Allen Blog- Hugh's Story- Part 2- Hugh's Childhood Family

                                         
                                              Hugh Allen

                                    Hugh’s Childhood Family

 My mother’s grandfather, Hugh Allen, was born in Ireland on 3 March, 1834.[1]  His parents, Richard Allen and Margaret Sweeney, had been married in Summerhill Parish, County Meath, in 1825. (The Parish registry below shows Rich Allen and Mag Sweeney and their witnesses.)2

Hugh grew up in a family of ten children. His eldest sister was Mary, born the year after his parents’ marriage, and eight years older than Hugh. There is little doubt that Mary bore many of the household chores and helped with caring for her nine younger siblings- this was a pattern that existed in the family into my mother’s own upbringing- the girls helped with the inside house work and the boys helped with the outside farm work. Hugh had two older brothers- Franklin (also known as “Frank” or “Francis”) who was five years older, and John, who was just a year older than Hugh. Just a year after Hugh’s birth his younger brother Patrick was born, followed by the birth of four more brothers over the next ten years- Peter, Richard, Thomas, and Edward. This household of eight boys was no doubt a crucial help with the daily farm chores but they also probably consumed a good deal of the product- a challenge during the famine years to come. Finally, in 1847 a baby sister was born- Catherine.3 This was the last child to whom Margaret would give birth.

Date of Baptism	name	Place	Sponsors
1826 28 May	Mary Allen	Summerhill, Meath	John Reely Mary Murran
1829 3 February	Franklin C “Francis” Allen	Dangan Parish, Summerhill, Meath	Peter Allen Mary McCann
1833 20 May	John Allen	Summerhill, Meath	Patrick Gugerly Rose Maran
1834 3 March (birth)	Hugh Allen	Summerhill, Meath
1835 5 June	Patrick Allen	Summerhill, Meath	Jane
1837 28 June	Peter Allen	Summerhill, Meath	Pat Sweeney Cate McCan
1839 15 Sept	Richard Allen	Summerhill, Meath	Richard Ruley Honor Corcoran
1841 22 Nov	Thomas Allen	Dangan Parish, Summerhill, Meath	Thomas McCan Christine Fitzsimons
1844 4 March	Edward Allen	Summerhill, Meath	Patrick Ruley Catharine Ruley
21 May 1847	Catherine Allen	Summerhill, Meath	Thomas Murns Ellen Sweeney

Records of baptisms of the children of Richard Allen and Margaret Sweeney- here we see that they were baptized in the church at Dangan, Parish of Summerhill.

Francis 1829

Thomas 1841

(Similar parish records were available for the other children of Richard Allen and Margaret Sweeney- all but Hugh!)

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1- Family History Notebooks

2- Ireland, Selections of Catholic Parish Marriages and Banns 1742-1884 (Ancestry.com)

3- Ireland, Select Catholic Birth and Baptism Registers, 1763-1912