Jeremiah C Brosnan.

James:

Do you have any information on the names of the parents of the Jeremiah Brosnan born around 1875? There are four Jeremiah Brosnan/Brosnahan birth records in 1875 and more records in other years. The surname is found almost exclusively in Co. Kerry.

Roger McDonnell

James,

There's a lot of information about Jeremiah and family on ancestry.com.  Various census records show that all of Jeremiah's children were born in the U.S., not Ireland. His wife was Bridget Morrissey, and he was from Kerry.

Thank you Patricia

Attached Files

Hello James,

The New York City Municipal Death transcription from the FamilySearch website, shows that Jeremiah’s father was Cornelius, and that his mother was Catherine Shine.

Jeremiah’s date of death was 13 September 1928, and date of burial in Calvary Cemetery was 15 September 1928. His death took place in the Bronx, New York City.

The transcription further shows that Jeremiah was 52 years old when he died, and that his “Estimated” birth year was 1876. His birthplace was Ireland.

There is what appears to be a contradiction in the death transcription, in that it notes that Jeremiah was single at the time of death, but that his wife was Bridget Brosnan.

A copy of the original death record did not accompany the FamilySearch death transcription, which is below:

New York, New York City Municipal Deaths, 1795-1949

Name: Jeremiah Brosnan
Sex: Male
Age: 52
Burial Date: 15 Sep 1928
Death Date: 13 Sep 1928
Death Place: The Bronx, New York City, New York, United States
Death Place (Original): Bronx, New York, New York, United States
Birth Year (Estimated): 1876
Birthplace: Ireland
Marital Status: Single
Occupation: Police Officer
Race: White

Father's Name: Cornelius
Father's Sex: Male
Father's Birthplace: Ireland

Mother's Name: Catharine Shine
Mother's Sex: Female
Mother's Birthplace: Ireland

Spouse's Name: Bridget Brosnan

Certificate Number: cn 7133
Cemetery: Calvary
Frame Number: 150

Citing this Collection
"New York, New York City Municipal Deaths, 1795-1949." Database. FamilySearch. http://FamilySearch.org : 4 June 2020. New York Municipal Archives, New York.
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The following is from the “United States, Officer Down Memorials, 1791-2014,” from ancestry.com, describing the shooting incident in which Jeremiah was killed on 13 September 1928:

United States, Officer Down Memorials, 1791-2014

Name: Patrolman Jeremiah C. Brosnan
Birth Year: abt 1875
Age: 53
Date of Incident: 13 Sep 1928
Death Location: New York
Department: New York City Police Department
Department State: New York
End of Watch Date: 13 Sep 1928
Tour of Duty: 24 years
Badge: 779
Cause of Death: Gunfire
Weapon: Shotgun; 16 gauge
Suspect: Shot and killed at a later date

Notes: Patrolman Jeremiah Brosnan was shot and killed by two suspects he had arrested on a prior date. Patrolman Brosnan was guarding a prisoner at a Fordam Hospital when the suspect entered the hospital prison ward, shot and killed Patrolman Brosnan and fled. One of the suspects was shot and killed on October 22, 1931 when a patrolman recognized him as a suspect in the murder of Patrolman Bronsan. When detectives moved in to arrest that suspect, a gunfight erupted in which two detectives were wounded and Detective Guido J. Pessagano was killed. On July 11, 1932 detectives from the New York City Police Department tracked the second suspect to a house near Albany, New York, where they, along with Troopers from the New York State Police attempted to arrest him. The suspect was killed in the ensuing gunfight and a New York City detective was wounded. Patrolman Bronsan was assigned to the 24th Precinct.

Source Information
Ancestry.com. United States, Officer Down Memorials, 1791-2014 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2011.

Original data: Officer Down Memorial Page. Officer Down Memorial Page, Inc. (http://www.odmp.org): accessed 3 November 2014.
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To view the Officer Down Memorial Page, go to: http://www.odmp.org/officer/2314-patrolman-jeremiah-c-brosnan

Going back 10 years in time, Jeremiah filled out a World War I draft registration card, showing he was living at 456 East 139 St., in the Bronx. His age is 41 and his date of birth November 11, 1876. His occupation is “Policeman City of New York.” His nearest relative is Bridget Brosnan, who would be his wife. The draft card also mentions that Jeremiah had gray eyes and gray hair, and a “Fracture of left leg,” which may have disqualified him from military service. But, Jeremiah registered with the draft board on September 12, 1918. The war ended on November 11, 1918, and so, if he had been drafted, he probably would have never served in the military.

The front and the back of the draft card are attached to this reply.

