RootsChat.Com
Ireland (Historical Counties) => Ireland => Cork => Topic started by: Amy M on Wednesday 26 April 06 05:02 BST (UK)
-
I'm researching the following family. . .
Arthur Keefe married Margaret Harrington, probably in early 1860's. I had found one child's birth record (Elizabeth b. 1866) on the FamilySearch IGI which says she was born in Ballyhooly.
I have two known sons who immigrated to the US and ended up in Massachusetts:
- John Keefe, b. abt 1864, immigrated to Boston 1884, where he married Anna Campbell, they settled in Charlestown
- Michael Keefe, b. 1870, immigrated to Boston in 1890, married Nora Magner, they lived in Charlestown & Somerville, he also lived in Cook County, Illinois abt. 1897 prior to marriage
Possibly also a birth for a brother Andrew on IGI for 1871 (with mother's maiden name listed as "Haninington").
I wanted to know if anyone was researching this family, or knew something about them.
-
I have uncovered a bit more information, so I'm adding to my previous post.
Arthur Keeffe married Margaret Harrington on 1 Jan. 1850 in Castletownroche (R. C. church). The marriage was witnessed by David Roche & Edmond Harrington.
The widow Margaret died in Somerville, Massachusetts, USA on 29 Jan. 1903. Her parents were given as Edward Harrington & Margaret Dillon. Her age was given as 75.
I don't know where/when her husband died, & can't find her immigrating to U.S. She doesn't seem to be on 1900 U.S. census. When she died, she was living with son Michael. I have Michael on the 1900 census living with his brother John, & their mother isn't with them. Michael eventually moved to Canton, Massachusetts
I believe that Margaret's death record was incorrect, & her father was actually named Edmond.
Edmond Harrington married Mary Dillon on 16 Jan. 1826 in Castletownroche (R. C. church). It was witnessed by Denis Murphy & Margaret McCarthy.
Unfortunately, the marriage records do not lists any parents. (That would be too easy).
-
Hi Amy,
Apologies for the length of this rambling e-mail, but I've been trying to find details of my great, great grandfather, Cornelius Keefe (aka Kiefe & Keeffe and a few other variations!). I think he was born in Co Cork in 1856 (although in the 1891 UK census he claims to be from PA, USA) and his father was Timothy (I have found his wedding certificate from 1884 - he could not write & just signed his name with an X!)...
I have found a few dead ends in trying to research him back in Ireland, but here is what I know...
1851/3 - In Griffith's valuation (compiled between 1851-53 in East Cork, see website link below), there is a Timothy Keeffe in the Naglesborough (I can find no record of this) area of Castletownroche. There are no Timothy O'Keefes in Castletownroche and no Timothy's at all in Fermoy...
http://www.failteromhat.com/griffiths/cork/castletownroche.htm
1766 - At the website below, it shows a large number of 'Keff's' (including 2 called Timothy & Cornelius - father & sons maybe) in Castletownroche in 1766 - there are also a large number of Nagle's which might explain Timothy's address in 1851/53. The 90 years between this record and Cornelius's birth in 1856, would suggest if there is a connection then they would probably be his great grandparents...
http://www.ginnisw.com/castleto.htm
1826 - In the 1826 Tithe Applotment for the Civil Parish of Castletownroche (Diocese of Cloyne, see link below), there are the following Keeffe's (if this is the village we come from, then one of these would be Timothy's father)...
Acres Rods Perches
John Keeffe 56 0 2
Patrick & James Keeffe 14 3 37
Arthur Keeffe 0 0 16
[NB: in Fermoy, there is only a Patrick O'Keefe with 3 Acres]
http://myhome.ispdr.net.au/~mgrogan/cork/castletownroche.htm
1832 - In the Mormon / LDS website, there is one record of a Timothy Keefe being born in Cork to a Timothy & Margaret Brosnahan
Cornelius (b1856) moved to South Wales, UK at or around 1882. Although my great Uncle Joe (b1917, his grandson) is not sure that they all necessarily travelled together, Cornelius came from Cork with his 2 brothers (I don't know which definitely did what it could be the other way around and Patrick, my own name, has also been suggested as another possible name - at 91, Uncle Joe's stroty can change from chat to chat)...
1. Timothy or Timmy (who apparently died of influenza while they were in South Wales) - there is a Timothy 9 years Cornelius's junior living in Bedwellty in 1891 (Uncle Joe has suggested Bedwellty was where they lived)
2. Jeremiah or Jeremy (who returned to Co Cork. after failing to settle and went onto live in the USA, possibly Wilkes-Barre, PA or Chicago, IL).
Cornelius moved up to Bersham Colliery near Wrexham in North Wales on his own and was the lead charge hand there within a few years - maybe his expertise in explosives was one of the reasons the brothers had left Cork!
