either one or both the bride or groom and parents.

I'm very curious because it appears to startwith the sister and groom of my 2G-grandmother and seems to continue for awhile through many many marriage entries.

(For my entry the bride is Alicia Mahon daughter of Patritie and Alicia Callary, groom is Jacobus Carney son of Michaelis and Mariae Monahon. You can see why I thought there werespelling errors and a switcheroo. However the next names are: sonsurname Masterson withparents' surname Jones anddaughtersurname Reilly withparents' surname Garry, and then it just continues on fairly often as such throughout the records.)

Thanks so much for your help in helping me discover why.

Sincerely,

Sherry

our4kids2love@…

4 replies

Sherry,

I think what was happening is that the priest simply omitted the father’s surname as it’s self evident.  So Alice Mahon is the daughter of Patrick Mahon and Alice Callary. James Carney is the son of Michael Carney and Mary Monahon. No need to repeat the father’s surname. You see it sometimes with baptisms too.

Elwyn, IrelandXO Volunteer ☘IrelandXO Volunteer

Elwyn,

You have come up with such an interesting thought that I can't wait to do some research on the Callary and Monahon names to see what I come up with!

I have the civil marriage records to compare but they don't really match either. (Hopefully they uploaded here.)  The civil document states the father of James Kearney (Carney) was a Thomas Kearney, baker. The Liber Mat states his father's name as Michael.  However, the father of Alicia Mahon (my 2g-aunt) is Patrick Mahon a laborer and those names match on both marriage documents.

I have a similar problem with her sister, my 2g-grandmother who remarried after being widowed: Bridget Mahon Tallon Rowe. In civil marriage documents her father is listed as Patt Mahon, but in the Liber Mat her parents are listed as Michael and Mary Mahon. I can find no record of a Michael Mahon in the Navan area, but there is a Patrick Mahon b. 1819 I can find living on Barrack Lane at the right time and later on Cannon Row which matches up with other family records.

I made assumptions that these two women are sisters based on their father's name and the street name in civil marriage documents. 

I would love to hear any thoughts on these discrepancies!

Sincerely,

Sherry

 

our4kids2love@…

The civil and religious records should have been compiled at the same time by the same priest.  However the civil copy held in Roscommon is not an original. It’s a copy made by a GRO clerk. (If you study it closely, you’ll see that the whole document is in the same handwriting including the bride, groom and their 2 witnesses signatures).  GRO should have the original as well.  So it’s possible there was a transcription error on the copy you have. Either that or the priest made a mistake with one of the documents and put the wrong father’s name down. Both James & Alicia signed with a cross indicating there weren’t very literate, so they probably never noticed.

Assuming both sets of records relate to the same events on the same days, I can’t see any other explanation than a clerical error by either the priest or a GRO clerk.

Elwyn, IrelandXO Volunteer ☘IrelandXO Volunteer

Thanks so much I appreciate your insight, Elwyn. I had no idea that both the civil and religious records were compiled by the priest. I was at a standstill for quite some time, but this information opens up new research for me to do!

Sherry

our4kids2love@…

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