My gggrandfather was Edward (Ned) Keefe/Keith/O’Keefe, who immigrated to the Mississippi
Gulf Coast in the mid 1850s (pre-Civil War). He was reportedly born around 1815.
At the time of his death, his wife told the parish priest that Ned had come from “Bincher Parish,
'Prary County”.
He had a sister, Catherine Jane. Her date of birth is estimated to have been variously 1830;
1831; or 1838, based on imprecise US Census data. She too immigrated to the MS Gulf Coast,
married and settled not too far away from Ned.
We haven’t been able to find ship records showing that the siblings immigrated together. In fact,
I’m not totally persuaded that we have identified accurate travel records of either of them. They
reportedly immigrated into the Port of New Orleans – or the Port of Mississippi City.
We haven’t been able to identify a ‘Bincher Parish’ and of course surmise that ‘Prary County’ is
Tipperary. The closest I’ve seen is possibly Bansha Parish (Tipperary) or Breansha, Emly
(Tipperary). A cousin who is also researching thinks it’s "Inch" in Kerry or in Tipperary
associated with Drom Parish. We’ve been exploring potential Inch & Drom on a different IelandXO message board thread. [I’ve noticed that there are a number of other Inch Parishes across Ireland, including Cork.].
In 1854, Ned took out a $200 marriage bond in New Orleans, LA in anticipation of marrying
Mary Tracy, who was reportedly also from Tipperary. They were eventually married in 1859 and
lived in Ocean Springs, MS. Mary’s sister Ellen Tracy lived with them for a while in Ocean
Springs, MS.
Ned and Mary named their elder son was named Jeremiah Joseph. This son is said to have
‘added back’ the O’ to the surname. Their daughter was Mary Helen.
This first Jeremiah also in turn named his eldest son (my grandfather) Jeremiah Joseph. Siblings
of this second Jeremiah include John Aloysius and Joseph Hyacinth (“Jodie”) and a sister Mary.
Does anyone on the board know of any Keefe/O’Keefe families in Bansha Parish?? (or anywhere nearby?)
Thanks much,
Maureen O’Keefe Ward