Originally from County Cork - Uncle Joe is not sure whether this is the Blackrock area of Cork City or either the town of Fermoy or Castletownroche in County Cork. Having found that his father was called Timothy via Cornelius's wedding certificate, I think that Castletownroche is the most likely option, but I still need to research this further. The attached link gives a history of Castletown Roche (described in Lewis's Topographical Dictionary of Ireland, 1837) which makes it sound quite like Ruthin (my home town in North Wales, UK)...
http://www.from-ireland.net/lewis/cork/c/castletownroche.htm
After some trips to Cork in the 1950's, Uncle Joe could not find any more details of the family ancestry! Uncle Joe recalls staying in the Victoria Hotel in Fermoy on one such trip (can't find details of this place on the web). He also recalls his Dad & Uncle saying that there weren't many of their family left and that they'd all gone to Chicago / Wilkes-Barre, PA. Including one cousin, Joe thinks was called Arthur, who had married the heiress of a jam & marmalade producer in Chicago. Young Arthur had further endeared himself to his wealthy father-in-law by observing that he was making poor use of the farm land he was only growing fruit on. Arthur encouraged him to introduce pigs to the land as well and this led to a lucrative diversification into pork products...
Hopefully some of this will be relevant and you may have some more details...
-
Unfortunately, I haven't come across a Cornelius, Timothy, Patrick or Jeremiah in researching my Keefe family so far, but I know those names were in the same area of Cork. My research of Irish records has been limited thus far.
I found it odd you mentioned a cousin Arthur possibly in Chicago, as I'm looking into an Arthur Keefe in Chicago being potentially another son to my Arthur Keeffe & Margaret Harrington. This one was a plumber though, as were Michael & John in Boston, & I believe he married another Irish immigrant, Mary A. Roche, in Boston. (I found a marriage for Arthur & Mary in Boston in 1891, but am not positive it's the same couple I'm finding in Chicago).
There is, in case you were not aware, an index, covering the area of Cork around Castletownroche & Fermoy, for birth marriages & deaths online. Unfortunately, the index just lists name & year (although you can filter it by location). There were 5 potential baptisms for your Cornelius in 1856. You have to pay €5.00 each to view a transcription of the corresponding record, & of course you don't know if the record is the one you want when you choose to view it. http://www.corknortheast.brsgenealogy.com/index.php?&set=yes
-
Thanks for the link, I'll follow it up & let you know what I find out...
UPDATE: NOW HAD A GO WITH THE 2 1856 CORNELIUS KEEFFE'S (UNCLE JOE CONVINCED THERE'S NO O IN THE NAME), BUT HAD NO JOY (WRONG PARISH, FARTHER NOT TIMOTHY)... VERY TEMPTING TO JUST KEEP PLAYING ROULETTE AT 5 EURO A GO, BUT THINK I NEED TO NARROW IT DOWN A BIT...
As for Arthur, I'll see if I can get any more info from Uncle Joe. Cheers,
Pat
-
Thanks Amy, I did have 3 more throws on playing roulette last night and found that one of the Cornelius O Keeffe's (b1856) came from Fermoy and had a father Timothy...
Given that he would therefore seem to be the only match on the site, does anyone have a sense of how reliable this is? My great Uncle Joe is pretty sure we never had an O, but as his grandfather couldn't write when he arrived he'd not have had too much control over the name... Also, I did ask one researcher for advice & they suggested it was a needle in a haystack as many men lied about their age by up to 10 years in the census information (it is consistently 1856 in both the 1891 & 1901 census & on his wedding certificate though)...
Does anyone have any thoughts on this?
-
It's not so much that they lied about their age on the census. . . it's just the information many times wasn't given by the person themself. Sometimes it was one of the children, or even a neighbor who would give the information to the census taker, & it could easily have been the wrong info. The Irish were notoriously bad with dates, but from my experience, generally good with the year. If you have several records indicating 1856, I think there is a fairly good chance that is the actual year.
I have the birth year for my Irish-born John Keefe ranging from 1862-1867. It varies on the various records I find in the U.S. I made a several attempts to find his baptism on the website I had suggested to you, with no luck. . . I do plan to try again at a later date (I had much better luck with marriages than baptisms).
I'm guessing you had no record indicating your Cornelius' mother's name. Keep in mind that the Irish-born usually followed a naming pattern with their own children. If Cornelius had daughters, the 1st two should've been named after their grandmothers. The order varies on whether the father's mother's or the mother's mother's name was used first. To add a bit of confusion, sometimes it wasn't the first name, but a middle name.
Regarding the "O". . . that usually was dropped once they left Ireland. I don't even think it was used consistently when in Ireland. Of the Irish records I have found so far, the name was spelled Keeffe, except I did find one baptism where it was spelled O'Keeffe.
I have some of my Keefes listed as O'Keefe on the passenger lists to the U.S., after that I've only seen Keefe used -- with 2 exceptions. For the 1st two children of my John Keefe, one is listed as Keeffe, & one is listed as O'Keefe in birth records. John's children had said that the name was originally O'Keeffe in Ireland.
