An old baptismal font removed from the Cathedral of Saints Peter and Paul, Ennis, has been reinstated in its rightful place after an absence of almost a century. Administrator Fr Tom Hogan unveiled the reinstated baptismal font to coincide with the launch of an online version of records of baptisms and marriages in Ennis between 1837 and 1900.
After it was replaced in the cathedral, the font went missing for several years but was discovered in the early 1960s when a house in O’Connell Street, Ennis, was being renovated.
The house belonged to Mr Paddy Brennan, a now-deceased cathedral sacristan, and the font was used by his son, Pat, as a garden ornament.
When Mr Brennan entered his garden in a Tidy Town competition, one of the judges, Fr John Molloy, asked about its background and subsequently secured Mr Brennan’s agreement to have it reinstated in the Cathedral.
The font was replaced twice since it was removed in 1912, first by a font donated by the Lynch family of Chapel Street and then by a font installed in 1973 resulting from the Second Vatican Council renewal.
Before the original font was re-installed, it was cleaned by a sculptor who also constructed a new base for it.
Meanwhile, the Clare Roots Society said it is getting reaction from people around the world viewing the parish records online.
“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 ancestors were baptised and ask to see parish records,” a spokesperson said.
“All the people listed in our online records would have been baptised in this font,” she added.
SIC: CIN