? Moore / Moor of Avoca / Newbridge - 1790s

Mark:

I don't think the name is John. One of the witnesses was a John Neil and the handwriting for that John is very clear nothing like the child's name. For your information, the subscription site Roots Ireland transcribed the name in question as Theo. 

Roger McDonnell

Thanks for your help.

I have a few questions with regards to naming traditions:

• Are marriage witnesses likely to be siblings, or parents of the bride and groom?
• Are baptism sponsors likely to be siblings of the mother and father?
• Do families tend to strictly follow the family christian naming tradition, rather than introduce new / other names?

There are a number of Moore names in the Avoca / Newbridge church records with similar clusters of dates and names e.g. Denis, Michael, Patrick, Anne and James, all circa 1801/02, and then 1810s, 1820s to 1830s. I have been trying to fit / match them, and also looking at the witness / sponsor names, are they likely to be of the same family or related family groups?

Thanks, Mark.

Mark:

Marriage witnesses normally would be siblings or friends. Baptismal sponsors generally would be siblings to the parents and if there were a lot of children maybe friends/neighbors.

The naming pattern was not always rigidly followed.  I'll give you two examples from my family. My great-grandfather was Roger McDonnell, His father was John and his father in law was Charles Phillips. Roger had three sons. He named the oldest son Michael (he had a brother Michael). His second son was John (after his father)  and the third son my grandfather was Patrick. He did not have a son Charles.

Another great-grandfather was Bernard Roddy. His father was Peter and his father in law was James. 

His four sons were Peter (after his father), Martin (likely after a brother who had died, James after his father in law and then the youngest Bernard after himself.

Roger