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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

WestAussie0509

Saturday 11th Jan 2014, 02:20AM

Message Board Replies

  • Hi John.

    We are currently looking into your query and may have some information on the Cooney side of the family but wish to speak to a few people before commiting anything more to paper.

    Regards Bill Ryan IRO.

    Terryglass55, IrelandXO Volunteer ☘

    Monday 13th Jan 2014, 12:36PM
  • Thanks Bill. I'm encouraged by your response. My wife, Maureen and I will be in Ireland for a week from 3 August and Terryglass will definitely be on our itinerary.

    Regards John

    WestAussie0509

    Monday 13th Jan 2014, 01:30PM
  • Hi John.
    Just a little further info on that according to the records of Griffiths Valuation which was a survey of land ownership carried out between 1847 and 1864 it shows that a John and also a Patrick Cooney had owned land in Turravoggaun in that time and it also shows that a Martin Keane had land in Newlawn Terryglass at this time also, am attaching link.
    Just to stress that at the moment no definite proof that either families are linked to your query but neither names would be that common in the area as far as I know both then and now.
    Rgds Bill.
    http://www.failteromhat.com/griffiths/tipperary/terryglass.htm

    Terryglass55, IrelandXO Volunteer ☘

    Monday 13th Jan 2014, 04:38PM
  • Hi John.

    We have some information on your query but I would prefer to send it to you via private email as it contains a lot of personel details of families dates of birth etc so if you contact me at

    ryan.bill68@gmail.com   will pass it all on to you.

    Regards Bill Ryan.

    Terryglass55, IrelandXO Volunteer ☘

    Monday 20th Jan 2014, 07:03PM
  • Bill Ryan was a great help to us in preparing for our visit to Ireland in 2014. Volunteers like him and Clare Doyle in Galway provide an invaluable service to those of us searching for our ancestors. In email correspondence since then, I have let Bill know that Mary Keane's mother's maiden name was actually Curry, not Cooney. If this strikes a chord with anyone who is a Curry descendant from Terryglass, I'd be delighted to hear from them.

    John James

    Perth, Western Australia

     

     

    WestAussie0509

    Saturday 16th Sep 2017, 01:29AM

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