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Newly available Ireland, Select Catholic Birth and Baptism Registers, 1763-1912 - transcription errorss

Newly available Ireland, Select Catholic Birth and Baptism Registers, 1763-1912 - transcription errorss

Posted: 13 Mar 2014 5:56PM GMT
Classification: Query
I have encountered an issue with these records that I wanted to broach.

I have certainly not looked at all of these records but have done some looking at the parish records for Easky, Sligo. One thing that I have noticed in the baptism records, in particular, is that the transcriptions have, with consistency, incorporated a mistake that is not reflected in the record, per se: an assumption was made by the transcriber which may be having an adverse effect on data searches. An example:

http://search.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/sse.dll?db=CelticCatholic...

In the above link, note that the parents of Michael Kenny are written in the original record as
"Patrick and Margaret McGee." However, the transcribed record records them as "Patrick McGee and Margaret McGee." Since this is an RCC record, women are recorded with their given (maiden) name, thus this surname would not be associated with Patrick. In these records, in general, the father shares the last name of the child unless otherwise noted. However, Since "Kenny" is not explicit for Patrick which is likely the product of some sort of clerical shorthand, in these instances, should the transcription simply record the father's first name rather than attach the woman's surname? What effect will this have on the search algorithms?

Thanks.

Re: Newly available Ireland, Select Catholic Birth and Baptism Registers, 1763-1912 - transcription errorss

Posted: 13 Mar 2014 6:43PM GMT
Classification: Query
The transcription says:
Father: Patrick Mc Gee
Mother: Maggie Mc Gee

and that's what I see on the original document in the second, unheaded column.

Under Spouses on the original document I see Patrick & Sarah McGee

Perhaps I'm not looking in the right place?

Re: Newly available Ireland, Select Catholic Birth and Baptism Registers, 1763-1912 - transcription errorss

Posted: 13 Mar 2014 7:20PM GMT
Classification: Query
What you are seeing is the "Sponsors" heading, which is often used in the ledgers to indicate the godparents, or those who stood up for the baptism. Sarah McGee is likely Maggie's sister. Patrick, I have no idea...if he is Patrick McGee (a brother) or Patrick Heavenknows. As sponsors, they are separate from the parents, who are listed in column 3. Parents don't stand as a godparent since the whole idea is to appoint someone who will assure religious upbringing should the parents die.

If you look at the entire page, you will see that no set of parent names (column 3) matches the last name of the child...that is because it is the mother's maiden name and the father's surname is implied. In the sponsor column, most are two distinct surnames.

Occasionally in a register, the surnames of parents might match simply because it is very common or the marriage was between distant cousins.

Re: Newly available Ireland, Select Catholic Birth and Baptism Registers, 1763-1912 - transcription errorss

Posted: 14 Mar 2014 2:16PM GMT
Classification: Query
Okay, got it.

Unfortunately, even though this board is to comment about and makes suggestions to improve the United Kingdom and Ireland records on Ancestry, Ancestry staff don't seem to monitor the board very often. You are likely to receive more help with this issue by contacting Ancestry via the Help page, the Report Issue links, or to call them direct.

Re: Newly available Ireland, Select Catholic Birth and Baptism Registers, 1763-1912 - transcription errorss

Posted: 14 Mar 2014 5:07PM GMT
Classification: Query
Yes, I have tried the help commentary utility to no avail. The links for signing in are broken and when I try to sign in it keeps giving me a different message related to lack of authentication. I sent a private note to their customer service folks - but it should not be such an exercise to bring this thing to their attention. Right now, I think they are so busy with people annoyed with the new Search rollout, they likely have no time for much else.

Thanks.
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