Religion & Irish immigrants

[Asa]

I don't know if this will help anyone but in case it does -

I once read that the Irish immigrants to London, who lived in the rookeries were not strict about which, if any churches, they used. They were mostly RC by upbringing but apparently often seemed to avoid churches unless they were hunted down by a priest or vicar.

I originally thought my various Irish families who settled in Saffron Hill would probably be Catholic because of their surnames - Sullivan, Adams, Costello etc - and typical first names and then because of my inability to find baptisms or even birth registrations until the end of the C20th. Yet, an aunt of my great grandfather's appeared on the IGI marrying in Christ Church Greyfriars.

Because the births of my great grandfather and his seven siblings (born 1860-c1880) are not registered and because all the families only appear sporadically on census earlier on, I struggled to find the identity of their mother. Eventually I found a marriage for my great great grandparents in 1861 at St James Shoreditch, which seemed to confirm the family were C of E and this was supported when I was able to access my great grandfather's army records and he gave his religion as C of E.

I have just tracked down my the same great grandfather's Royal Marine Service records. His religion is given as RC.

So...my point is - try not to make assumptions about religion any more than anything else related to family history:-)

[Vivienne]

Hi Darlin, that made me smile. My Dad was brought up a Catholic but claimed on his marriage cert in a CofE church to be Cof E.
On his army docs he was Catholic & he always said that many non Catholics claimed to be Catholic because it got them off church parade.:D
I was 8 before I knew there was any Catholics in my family, never knew my Gran.

[Little Nell]

*waves to Asa*

I can't find my husband's Irish lot before 1848 C of E marriage, I expect you remember they were in Saffron Hill.

[Janet]

Have you not heard that once people escaped from Ireland into the wicked ways of the English or the USA then their religion was often dropped as quick as they could. I have a copy of a letter written by my Great Great Grandfather to his son in the USA in 1875 pleading with him to send his sons back to Ireland to be educated rather than have them educated in that heathen country!

However, they may not have practised their religion once they got to their chosen country and children's births were often not registerd because the Irish did not always care about registration BUT do not neglect the fact that their children were usually baptised and maybe went back to Ireland from whence they came, for this important event. Remember there was much migrant work where the Irish came over in droves to earn money at certain times of the year and then went back so the movement backwards and forwards is much greater than many people realised and it was the poor that migrated in this fashion. Also this is where it helps to look at siblings as well as if the children were products of a mixed marriage ie one protestant and one catholic then the boys were often brought up in the religion of the father and the girls brought up in the religion of the mother

Janet