Dennis, There was an RC chapel in Cobh called St. Mary's. It may have been the one that was demolished to make way for the building of St. Colman's Cathedral. I was doing research on the family of my GGrandmother Marjory Mowett (married William Ahern, Cove 1856) and received some details in 2004 from the Sisters of Mercy Archivest in Cork, Sr. Mary Lyons, about a nun who was the daughter of a Mary Mowett: I still don't know the exact relationship if any of this Mary to my GGmother Marjory. _________________________________________ James McMasters & Mary Moate married 12th. Jan. 1840 in Cobh; Witt. Cors(?) Meehan & John Hart. Isabella McMasters bap. 24th. August 1845, parents James McMasters & Mary Mowett. Spons. Robert Lawlor & Honora Lawlor. These entries are from St. Colman's RC registers. The names Isabella McMaster, and surnames Lawler and Hart are listed as sponsors for the baptisms of my Grandfather Thomas Ahern and his siblings from the same records. __________________________________________ "Isabella McMasters/Sr. Mary Bernard, Convent of Mercy, Macroom." "Isabella, the only child of James McMasters and Mary Mowett, was born on 20th August 1845 and baptised by Rev. T. England on the 24th August 1845 in the old St. Mary's Chapel, on Chapel Hill. (From Cobh Parish Records.) This would have been at the start of the Great Potato Famine here. She would have been four years old when Queen Victoria paid a visit to the town, an event that changed the name of her native town to Queenstown. When she reached the school going age of 5, the Sisters of Mercy had just opened a new Foundation in 1850 and more than likely Isabella would have been among the first pupils of their schools. At the age of 14, she was enrolled in Our Lady's Sodality on May 1, 1859. (From the Sodality Register.) National School Records show that a salary was granted to Isabella McMasters as Senior Monitress from 1st May 1859. In 1861, '62 and '63 a gratuity was paid to the Mercy nuns for training her, and it was ordered on 10th July 1863 for another year. (From National Archives holdings of National School Records for Ireland). Isabella would also have seen the old Presentation College (originally known as the "Pro-Cathedral") being built, the old chapel being levelled to the ground and the foundations of the present St. Colman's Cathedral being put in place. She entered the Queenstown Convent of Mercy on 6th August 1865; in 1868 Sr Mary Bernard was sent to the Macroom Foundation to join two other sisters. She died at an early age (30 years) on July 8, 1875." _________________________________________ Next is from a book "Diocese of Cloyne A.D. 2002", interesting reading but gives no sources that I could see for the information or quotations listed in it. "-------The state of the Catholic Church on the Great Island (1731) is noted. There was "one old Masshouse", served by one officiating priest assisted by two itinerant priests, probably friars who travelled from parish to parish. There was also "one reputed Popish school" i.e. a hedge school under Catholic patronage. Bishop McKenna in his will (1790) bequeathed "to the chaples of the Great Island, the suits of vestments kept in such chaples," which suggest that as early as 1790 there was at least two chapels on the island. In fact there was a third, i.e. Fr. Harrington's Redington Academy which incorporated "a big chapel, added to accommodate students and people of the neighbourhood" and for which Fr. Harrington sought and obtained privileges from Rome in 1788. Fr. Harrington died on 27th. Feb. 1810 and is buried in Templerobin. The school closed-------. The existence of a chapel in Cove town, before 1800, is evident from a reference, accompanied by a sketch map, in a letter to Lord Midleton (15 April 1806) from Welland, his agent, when discussing Fr. Donworth's request for a site for a new chapel. Negotiations continued through 1807 and 1808 a lease was granted. The original site was situated alongside what was then called Bishop St. The church was erected immediately, by the 1820's it was already too small for the growing congregation. Various additions were made over the years. A boy's school was built in the Chapel yard at an early stage and this was replaced by the Cove Free Schools (1829), which provided additional covered accommodation for Massgoers. By the 1850's the original design did not permit further expansion and in 1856 the first moves were made that culminated in the building of St. Colman's Cathedral. "BALLYMORE In the meantime a new chapel had been provided for the rural parishioners in Ballymore. It was opened for divine service in December 1827. This church hadd become dilapidated and too small for the congretation by 1900. Another was erected at the site and was dedicated to the Sacred Heart on 6th April 1902." A couple of entries from Lewis. Look for Great Island, or BARRYMORE ISLAND under the second link. http://www.libraryireland.com/topog/C/Cove-Barrymore-Cork.php http://www.libraryireland.com/topog/g.php At this point I surmise that all available St. Colman's Cathedral RC registers/records are from St. Colman's and any other RC churches on the island. A google search may give other/contradictory results! Thank you very much for adding the Ahern baptisms which I posted to the list, to the Ahern Family Website. Colman Ahern. Berkeley Calif. On 9/21/2010 7:29 PM, Dennis Ahern wrote: > > On Tue, 21 Sep 2010 JMOORE4308@aol.com wrote: > >> In a message dated 9/18/2010 7:30:35 PM Eastern Daylight Time, >> ahern@world.std.com writes: >> >> Today is September 18th. On this day in 1842, James Ahern & Ellen Murphy >> were wed at St. Colman's Cathedral, Cobh (Queenstown), County Cork. >> See http://homepages.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~aherns/ahloii.htm for the >> baptisms of their children in the Parish Records of St. Colman's >> Cathedral. >> >> Last time I visited Cobh, I was told that construction of St. Colman's >> cathedral was begun in 1867. If so, how could anyone be wed there in >> 1842? >> >> John Moore, Lansdowne, Pa. USA > > Perhaps I am incorrect in describing the event as taking place in the > Cathedral. In any case, I believe it is from the parish records of St. > Colman's, Cobh. I do not know what stood there before the cathedral. > I'll ask Colman Ahern, who furnished the original transcriptions. > > - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - > Dennis Ahern | The Ahern Family Genealogy Website > Acton, Massachusetts | http://homepages.rootsweb.com/~aherns/ > - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - > > >