Mary Keane - soldier's sister and convict's wife

Mary, the daughter of Patrick Keane, was born about 1834 and always said she came from Borrisokane. However, according to rootsireland.ie, the only matching baptism around that time was for a Mary from Gortmore, Terryglass whose parents were Patrick and Ellen Keane (nee Curry). Her baptism was on 12 Oct 1834 and the godparents were John Whelan and Ellen Maher. Supporting the view that this is the correct baptism is the fact that Mary named her second daughter Ellen. Her first daughter, Ann appears to have been named after her husband's mother.

Mary's mother died when she was young and Patrick married a Biddy (there is a matching marriage to a Bridget Walsh on 20 Nov 1836 in Terryglass) who, apparently, was the archetypal evil stepmother. When Mary's older brother, William migrated to Western Australia in 1858, she came with him. William was an Enrolled Pensioner Guard who, as a former British Army soldier, had the role of guarding convicts sent out to labour in the new colony.

Whether on the ship or after landing in WA, Mary met and later (1862) married John McCann, one of the convicts, probably to her brother's disapproval. As with so many others, John led a blameless after gaining his Ticket of Leave. Their descendants have made their mark in various fields with one great grandson being a former Premier of Western Australia, the highest elected office in the State.

Any help with tracing the Keanes and Currys in and around Terryglass and Borrisokane would be greatly appreciated. There were no Keanes in Terryglass by the time of the 1901 Census. This is an update of an earlier message. Helen Fox and Bill Ryan were a great help as local volunteer guides when we visted Terryglass some years ago and couldn't have done more for us.

Thanks

John James

Perth WA