Owen Madden and Ann Dermott , part 2

Diana,

That Ancestry record that you attached above is the same record that Patricia found on Roots Ireland where Owen is married to Christian Kiddigan, 23 May 1762. The "Hillas Town" is obviously a transcription error as it is probably the name of a place, and not a person.

Regards,

Thank you so much Carolyn

Hello Diana,

Owen Madden and Ann Dermott would have been married before March 4, 1758, as that is the date their daughter Ann was baptized in the Killeen Catholic Church Parish, County Meath, according to a baptism transcription from the Find My Past (FMP) website.

You can view the transcription at the following link after establishing a free account with FMP:
https://www.findmypast.com/transcript?id=IRE%2FPRS%2FBAP%2F4504371&tab=…

Accompnaying to the FMP transcription is a link which takes you to the Killeen baptism registers, where I found a copy of Ann’s original baptism. The registers are held by the National Library of Ireland, Kildare Street, Dublin, and are free to search online.

The writing in the baptism register is challenging to read because the handwriting is very sloppy. See the attachment.

Below is my transcription of the baptism record:

“Ann daughter of Owen Madden and Ann Dermott his wife
Christened March the 4th 1758 (here a cross-through of a word) Parish of 
Ballsoon  (unintelligible word, but could be “sponsors”) James Dignan and Mary Dignan.”

James Dignan and Mary Dignan refer to Ann’s sponsors, or godparents.

The Parish of “Ballsoon,” refers to the Civil Parish of “Balsoon, County Meath.” 

According to a book entitled, “A Guide To Irish Parish Registers,” by genealogist Brian Mitchell, Catholics living in the Civil Parish of Balsoon, would have attended the Killeen Catholic Parish Church.

From Ann’s baptism record we now know that Owen Madden and Ann Dermott lived in one of the townlands situated within the Civil Parish of Balsoon. 

The IreAtlas Townland Data Base shows there were 10 towns in the Civil Parish of Balsoon, including the townland of Balsoon. See: https://tinyurl.com/mvr3sxk2

 Unfortunately, Ann’s baptism record doesn’t record where she and her parents were living in the Balsoon parish.

According to information from the National Library of Ireland, the Killeen Catholic baptisms and marriages are available beginning on 2 July 1742. But there are gaps in these registers. See: https://registers.nli.ie/parishes/0932?locale=en

I didn’t find the FMP baptism transcriptions for any more children of Owen Madden and Ann Dermott, nor did I find their FMP marriage transcription. 

The marriage of Owen and Ann, and the baptisms of any more of their children, may have taken place on dates which are no longer available in the Killeen Catholic Parish registers.

Or, the marriage of Owen and Ann, and the baptisms of any more of their children may not have been transcribed because the FMP transcriber couldn’t decipher the information in the baptism and marriage registers, due to the poor handwriting.

You can see another example of the poor handwriting in a copy of the original marriage record for Owen Madden and his wife Christian. You had linked an index of the marriage from Ancestry.com in your Ireland Reaching Out message dated 28 September 2024.

My transcription of the marriage differs from the ones at Ancestry.com and RootsIreland in some respects.

A copy of the original marriage record is attached. The marriage was not transcribed by FMP, probably because of the handwriting.

Here’s how I read the marriage record from a copy of the original found at the National Library of Ireland website, though I couldn’t decipher every word:

“Owen Madden of Killeenstown and parish
Married to Christian Hadigan of Balyadd? Or Balgadd? of 
The same Parish married May 23 1762.
Present John Fay (or Day) and Catherine Fay (or Day).”
----

I could not find a townland in County Meath with the names Balyadd or Balgadd, or variations of the names with any certainty.

I next uncovered an FMP baptism transcription for one of Owen and Christian’s children. This is the baptism for Alis Madden, who was baptized in the Killeen Catholic Parish on 13 February 1763. Her mother’s full name is transcribed as “Christian Hadigan.” See the FMP transcription:
https://www.findmypast.com/transcript?id=IRE%2FPRS%2FBAP%2F4698293&tab=…

A copy of the original baptism record for Alis is almost unintelligible, but it looks like her godparents were Christopher Madden and Mary Swan.

The baptism record is attached and can be found within the green borders.

I looked for the names Madden, Derrmott/McDermott and Hadigan/Haddigan in the civil parishes of Killeen and Balsoon, in two 19th century Irish records called the Tithe Applotment Books, and Griffiths Valuation. 

I didn’t find anyone with these surnames recorded in either the Tithe Applotment Books, or Griffiths Valuation in the civil parishes of Killeen or Balsoon. 

The Tithe Applotment Books were recorded in the 32 counties of Ireland from 1823 to 1837. Griffiths Valuation was recorded in the 32 counties of Ireland from 1847 to 1864. 

The FMP website, as well as the National Library of Ireland website, show that the alternative name for the Killeen Catholic Parish was Kilmessan and Dunsany, and their variant spellings. 

Kilmessan and Dunsany are also civil parishes in County Meath, and so I looked for the surnames Madden, Derrmott/McDermott and Hadigan/Haddigan in Griffiths Valuation and the Tithe Applotment Books to see if any of these names were recorded in the Kilmessan and Dunsany civil parishes, but found they were not. 

To be recorded in the Tithe Applotment Books, or Griffiths Valuation, a person would have either owned or leased property, such as land, houses, and outbuildings. The families of owners and leaseholders were not recorded.

Itinerant famer workers who didn’t own or pay to lease property, would not have been recorded in the Tithe Applotment Books, or Griffiths Valuation.

With Kind Regards,

Dave Boylan

SOURCES

Find My Past
National Library of Ireland Catholic Parish Registers
IreAtlas Townland Data Base 
Ancestry.com 
RootsIreland 
Tithe Applotment Books
Griffiths Valuation
 

Very clear and helpful, thank you so much Dave!

Diana

You're welcome Diana, and thank you for your reply.

Dave