With the information from the World War I Draft Registration Card that Jeremiah was born on November 11, 1876, combined with the information from the New York, New York City Municipal Deaths. that his parents were Cornelius Brosnan and Catherine Shine, I looked for his civil registration birth record at the free irishgenealogy.ie website, but didn’t find it.

In some cases births that took place toward the end of the year were not recorded until the beginning of the following year, and so I also looked for his birth record in 1877, but again didn’t find it.

I then expanded the search for Jeremiah’s birth from 1870 to 1880 at the irishgenealogy.ie website but didn’t find it.

I also looked for Jeremiah’s 1876 baptism record at the irishgenealogy.ie website’s “Church Records” collection for County Kerry, but didn’t find it.

I then looked for his baptism at the Find My Past (FMP) website, but likewise, didn’t locate it there either.

At this point in the research I decided to look for Jeremiah under alternative spellings of his first name and surname. The name Jeremiah is the anglicized version of several related Irish names, such as Dermot, Diarmaid, and Darby. See the Library Ireland’s Irish Names and Surnames link at:
https://www.libraryireland.com/names/men/diarmaid-dermod.php

More information about the name can be found at rootsireland: http://www.rootsireland.ie/help/first-names/

Also see the FamilySearch wiki entry at: https://www.familysearch.org/wiki/en/Ireland_Personal_Names

Concerning Jeremiah’s last name, an alternative to the Brosnan surname is Brosnahan. See John Grenham’s, “Find A Surname” link at: https://www.johngrenham.com/findasurname.php?surname=Brosnahan

John Grenham notes that the Brosnan surname probably derives from the townland of Brosna in County Kerry. He cites this information as coming from a publication: “MacLysaght, Edward, More Irish Families, Dublin, 1982.”

You can see the location of Brosna, County Kerry, on a map, by scrolling down the page from https://irelandxo.com/ireland/kerry/brosna-kerry

Brosna on the map is indicated by the red, teardrop marker: https://irelandxo.com/ireland/kerry/brosna-kerry

Brosna is located near the Limerick and Cork borders. You can read more about the town from the 1837 edition of “Lewis’s Topographical Dictionary of Ireland” at: https://www.libraryireland.com/topog/B/Brosna-Trughenackmy-Kerry.php

Continuing the research for Jeremiah and alternates for his first and last names, I went to the FamilySearch website’s, “Ireland Births and Baptisms, 1620-1881,” and just looked for any children of Cornelius Brosnan/Brosnahan and Catherine Shine. I didn’t look for the first names of any of their children. Two names came up. One was “Darly Brosnan.” His birthplace is recorded as Brosna, County Kerry. His birthdate is 16 September 1868. His parents are Cornelius Brosnan and Catherine Shine.

See the birth index below:

Ireland Births and Baptisms, 1620-1881

Name: Darly Brosnan
Sex: Male
Birth Date: 16 Sep 1868
Birthplace: Brosna, County Kerry, Ireland
Birthplace (Original): Brosna, Kerry, Ireland

Father's Name: Cornelius Brosnan
Father's Sex: Male

Mother's Name: Catherine Shine
Mother's Sex: Female

Citing this Collection
"Ireland Births and Baptisms, 1620-1881." Database. FamilySearch. http://FamilySearch.org : 5 March 2021. Index based upon data collected by the Genealogical Society of Utah, Salt Lake City.
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The FamilySearch birth index for Darly Brosnan gave me the information I needed to look for a copy of his original birth record at the irishgenealogy.ie website, and to also look for his baptism at the Church Records collection at irishgenealogy.ie.

I found his birth record at irishgenealogy.ie, which shows that Darly Brosnan was born in a place that looks like, “Lacfoder,” on 16 September 1868. His father is Cornelius Brosnan, a labourer residing in Lacfoder. His mother is Catherine Brosnan, formerly Shine. Darly’s father Cornelius reported the birth to the district registrar whose name is Richard Harold. He recorded the birth in the Tralee Superintendent Registrar’s District of Tralee, Registrar’s District of Brosna, on 21 September 1868. You can access Darly’s birth record at the following link: https://is.gd/Jsb1rl

His birth is Number 267 in the register.

I didn’t find a place spelled Lacfoder on a Google Map, but I did locate what I believe to be the name of the town on the map, which is Loughfouder. The Google Map shows that Loughfouder is, by the shortest route, 5.5 miles southwest of Brosna. See the map at: https://is.gd/DHAzLk

For Google Street Views just west of Loughfouder, see: https://is.gd/RvxzhH and https://is.gd/ddFqTn

Loughfouder may actually be a section of another townland called “Lackbrooder,” which you can see on another Google Map at: https://is.gd/FpumdI

I hadn’t found any records that show that Darly is an alternate name for Dermot or Darby. It is however, an English name, and an alternate name to Daryl.