-
Thank you Amy,
His mother's name is Mary Dunn on the record I found & although lots of Mary's in family, none of my his first 3 daughters... Really appreciate the link & will keep on looking! Cheers,
Pat
-
I have found baptisms in Castletownroche for the following children for Arthur Keeffe & Margaret Harrington of Ballyhooly:
- Ellen, bapt. 19 Jan 1851
- Mary, bapt. 9 Jan 1853
- Johanna, bapt. 1 Apr 1855
- Timothy, bapt. 24 May 1857
- Edmond, bapt. 17 May 1859
- John, bapt. 31 Mar 1861
(note parents listed, I believe erroneously, as Andrew Keeffe & Mary Harrington)
- Arthur, bapt. 23 May 1863
- Elizabeth, b. & bapt. 10 Feb 1866
- Michael, bapt. 10 Feb 1869
- Andrew Joseph, b. 19 Feb 1871, bapt. 26 Feb 1871
If the couple was following the traditional naming pattern for their children, it would seem Arthur was the son of a Timothy & Ellen.
Added note, I believe son Arthur married Mary A. Roche in Boston, Massachusetts on 8 Feb 1891, & then moved to Chicago, Illinois.
-
Hello
I don't know if I'm doing this right. But I came across this site and someone mentioned, Timothy Keefe from Ballyhooly, who later died in bedwellty, I'm sure if I can help anyone or vise versa, but I am a direct descendant of Timothy. He was my 3 rd great grandfather and I have done a lot of the welsh family
Pearl E
-
I think your Timothy would actually be the one that poster Patrick Keefe referred to, as he also mentioned Bedwellty, and it seems that one is a bit younger than the one I have, but just in case. . .
I have a Timothy Keeffe baptized in 1857 in Ballyhooly, son of my ancestors Arthur and Margaret (Harrington). This is probably a bit of a long shot, since there was a death of a 10 yr. old Timothy dying in the area in 1867 which I suspect was him.
I also suspect that Timothy's grandfather was named Timothy Keeffe.
I'm just trying to determine what happened to Arthur and Margaret's children, as I've only been able to trace 3 of their sons that went to the USA.
-
my 3rd great grandfather was Timothy Keeffe, born in ballyooley in 1807, married Mary Callaghan?. I found them in Kensington Middlesex on 1851 census with 4 children. their children were. John 1833. Hannah 1836. Ellen 1840 and Patrick 1842 all born in ballyooley. Ellen I found later in Bedwellty, she was my 2nd great grandmother and went on to marry John Delaney in 1862
-
My Keeffes were still in Ballyhooly at least through the 1880s. I assume we are probably very distant cousins, as both our Keeffes came from Ballyhooly and they seem to have the same given names, but unfortunately I can't figure out the connection. ???
-
Thank you for answering, sorry I wasn't of any help. But as you say we might be distantly related so Hello cousin
Pearl E
-
Hi ,
I have relations from Ballyhooly related to o keefe's
can you contact me
Patrick
(*)
(*) Moderator Comment: e-mail removed in accordance with RootsChat policy,
to avoid spamming and other abuses.
Please use the Personal Message (PM) system for exchanging personal data.
New members must make at least three postings before being allowed to use the PM facility.
See Help-Page: http://www.rootschat.com/help/pms.php
-
Okay, they won't let you post your e-mail address on the boards, & apparently you need to post 2 more messages before I can contact you through the personal message system.
Let's try this. . . I have webpages on RootsWeb (which I've barely worked on, but I suppose that is beside the point). My e-mail address is posted on the bottom. See http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~amich/index.htm (http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~amich/index.htm)
-
FAO Pearl E - my sincere apologies Pearl, your message has only just been brought to my attention. Can you please private message me at (*) ? I would love to learn more about your Timothy... Thanks, Pat
-
FAO Pearl E - my sincere apologies Pearl, your message has only just been brought to my attention. Can you please private message me at (*) ? I would love to learn more about your Timothy... Thanks, Pat
(*) Moderator Comment: e-mail removed in accordance with RootsChat policy,
to avoid spamming and other abuses.
Please use the Personal Message (PM) system for exchanging personal data.
See Help-Page: http://www.rootschat.com/help/pms.php
-
Arthur Keefe was married 01 January 1850
Patrick
-
Yes, thank you, I had mentioned his marriage date in one of my post in this thread. I also know that he died 25 July 1894. Unfortunately, neither the marriage nor death record gives his parents' names.
-
I am connected to O'Keefe family from Ballyhooly.
Being Arthur Manus O'Keefe son of William O'Keefe and Ellen Sullivan think they lived in Buttevant as well, then off to the USA
pATRICK
-
patrick keefe, my family are the nagle of the area you are searching, whilst reviewing the baptism n marriage records for the parish of killavullen and annakissa I saw many keefe mentioned. I asked my friend Nicky Keefe if her family were from Cork, yes, she said, from that same area. Naglesborough is a townland just north of Castletowneroche , and I think in the killavullen annakissa parish too.