I am looking for any information on Martin Keough b. about 1795 in Co. Wexford. Source: http://www.islandregister.com/keough1.pdf. He was married to Mary Ellen Quirk b. 1799 in Co. Tipperary. (I posted regarding Mary's family on the Tipperary message board.) Martin immigrated to PEI, Canada (year unknown) and died 31 Mary 1849 in Albany, PEI, Canada. Family Lore has it that Martin got into a brawl in a tavern with an Orangeman, or member of the Black Watch, connected to the royal army and guardship. He had the option of prison, most likely death, or to exile out of Ireland forever. I have no way to confirm this story as it is an oral story handed down through the generations. Any information on Martin Keough would be greatly appreciated.
Kind regards,
Georgette
Sunday 6th Jan 2019, 04:33PM
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Do you have any details of Martin's family or where in Co. Wexford he was born ?
The problem with any search for your Martin in Irish records is the date - most Catholic Parishes do not have records back to the 1700s, so it will be difficult to find any baptisms and also would be a problem confirming, or ruling out any, possible matches with your Martin without some further clues.
A quick search of Co. Wexford baptism registers available online for the late 1700s shows at least two Martin's with surnames noted as "Kehoe" both in New Ross parish (New Ross being one of the few RC parishes in Wexford with records for the 1700s) to parents William Kehoe and Catherine Nowlan in 1792, and the second also in New Ross in 1799 to Nicholas Kehoe and Maria Poley.
I also checked for possible Catholic baptisms for the two Irish born children mentioned in your attached note, Patrick & Mary, but found no sign of any matches, or any other children to Martin & Ellen.
A long shot might be Newspapers - the Tavern incident might have been reported in one of the few Newspapers published at the time - not many papers to choose from for that area and timframe, all I can think of is Freeman's Journal a National Newspaper. You might be able to narrow a search based on the date he left Ireland and/or first sighting of him in Canada.
Shane Wilson, IrelandXO Volunteer ☘
Sunday 6th Jan 2019, 05:35PM