Found font finds its way home after 98 years

THE old baptismal font from Ennis Cathedral has been reinstated in its rightful place after an absence of 98 years.
Fr Tom Hogan, administrator of Ennis Parish, unveiled the reinstated baptismal font in the cathedral last Thursday, to coincide with the launch of the Ennis Baptismal and Marriage Records (1837-1900) online.
The font had been lost for years but was discovered around 1964 during construction work at the property of Paddy Brennan, late sacristan, of 62 O’Connell Street, Ennis.  “The font later made its way to Clonroadmore, where Paddy’s son, Pat, has been its custodian ever since. The font functioned as a floral garden ornament at Pat’s property. This use seems to have maintained it in perfect condition. During judging of the best garden competition as part of Ennis Tidy Towns, Fr John Molloy, a judge, queried the flower pot and Pat Brennan was quick to give the historical background to the pot,” a spokeswoman for the Clare Roots Society said.
Later, Fr Molloy spoke to Fr Hogan about the font and both expressed a desire to have it reinstated in the cathedral. “Pat Brennan has willingly given back the font and expressed a delight this week on seeing it back in its original home. Pat also expressed a wish that Ennis Tidy Towns would include the font as part of the existing sculpture trail of Ennis,” she added.
Having been replaced twice since its removal in 1912, first by a font donated by the Lynch family of Chapel Street  and then by the current font installed in 1973 resulting from the Second Vatican Council renewal, the original font now takes pride of place once again.
Fr Hogan has linked the launch of the baptismal records with the historical background of the font. Sculptor Michael McTigue cleaned the font and designed and constructed the new base on which it now stands.
The Clare Roots Society said that they are getting a great reaction from around the world in response to the parish records going online, especially as they are free. “We’re hoping that other parishes around the country will follow in our footsteps. Otherwise, people doing their family tree have to travel to the church where their family/ancestors were baptised and ask for permission to see the parish records. We imagine that all the people listed in our online records would have been baptised in this font,” she commented.
The pre-1900 Ennis Parish records began in 1837 for marriages and 1841 for baptisms and contain more than 12,500 baptismal entries and 2,960 marriage entries.
Clare Roots Society undertook the work of digitally recording the 19th century Birth and Marriage Parish Indexes for Ennis Parish in the autumn of 2009. The marriage records were transcribed by the Clare Roots Diaspora Group in Australia / Tasmania, while the baptismal records were transcribed by a volunteer Clare Roots Society team in Ennis, including Fiona de Buitleir, Mary and Gerry McMahon, Karen Moore, Jennifer Morgan, and Regina Mullins.
The records are available free online at the Ennis Parish website at http://www.ennisparish.com/