Traditionally Irish family names are repeated through the generations. Eldest sons are called after the paternal grandfather, eldest daughters after the maternal grandmother and so on, so that the same names appear frequently. Throughout the rest of this document, Patrick will be identified as Patrick and Johanna as Johanna to avoid confusion with other family members sharing that name. Where exact dates are stated these have been verified by primary records (birth, marriage, death etc.).
The surname “Phelan” in Kilkenny is normally pronounced the same as “Whelan” on family records and is pronounced “Whalen”. Phelan and Whelan are often interchangeable on family records.
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Approximate dates have been inferred from census records or similar sources. Reported
ages in the 1901 and 1911 census need to be viewed with caution as accurate birth dates
only become important when the national pension scheme was launched. Many people in the
key age bracket for pensions appear to age more than 10 years between 1901 and 1911!
Civil birth dates may also be slightly inaccurate.
The priority for a Roman Catholic family was to have the child christened, rather than
to register the civil birth. There was also a fine for late registration of births, so
on occasion we can find that a child was christened before the official birth date,
and in these cases, we can assume the child was born a day or so before the christening.