Patrick Power : Short Biography

Patrick Power 1809

Kilmeadan (Waterford) County Waterford

Back to List

I visited Waterford in my student days- and those were nearly 60 years ago. Everyone was most kind, and of course everyone knew several Patrick Power families. I was hardly serious about family history and just wanted to see where it all began.
Now I am a beginner in Irish research, though half of my forebears are Irish.

Additional Information
Date of Birth	1st Jan 1809 (circa)
Date of Death	1st Jan 1891 (circa)
New Type	My great-great grandfather Patrick Power and wife/g-g grandmother Alice O'Brien [or Bryan] lived in Kilmeadan parish and farmed land immediately behind Haughton's Pub, which still stands today. In fact, the Google satellite photo shows fields nearly the same as those in Griffiths 1865 map!. I don't know whether he was born in that parish. The verification of the farm location is in a family history written by Alice's grand-nephew who grew up in "Kilmacthomas Ballyhussa", a place I have not located yet. It is great-great grandmother's birthplace. This grand-nephew, James O'Brien, was my grandfather's second cousin; he emigrated as a teenager in 1911, and eventually had a great career as a New York City government official [with the clean-government Irish crowd, not the other one]. My great-grandfather was William Power b. 1843. Rumor from the Australian Power clan [by his brother John] was that he was a gardener at Curraghmore. In the US, he was a modestly successful builder. He emigrated in the early 1870's and here married a hometown girl, Honora Hahesy from Knockenduff. Her parents were Robert and Katherine. I have not found them in any records I have searched so far, including Griffiths. The William Powers lived out the rest of their lives in Worcester, Massachusetts, where their grandson, my father, was born. According to 'cousin' James, Patrick's sons did not leave a continuation of his line in Waterford. ( I started to write "a continuation of his name' but then realized the Waterford supply of Powers and of Patrick Powers was quite adequate without any more contributions from our twig on the family tree! His daughter/ my g-g grandfather's sister Katherine, married Michael Kiely and lived in Islandiskane parish [town?]. Ancestry DNA suggestions I am related to people around that area. I am, of course, trying to find my g-grandmother Nora's family and to get further back in all the families. I do have the names and dates of one older generation of O'Briens and will do their page soon. But I am even more curious as to just how these ancestors lived- and especially how and where they kept a flock of small children alive through the Great Famine and 15 years later farmed land with several working buildings. And paid rent to another person called Power who seems to have many properties. There are a couple of other Patrick Power tenancies in the immediate vicinity, including one near Carroll's Cross, not far from the pub. I wonder whether 'my' Patrick leased both. With all these questions, I am thrilled to find this community and dive into the good resources and reference materials all have shared. Meg Power, Mclean, Virginia, USA

Post Comment

Comments

You may be mistaken with Haughtons pub!!

The Original Haughtons pub located @ Old Kilmeadan Village now called the Cosy Thatch Kilmeadan the Powers farmed lands to the back of that pub and still do!!

Regards.

Martin.

Sunday 21st January 2024 01:52AM