Researching my O'Keefe (Keeffe) ancestors

Greetings.  Last week I was browsing the web for information about Kildorrery Parish, and I found your webpage.  I thoroughly enjoyed reading about the history of the area, and I was checking out the historic Graves at Saint Colman's.  This past October, my wife and I made our first trip to Ireland.  We started touring with a group from Southern Pennsylvania, and then we rented a car and traveled to County Cork for several days.  I had previously found information that my GGGrandfather, Thomas O'Keefe had come from Mitchelstown.  He emmigrated with his parents, David & Eliza O'Keefe, and his siblings to Baltimore, Maryland on July 11, 1838 aboard the Barque Lafayette.  Of course, we headed straight to Mitchelstown to see if there were any records available.  At the Parish Center in Mitchelstown, we found the baptismal records for Thomas and Maurice Keefe.  Thomas was baptised April 20, 1828 and Maurice was baptised April 24, 1824.  I also visited the Mallow Heritage Center, and they ran a search for David O'Keefe and Eliza Reily (or Ryal), and their children.  I recently received a letter back from them showing a marriage record for David Keeffe of Mitchelstown and Elizabeth Reily of Ballysonac on 5 February 1812.  The marriage took place at Kildorrery Parish and the witnesses were John Kennedy and Jeremiah Lyne.  The Mallow Heritage Center also found baptismal records for their children at Mitchelstown Parish.  Mary Keeffe was baptised March 31, 1815, Ellen Keeffe March 2, 1817, William Keefe March 6, 1818, Johanna Keefe April 23, 1821, Maurice Keeffe April 24, 1824, and Thomas  Keefe April 20, 1828.  Also, the witnesses at many of these baptisms included Jeremiah Lyne, Johanna Lyne, Alice Lne (Lyne ?), and Mary Lyne, so I would guess a close family connection existed between the Keefe's and the Lyne's.

I would appreciate any additional information that would verify the above information and tie the family together.  Perhaps the graves at Saint Colman's or one of the other nearby parishes would provide information as to the parents of David O'Keefe and Eliza Ryal, or Reily.  I wish I had known about the Kildorrery Parish when we were there in October.  It would have been great to visit you then.  Are there any Keeffe researchers in your parish or near Mitchelstown?  I look forward to hearing from you.

Yours truly,

Dennis Seitz