Ellen's Story- Part 2- Ellen Kinsella and her birth and baptism 1834

 

                                     Ellen Kinsella Quinn- charcoal portrait

My great-grandmother, Ellen Kinsella, was a handsome woman. She had fine facial features with high cheekbones, petite shell ears and a well formed mouth. Her shiny sable hair would have been worn long in her girlhood, and put up when she married. Her eyes, perhaps, were her finest feature- even in a black and white portrait, they appear to be a shimmering light blue.

There is a hint of a smile in those eyes, though not on her lips, as was expected in portraits of that time. Her lips turn down a bit- almost in a frown of concentration, but it is her eyes that I wonder about. Those beautiful eyes are surrounded by dark shadows that the artist clearly notes as part of her character. What happened in her life to surround those bright eyes with such shadows? Her facial expression looks far away- almost haunted. What were her thoughts as the artist captured her portrait for posterity? 

If this was her wedding portrait, which is likely, she had been born just 25 years ago. Her parents were John Kinsella and Margaret Grace, married on 13 February 1831. The brides townland was noted as "Rahalikeen." The young couple had been married for just three years when, Ellen, their first child, was born. 

Catholic Parish Registers, The National Library of Ireland; Dublin, Ireland; Microfilm Number: Microfilm 05028 / 04

It was January 15, 1834, a cold winter day in Ireland, when they took her to to be baptized at the nearby chapel - likely in the village of at Kilnaspic. The village of Kilnaspic got its name from an Anglicized version of the Irish "Coill Na Easpag," meaning "Bishop's Wood. The small stone chapel stood at the foot of the Walsh Hills, and belonged to Mooncoin Catholic Parish in the Diocese of Ossory. Later, in 1866, a fine new stone church (which still stands today) would be built on the slope of hill, and called "St. Killogue's Church.


Infants in those days were baptized fairly close to their birth dates, as the survival of newborns was often fragile, and the sacred sacrament of baptism was all important in order to assure their entry into the Church - and the Kingdom of Heaven, if need be.
Ellen was likely only a day or two old, barely aware of the holy water sprinkled on her forehead, when she became a life long member of the Catholic Church.

Her baptismal record shows Ellen Kinsella, baptized January 15, with the formal baptismal name of "Eleanor." Her parents were listed as John Kinsella and Margaret Grace. Her baptismal sponsors, or godparents, were listed as Thomas Kinsella and Mrs. Farrell- neighbors and likely relatives of the young couple. 

Catholic Parish Registers, The National Library of Ireland; Dublin, Ireland; Microfilm Number: Microfilm 05019 / 03

Her place of birth was also recorded on the document- Barronswood (see next post.)

These carefully recorded diocesan records have been a lifeline to us in researching the lives of our ancestors.




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