Keegan/Clarke

[s_p_w]

Great work Spuncy. Much appreciated.

I've followed Francis, Mary and Margaret on familysearch through various Rhode Island and US Census data until their deaths. I've got Mary Fitzgibbons listed as spouse on Francis's RI death record 7 Feb 1937.

As for Molly, I've searched the Irish Times Archive which has returned some results but I haven't plucked up the courage to subscribe at this time.

You said on an earlier post that you had found eight Keegan children. I have Patrick, Mary (1849), Francis, Margaret, Mary, Esther, Ellen and Elizabeth. I believe it was common to reuse names of deceased children at the next opportunity. It's quite likely I've missed a couple as I have gaps in the timeline from 1845 up to 1864.

If Patrick was named after Esther's father, could Francis have been named after Michaels father?

More thoughts to follow later this evening.

[s_p_w]

Hi Spuncy,

Coincidence what you say regarding visiting relatives in Kinnegad. My father used to spend the long summer holiday in Killucan with his father's relatives as a boy. O'Briens or Twomeys, I believe, cousins of the Keegans. I have some photographs. PM me if you'd like a copy.

[spuncy]

Hi s_p_w,

Yep, I had those 8 and it seems as if the first Mary died and they named a later child Mary. I don't think I could find anything on the eldest, Patrick, though.

I went to the GRO and got 2 records:
- Michael Keegan 1807-1885 death (Mullingar Jan-Mar) but it was not the right Michael.
- Patrick Clarke 1799-1865 death (Mullingar) and again, not our Patrick Clarke.

So not sure when Michael Keegan died and where. It's possible his death may not have been registered.

I've seen instances where the first child has been named after both the mother's father and father's father (more usual). Unfortunately, we may never find out as the records from that time are all but non-existent. I did a quick search for baptism of Michael Keegan, father Francis, on rootsireland but didn't find anything. Perhaps the Twomey or O'Brien links can be explored further?

Probably the most interesting thing in the records  about Michael Keegan is that his house/land in Griffith's is 'in fee'. It's a quarry so I wonder if he or his family had anything to do with that.

We may need to call in Sherlock Holmes!

[keyreg]

Hi spuncy,

I could not believe my eyes when I read your posting.   We may be related.  My GGgrandmother is Margaret Clarke from Kinnegad, Westmeath.   She moved to Newport, RI and married my GGgrandfather, James McDonnell on October 29, 1865.   Her parents were Patrick and Margaret.  I hope that my Margaret Clarke is the same one that you mentioned.   I have been working with a volunteer researcher for a year and he has not been able to find anything about Margaret but he did confirm that Patrick Clarke leased a farm in Kinnegad at the right time period.

If you think our two Margarets are the same, please let me know how we can share information.  I have a lot on Margaret from the time she married until her death.

Thank you in advance for any scrap of information that you can give to me.

Best regards

Don K.

[spuncy]

Hi Don,

A Clarke from Kinnegad, ending up in Newport RI definitely seems like too much of a coincidence alright!

Esther Clarke Keegan, who moved to Rhode Island to be with her son Francis and daughters Mary and Margaret in 1883, died in 1892 and her death cert in Newport listed her parents as Patrick Clarke and Esther. The question is: could her mother be listed incorrectly?

From a preliminary search on rootsireland, Patrick and Margaret Clarke have 3 baptism records in Kinnegad:
1826 Esther (corresponds very well with our Esther as death cert has her birth in 1826)
1830 Richard
1834 Francis (our Esther had a son, Francis, so seems to run in the family).

Add to that Esther's daughter Margaret and we have a matching up of names. It does seem increasingly likely that the death cert had Esther's mother listed incorrectly and it potentially should be Margaret.

The fact that there's a connection to Newport and perhaps that's why Esther's son Francis moved there, does increase the likelihood that your gg-gm Margaret Clarke was our Esther's sister.

However, there were quite a number of Clarkes around Kinnegad and it's common for people in a general area to emigrate to the same place in the US or elsewhere. I think if we can find correlation between our Esther and her children in Rhode Island with your gg-gm Margaret, then we can perhaps tie it down better.

I am in contact with several members of the family, including some who are still in Rhode Island. I will send you a PM.

Talk soon,

Alan.

[Sinann]

Don you need to make 2 more posts before Alan can send you a PM

[bupski]

Hi Sinann, spuncy, keyreg, s_p_w, Faye 567 and any others,
For some reason I had not received any of these messages even though I had started this thread, but I am now back in the loop. My tree is under walshtreemaker and I would be happy to share and would also like to share in your trees.
bupski

[Tom Keegan]

My ancestor Patrick Keegan came from Baltigeer Ballinabrackey near Kinnegad, maybe around 1860, he married Bridget Daly Derryroe Castletown Geoghegan Co. Westmeath.
I've heard Patricks brothers and sisters emigrated to Argentina, about 2 years ago I discovered some went to America, I have no info on Baltigeer Keegans that went to America, I have relatives in America who are decended from the Castletown Keegans.
Francis is a common name in our branch too.
The Keegan headstone is in Kilkeran Cemetary Ballinabrackey, the earliest name on it is James Keegan 1776, the last name is Ellen Keegan 1880.

[sarah]

Hi bupski,

I have just edited your settings to get a message of a new reply instantly, if you had missed your first reply it was set up just to notify you the once

Regards

Sarah