Baptism of Michael Baskwell 15 February 1844
Aughagower; County of Mayo; Archdiocese of Tuam. Baptisms, Jan. 1844 to Feb. 1844, page [27]
Two things are going on here. First, there’s the baptism of Michael Baskwell (Basquill), son of Michael Basquill and Margaret Kelly, on 15 February 1844. This is my great-great grandfather Walter’s older brother, and I believe the first child in the family to be baptized in Aughagower Parish, so I am on the right track. The sponsors are Thomas Flinn (I think?) and Julia Baskwell. I don’t know which Julia this is, yet, but both sponsors would be close to the family.
Second, check out Mrs. Duffy on the last line. One advantage of slogging through thousands of pages of un-indexed images is that you get to see stuff that wouldn’t normally interest most folks. I doubt, when Ancestry releases its own set of indexed parish records for Ireland, that entries for churching will make the cut. I think that’s unfortunate, though.
Churching is a blessing given to women after they’ve given birth. The child does not have to be live born or even baptized, but hopefully if you look further back in the register, you’ll find a baptismal entry for the woman in question. If there isn’t one, that would indicate that the child likely was stillborn or died before it could be baptized. Either way, it’s potentially helpful information.
red paper boat 