The baptism transcription I found next at irishgenealogy.ie cleared up the confusion about the child’s name, as it shows that “Dermot Brosnahan,” son of Cornelius Brosnahan and Catherine Shine, was baptized in the Knocknagoshel, County Kerry, Catholic Church, on 16 September 1868. The residence of his family at the time of the baptism is “Leacht Juader,” which looks like it may be the Irish spelling of Loughfouder, or perhaps even Lackbrooder. The baptism record further shows that Dermot’s godparents were Daniel Brosnahan and Catherine Brosnahan. The priest who baptized Dermot was the Rev. P. Moriarty. A copy of the original baptism record has not been imaged by irishgenealogy.ie. I’ve attached the baptism transcription to this reply.

The question is, could this Darly/Dermot Brosnan/Brosnahan be the same Jeremiah Brosnan who left Ireland for the U.S., and eventually became a police officer with the NYPD?

It is possible, as I don’t believe birthdays were as important in Ireland in the 19th century, when just trying to pay the rent and put food on the table were the most important aspects of living, especially after the Great Famine of 1845 to 1851.

The birthdates on the gravestones of my own great grandparents from Limerick and Kerry, are off by several years, making them older than they actually were when they died in the early 1900s.

To see if Cornelius and Catherine had named a child Jeremiah or Dermot before 1876, and to see if this child had died, I looked for the death record and death index for a child named Jeremiah/Darby/Darly etc. Brosnan/Brosnahan at the irishgenealogy.ie website, who died between 1868 to 1876, but didn’t find one. The irishgenealogy.ie website has only digitized death records from 1871. Before 1871 indexes of death are available from the year 1864, which is the year when civil registration of births, marriages, and deaths for all religious denominations commenced in Ireland.

If Jeremiah Dermot was born in 1868 rather than in 1876 as he states in his draft registration card, he would have actually been 60 years old, rather than 54 years old when he was shot and killed in New York in 1928.

Still, I can’t be 100 percent certain that the Darly Brosnan/Dermot Brosnahan, born and baptized in 1868, is the Jeremiah Brosnan you are looking for.

I found a record that contradicts Jeremiah’s age of 52 in the New York City Municipal Deaths record, and his age of 53 in the United States, Officer Down Memorials, as shown above.

This record is the 1900 census, from ancestry.com, where Jeremiah is shown to be 29 years old, and his date of birth as October 1871. The census shows that he and his 32 year old wife Bridget had been married for eight years at the time the census taker came by their residence on 5 June 1900. The address where they lived was 73 East 105th Street, Manhattan, New York. This address must have been an apartment building, as there are several other tenants enumerated in the census living at the same address.

The 1900 census further shows that Jeremiah and Bridget had been married for eight years as of 1900, and in that time had four children, with the four children still living. Jeremiah and Bridget were born in Ireland. As of the date of the census Jeremiah had been in the U.S. for fourteen years, since 1886. He also shown to be “Na,” which is the abbreviation for “Naturalized American Citizen.” The census shows that Bridget had been in the U.S. for fifteen years, since 1885. At this period in his life, Jeremiah had not become a police officer, as the census shows he was a “Glass Polisher.” No occupation is recorded for Bridget.

The 1900 census shows the four Brosnan children in the household, all born in New York. They are 6 year old Katie, born July 1893; 5 year old Hannah, born June 1895; 3 year old Nellie, born January 1897; and 1 year old Cornelius, born 1899.

Also in the household is Jeremiah’s mother-in-law, 60 year old Hannah Morrissey, who was born in Ireland, in May of 1840 and had been in the U.S. for 12 years, since 1885, and who had been married for 35 years. The census shows that Hannah had five children, with four still living. Enumerated after Hannah Morrissey is 30 year old Nellie Morrissey, who was born in Ireland and had been in the U.S. for 12 years, since 1885. Her relationship to Jeremiah is “Border,” but I believe she would be Bridget Brosnan’s sister and Hannah Morrisey’s daughter. Nellie’s occupation is “Nurse.”

There is one other “Border” in the household. This is 27 year old Cornelius Kane, who was born in Ireland and had been in the U.S. since 1897. His occupation is “Bartender.”

A copy of the original 1900 census for the Brosnan household is attached to this reply.

I also found Jeremiah in the New York State Census for 1905, where he is 31 years old, with a year of birth “abt 1874.” The 1920 census shows he was 43 years old with an approximate year of birth of 1877.

