Hi Greg
Here is what I found in the Avoca Roman Catholic parish records (on microfilm).
Baptisms :
30 Aug 1826 Margaret, daughter of James Doyle and Margaret McDonnell. Sponsors : Wm. Mills, Mary Given (?)
15 May 1828 James, son of James and Margaret Doyle. Sponsors : Wm. Kelly, Mary French
29 Aug 1832 Ann, daughter of James and Margt. Doyle. Sponsors : Margt. Mills, Bryan Burke
25 Mar 1834 Ellen, daughter of James and Margaret Doyle. Sponsors : James Larnstead(?), Cathne Clarke
6 Aug 1835 Eliza, daughter of James and Margaret Doyle. Sponsors : Thomas French, Sally Doyle
5 Jun 1838 Julia, daughter of James and Margaret Doyle. Sponsors : Anne Kelly
10 Aug 1840 Lucy, daughter of James and Margaret Doyle. Sponsors : Cornelius and Ann Farrell
Marriages :
20 Apr 1844 Denis Doyle to Mary Doyle. Witnesses : James Conway, Ellen Brown
2 Feb 1846 Mathew Doyle to Elizabeth Neill. Witnesses : John Neill, Eliza Fitzsimmons
2 Feb 1846 John Doran to Catherine Neill. Witnesses : John Neill, Eliza Fitzsimmons (looks like Elizabeth's sister)
10 Nov 1851 James Doyle to Elenor Kavanagh. Witnesses : Henry Anderson, Catherine Byrne
Baptisms :
7 Oct 1846 Margaret, daughter of Mathew Doyle and Elizabeth Neil. Sponsors : James Neil, Margaret Doyle
2 Feb 1849 Mary, daughter of Mathew and Elizabeth Doyle. Sponsors : Dennis and Ann Doyle
17 Apr 1850 Bridget, daughter of Mathew and Elizabeth Doyle. Sponsors : William Tierney, Margret Lennon
25 May 1851 Mathew, son of Mathew and Elizabeth Doyle. Sponsors : Myles Byrne, Lucy Neill
18 Sep 1845 Thomas, son of Dennis Doyle and Mary Doyle. Sponsors : Owen Sheridan, Margaret Doyle
17 May 1848 Michael, son of Dennis and Mary Doyle. Sponsors : Patrick McCann, Elinor Browne
I have put a question mark in brackets of I couldn't read the writing.
Unfortunately there was no sign of Dennis or William's baptism and they are probably just missing from the actual register. As I said before, this was all too common in Irish records unfortunately.
The priest may have lost the scrap of paper he had written the names on or he just forgot to record the entry. These registers are covered by two microfilms and I ran out of time before I could look at Mathew's baptismal entry. I will do that next week, if you like. I cannot find a marriage for James Doyle and Margaret McDonnell online but I will have a look at the marriage records in the other microfilm as well, just in case those years were not recorded online. You were extremely fortunate that the priest who recorded Margaret's baptism, actually put down Margaret's maiden name, as you can see, they didn't bother most of the time!
RC parish marriage records do not give names of parents of the bride and groom and unfortunately this parish also did not record the address of the parents with baptised children or the married couple. The surname Doyle was very common in that parish and there was another James Doyle (married to a Mary) who had children baptised around the same time as James and Margaret, so it may be hard to pinpoint where in Avoca parish, James and Margaret actually lived.
The surname Neill was interchangeable with O'Neill but in those days, the British frowned on 'Irish' surnames and the O and Mc were usually taken off surnames in records, only to be added on in the late 1800s when the Brits relaxed their rules, so lots of Neills, Sullivans, Rourkes, etc., became O'Neill, O'Sullivan and O'Rourke in the records then. The people would have been known locally by their real name but just recorded in the 'English' way!
I hope this helps.
Regards
Deirdre
