Can anyone read this please

[jollyhollyday]

Primarily the name of the mother after Catherine Williams formally....I think Scantan?
Many thanks

Scanton?

Scanton

I also think Scanton but bear in mind if it comes from an era where most people couldn’t read and write it will have been verbally relayed to the registrar who will have made a best guess at the spelling. This is how lots of surnames changed over time.

Scanton - they both look quite like an a but if you look they’re formed quite differently.

yes I also think it says Scanton, is there no transcript? as there usually is on sites such as Ancestry or find my past etc.

or maybe spelt Scantan.

I think it looks like Scantan based on how they have joined the Os and As in other words but Scanton seems more likely.

Thank you all
There was a transcript but I've sometimes seen those noted incorrectly so hoped to see what you all thought to check my thoughts

Sorry is anyone familiar with Irish place names and can read this?
And it appears there is a column for sponsor on the birth register- was this normal for 1800s Ireland
Many thanks

Sorry this picture

Ballycorney, I think. That would be in County Clare - it's about 4 miles from Ballada, which is on the next line.

Thank you that's really helpful

Sponsors are very common yes - they are the same concept as godparents in the main. It's a term commonly used in the Catholic Church and also in the Church of Scotland (protestant).

SCANTAN as a surname - my gut feeling is that this is a handwriting error. I like the Barry Griffin surname distribution map for Ireland as a general clue as to where names originated and how common they are. https://www.barrygriffin.com/surname-maps/irish/ That site says there are zero people called SCANTAN in the 1901 census, and only one SCANTON in 1911. It's far more likely that the priest has crossed what should be a L to make it a T - so Scanlan/Scanlon.

Almost 2500 people called SCANLON in 1901 with a concentration around Clare/Limerick/Kerry which matches with your family, and 2000 called SCANLAN in similar areas.

Wow thank you! It's crazy how spellings of surnames change slightly over time and depending on the person writing it down
Thank you for the info on sponsors as I've not seen this before and I've just found Irish links, their paperwork is different to the English and Welsh censuses etc very helpful thank you