Even in old U.S. records, the age of an individual does not always agree with their age in succeeding census enumerations. This means Jeremiah’s age in the 1900 U.S. census and his age in the 1905 New York States census, may not have been accurate.

Going back to Irish records:

The transcription for Dermot Brosnahan from irishgenealogy’s Church Records collection, shows his 1868 baptism took place in the Knocknagoshel Roman Catholic Church. The name of this church is St. Mary’s.

A Google Map shows that Lacfoder (Loughfouder), where the Brosnahan family were living when Dermot was born and baptized in 1868, is 4.2 miles south of Knocknagoshel: https://is.gd/ofhODw

I couldn’t find out how old St. Mary’s Church is, but there was a church on the same location in “Knocknagashel,” or close to the same location, according to an Ordnance Survey Map from the 1837 to 1842 time. The map, from the GeoHive website, is attached to this reply.

Another Ordnance Survey Map from the 1888 to 1913 time period also shows the R.C. Chapel in Knocknagashel in the same location. This map, from GeoHive, is also attached to this reply.

CATHERINE BROSNAN

Earlier I had mentioned that I found the births of two children of Cornelius Brosnan and Catherine Shine at the FamilySearch website. Their daughter Catherine was born on 7 October 1865. Her birthplace is recorded as Brosna.

The birth index for Catherine is below:

Ireland, Select Births and Baptisms, 1620-1911

Name: Catherine Brosnan
Gender: Female
Birth Date: 7 Oct 1865
Birth Place: Brosna, Kerry, Ireland

Father: Cornelius Brosnan
Mother: Catherine Shine
FHL Film Number: 101119

Source Information
Ancestry.com. Ireland, Select Births and Baptisms, 1620-1911 [database on-line]. Provo, UT: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2011.

Original data: Ireland Births and Baptisms, 1620–1911. Index. Salt Lake City, Utah: Family Search.
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A copy of Catherine’s birth from irishgenealogy.ie also shows that she was born on 7 October 1865. Her birthplace was Knockbrack. Her birth record is Number 162 in the register at: https://is.gd/YrBnZ5

A Google Map shows that Knockbrack is just southeast of Knocknagoshel and about 7 miles north of Loughfouder: https://is.gd/NrNf9L

For Google Street Views of Knockbrack, see: https://is.gd/FzmgwS and https://is.gd/znHdta

After locating Catherine Brosnan’s birth record, showing she was born in Knockbrack, I found several Brosnahans, including Cornelius, leasing land and houses in Knockbrack. This information comes from an Irish property tax record known as Griffiths Valuation. Griffiths Valuation took place in the 32 counties of Ireland from 1847 to 1864. The valuation for Knockrack was completed by the early 1850s.

Griffiths Valuation can be accessed at the askaboutireland website: http://www.askaboutireland.ie/griffith-valuation/index.xml

Within an hour after I located the Brosnahans in Griffiths Valuation however, the site went down, and so I’ll have to wait until a future date to send you the Griffiths Valuation entries for the Brosnahans in Knockbrack, if you request it.

I also found what I believe to be Cornelius and Catherine Brosnan in the 1901 census of Ireland. I may have also uncovered their individual death records. I can also send these records in a follow-up reply, if your request them.

Attachments:

Jeremiah Brosnan Draft Registration
Dermot Brosnahan 1868 Baptism
Ordnance Survey Map Knocknagashel 1837 to 1842
Ordnance Survey Map Knocknagashel 1888 to 1913
Brosnan Family 1900 U.S. Census

Kind Regards James,

Dave Boylan

Sources:

FamilySearch
ancstry.com
Office Down Memorial: http://www.odmp.org/officer/2314-patrolman-jeremiah-c-brosnan
irishgenealogy.ie
LibraryIreland: https://www.libraryireland.com/names/men/diarmaid-dermod.php
RootsIreland: http://www.rootsireland.ie/help/first-names/
FamilySearch wiki: https://www.familysearch.org/wiki/en/Ireland_Personal_Names
John Grenham: https://www.johngrenham.com/findasurname.php?surname=Brosnahan
“MacLysaght, Edward, More Irish Families, Dublin, 1982.”
Ireland xo: https://irelandxo.com/ireland/kerry/brosna-kerry
Lewis’s Topographical Dictionary of Ireland: https://www.libraryireland.com/topog/B/Brosna-Trughenackmy-Kerry.php
Google Maps
Google Street Views
Griffiths Valuation: http://www.askaboutireland.ie/griffith-valuation/index.xml

Dave Boylan

I truly thank you for this research. I will take some time to follow up on the information you have provided. Again, thank you very much.

James

You're welcome James,

Dave