Hugh Allen
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!)
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