11. Freshford Parish Records: Good News and Bad

Freshford Catholic Parish registers record a baptism for a “Denis” Buggy, son of Richard Buggy.[1]  We expect that it will match Dennis Buggy who was born 11 June 1830 to Richard Buggy and Mary Butler.[2]  It doesn’t.  The baptism took place 6 June 1829, a whole year earlier, and although the father was Richard Buggy, the mother was Mary Brannagan, not Butler.  This conflicting information means either that it is the wrong Dennis Buggy or that more research and analysis are in order to explain the conflicts.

Here are the Buggy baptisms in Freshford Catholic Church from 1827 through 1833, a good chunk of time, with Dennis Buggy’s proposed birth date (1830) in the middle.  The columns include the page number in the baptism book; the date of baptism (not birth) and sometimes the initials of the priest; the child’s name; the father’s name; the mother’s name; the names of the male and female sponsors; and the residence of the child.

A glance shows that there are two Denis Buggy baptisms and four Richard Buggy fathers, each with a different wife!

Buggy Baptisms, Freshford Catholic Church, 1827-1833

p	date	child	father	mother	male sponsor	female sponsor	residence
29	30 Nov 1826	John	Richd Buggy	Mary Morris	John Grace	Betty Morris	Rathmoyle
35	16 Apr 1827	John	Richd Buggy	Mary Brannagan	Joseph Talent	Judy Qualey	Kile
61	26 Jan 1829	James	Richd Buggy	Mary Morris	James Saler	Mary White	Rathmoyle
64	8 Apr 1829	Denis	Michl Buggy	Judy Meighan	John Quigly	Judy Buggy	Kile
66	6 June 1829	Denis	Richd Buggy	Mary Brannagan	Andy Buggy	Kath Quealey	Kile
71	23 Nov 1829	Juliana	Richd Buggy	Margt Butler[? ink blot]	John Ca[__t__]ll	Judy Qua[ley]	[black ink blot]
101	23 July 1831	James	Richd Buggy	Mary Brannagan	Richd Fitzgerald	Catharine Brannagan	Kile
102	7 Aug 1831	Judith	Richard Buggy	Mary Morris	John Buggy	Margaret McCabe	Rathmoyle
113 J M	28 March 1832	Mary Peggy	Richard Buggy	Peggy Butler	Michael Butler	Judy Buggy	Kile
123 J F	17 Oct 1832	Michl	Richd Buggy	Cathe Culle[man?]	Phill Donge[__]cy [Doughercy?]	Cathe Young	Liss
128 J M	5 Feb 1833	Mary	John Buggy	Judy Hicky	Jas Holahan	Biddy Pantill	Rathmoyle

Reshuffling the table gives an overview of the Buggy families baptizing children during this time:

• ·      Richard Buggy and Mary Morris of Rathmoyle, 3 children, 1826-1831
• ·      Michael Buggy and Judy Meighan of Kile, 1 child, 1829
• ·      Richard Buggy and Mary Brannagan of Kile, 3 children, 1827-1831
• ·      Richard Buggy and Margaret Butler of Kile, 2 children, 1829-1832
• ·      Richard Buggy and Catherine Culleman[?] of Liss, 1 child, 1832
• ·      John Buggy and Judy Hicky of Rathmoyle, 1 child, 1833

p	date	child	father	mother	male sponsor	female sponsor	residence
29	30 Nov 1826	John	Richd Buggy	Mary Morris	John Grace	Betty Morris	Rathmoyle
61	26 Jan 1829	James	Richd Buggy	Mary Morris	James Saler	Mary White	Rathmoyle
102	7 Aug 1831	Judith	Richard Buggy	Mary Morris	John Buggy	Margaret McCabe	Rathmoyle
64	8 Apr 1829	Denis	Michl Buggy	Judy Meighan	John Quigly	Judy Buggy	Kile
35	16 Apr 1827	John	Richd Buggy	Mary Brannagan	Joseph Talent	Judy Qualey	Kile
66	6 June 1829	Denis	Richd Buggy	Mary Brannagan	Andy Buggy	Kath Quealey	Kile
101	23 July 1831	James	Richd Buggy	Mary Brannagan	Richd Fitzgerald	Catharine Brannagan	Kile
71	23 Nov 1829	Juliana	Richd Buggy	Margt Butler[? ink blot]	John Ca[__t__]ll	Judy Qua[ley]	[black ink blot]
113 J M	28 March 1832	Mary Peggy	Richard Buggy	Peggy Butler	Michael Butler	Judy Buggy	Kile
123 J F	17 Oct 1832	Michl	Richd Buggy	Cathe Culle[man?]	Phill Donge[__]cy [Doughercy?]	Cathe Young	Liss
128 J M	5 Feb 1833	Mary	John Buggy	Judy Hicky	Jas Holahan	Biddy Pantill	Rathmoyle

Shuffling again allows comparison of the two Denis Buggy entries:

64	8 Apr 1829	Denis	Michl Buggy	Judy Meighan	John Quigly	Judy Buggy	Kile
66	6 June 1829	Denis	Richd Buggy	Mary Brannagan	Andy Buggy	Kath Quealey	Kile

The first, older Denis can be eliminated, as both his parents are incorrect.  What about the second one?

The birthdate: A baptism of 6 June supposes a birthdate on or before that date, not later (as 11 June). 

The birth month: the same as Dennis Buggy the immigrant!

The birth year: As noted in an earlier blog post, Dennis Buggy’s birth year as reported by U. S. and Minnesota censuses extends from 1828 through 1833.[3]  Only the 1910 census would place his birth year in 1829.[4]  It’s a good match, but not strong enough alone to outweigh other conflicting information.

The father: the same!

The mother: Brannagan is an unknown surname, as Butler is expected.  Adding to the conflict, a Margaret Butler is one of the Freshford Richard Buggy wives, and living in the same community (Kile) as the Buggy-Brannagan couple.  Could the memory of the informant of Dennis Buggy’s mother’s name have been confused?

More research will untangle the threads.  Here’s the plan: 

• ·      Examine parish records for earlier and later baptisms for the Buggy-Brannagan couple to develop a picture of the whole family.
• ·      Discover Dennis Buggy’s siblings and see if they match the Buggy-Brannagan children.  If they do, it will be fairly safe to say that Denis Buggy born 6 June 1829 in Freshford is the same as Dennis Buggy who died 1915 in Minnesota.  If not…

Next Time: Examining the Whole Buggy-Brannagan Family of Freshford

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[1] Catholic Church, Freshford Parish (Kilkenny, Ireland), Parochial Registers, 1773-1881, Baptisms, 1825-1847, p. 66, Denis Buggy baptism (1829); FHL microfilm 926,192, item 3.

[2] “The Phelan Descendants,” privately held, 8.  Also, Dennis Buggy obituary, Faribault County [Minnesota] Register, 27 May 1915.

[3] Judy Kellar Fox, “3.  Dennis Buggy in Censuses,” Pinpointing Dennis Buggy’s Irish Origins (http://foxkellarbuggy.blogspot.com/2013/03/3-dennis-buggy-in-censuses.html), “Summary of Dennis Buggy ages as given in censuses.”

[4] 1910 U. S. Census, Faribault County, Minnesota, population schedule, Pilot Grove, ED 80, sheet 11 (penned), dwelling 173, family 176, Richard M. Boggy household; digital image, Ancestry.com; NA microfilm publication T624, roll 696; FHL microfilm 1,374,709.

© 2013 Judy Kellar Fox, CG, foxkellarj@comcast.net.