Whoa! So many issues here!
In your original posting you told us your g...grandfather was Patrick Kirwan, son of Martin Kirwan and Mary Cloak/Cloake, baptized Wexford 1853.
But at this point we know that:
- There was a Martin Kirwan and Mary CLOAK in Wexford at this time, but
- The Patrick Kirwan baptized in 1853 is recorded as the son of Martin and Mary POOR (as already pointed out by OldOhio).
- Your family history says the mother was neither Cloak, nor Poor, but HOGAN.
So, three different surnames, and no consistency with the records!
At this point I would ask: Is it clear that your Kirwans were really from Wexford town, or just generically the county. I would not be sure at this point.
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When I first began my Kerwin family research in March 2017, I did not know whether family lore referred to Wexford Town or to County Wexford. However, with the Irish Catholic parish records found to date, there is no mistaking that Martin Kirwan and Mary Cloak had strong ties to Wexford Town and that the names Cloak, Power, and Hogan do fit.
Based on research to this point, I am confident that Patrick Cloak and Mary Power were married in 1823. Their daughter, Mary Cloak was baptized 7 July 1824. I am assuming that Patrick Cloak died sometime during the mid- to late 1820s -- of course, there are no interment records -- and his widow then married William Hogan in 1830. Mary Cloak then became William Hogan's step-daughter -- and thus was later known by her children in Canada as Mary Hogan.
There was always some confusion among earlier family historians regarding this discrepancy in Mary's maiden name. It is interesting to note, however, that Cloak is given as Mary's maiden name in all Canadian records up to 1885. After 1885, when her children were informants, Canadian records show Mary's maiden name as Hogan. There can, however, be no doubt that Mary Cloak and Mary Hogan are one and the same: in the marriage records for my great grandparents, Patrick Kerwin and Ellen Gavin, the parish record from Our Lady of Mercy in Sarnia, Ontario dated 7 January 1885, gives Mary's name as Hogan. However, the civil marriage registration for the very same event records Cloak as Mary's maiden name.
I believe that the 1853 baptism record for Patrick Kirwan is erroneous: I do not think it too far-fetched to imagine that the parish priest mistakenly recorded the mother as Mary Poor rather than Mary Cloak. Patrick's maternal grandmother was Mary Power and this is where I think that parish priest erred. I suspect that family names Poor and Power are one and the same: try saying Poor and Power quickly and you will see what I mean and this, I think, is more likely given that the names were recorded in an age when the spelling of names was often of little or no import.
Several Kerwin family trees variously give the birth year of Patrick Kirwan as 1854 or 1855. In a letter dated 19 September 1960, my grandfather, Patrick Grandcourt Kerwin wrote, “My grandfather [Martin] Kerwin came from Wexford, Ireland, and my father [Patrick] was born there on December 23, 1854.” It is very likely that Patrick Grandcourt Kerwin was not entirely accurate in his statement regarding his father’s birthdate as he was not yet nine years old when his father died. This inaccuracy was later demonstrated as a search of all Catholic baptismal records in the parish of Wexford during this time frame revealed only one entry for a Patrick Kirwan whose parents were Martin and Mary. Patrick’s date of birth was recorded as 21 December and he was baptized the following day, 22 December 1853.
I believe that I am on the right track concerning the above but what I'd really like to know, as stated in previous posts, is when and where Martin Kirwan was born. Hopefully, I'll eventually figure this out!
Thanks again for all of your responses!