Here in western-central NYS, baptism can depend on the health condition of the newborn. If the babe is in very ill health, he/she may be baptized within the first few hours of birth. I was born many years ago 52 days early and in very poor health. The medical staff and my parents contacted the head of my church and had me baptized and given last rites within minutes of each other. This was then followed by lifesaving surgery. I was finally sent home to die 51 days after my birth. I know that my angel has always looked out after me for all of these years. His name is Billy (my grandpa), he passed several weeks before my critical care birth. His family is originally from Holy Cross, Thurles, Co. Tipperary. I would imagine the same would occur for infants in Ireland, if minister/priest were near the place of birth. It is an interesting item to ponder what would happen in other countries. Peg Clutter In a message dated 3/21/2010 12:19:03 P.M. Eastern Standard Time, leshipman1@att.net writes: I would like to know if it was common in Carlow (around the late 1700's to early 1800's) for newborns to be baptised right after birth...or was it common to wait for a period of time? In America, it often happened that newborns had to await their baptism (sometimes for years) because of no church or official to do the baptismal. Thank you for any comments. Linda ======================================= Before you post a message to the IRL-CARLOW mailing list you must subscribe to the List. Its FREE! --------------------------------------- To subscribe to the IRL-Carlow mailing list, send an email to IRL-CARLOW-request@rootsweb.com with the word "subscribe" (without the quotes) in the Subject box. No additional text is required. ------------------------------- To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to IRL-CARLOW-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes in the subject and the body of the message