Killursa

I am Fred O'Connor from Lurgan Co. Armagh. My great grandmother Honoria Wilhelmina Brown(e) was born in Headford Co. Galway in 1857 and married my greatgrandfather Michael Burke from Lurgan  in Headford on Christmas Day 1880. He was in the RIC and was stationed in Galway West Region at the time. They were the parents of my grandmother Kathleen Burke born in Co. Westmeath in 1886 who married my grandfather James Frederick O'Connor in St. Peters's Catholic Church Lurgan on 7 June 1909 and they in turn were the parents of my father Patrick Edward O'Connor who was born in Lurgan on 14 March 1910.

Honoria (known as Nora) was the sister of Kate and Anna Eliza Brown(e) who did not marry and continued to live in Headford until they died  on 3 April 1917 and 11 November 1916 respectively.Depending on which census is correct Kate would have been about 80 when she died and Anna Eliza would have been between 55 and 65 . According to the 1901 and 1911 censuses Kate and Anna Eliza had a shop in Bridge Street Headford. The parents of the Brown sisters were Andrew who was born around 1820 and died in April 1891 and Mary (maiden name Hoare) who died on 26 January 1876 aged 56.

When I was in the West of Ireland recently I  was able to visit Killursa Cemetry just outside Headford where Mary Brown's grave is. The headstone was erected by her husband Andrew but the gravestone does not say he was buried there nor does it mention Kate or Anna Eliza.

The Brown sisters had at least one sister and possibly two.  One who was possibly Mary emigrated to the USA where according to information passed down through the family she married a protestant man called Smyth and they had a son Clifford or Clofford who became a priest and  served in Our Lady of Victory Church in Mount Vernon New York. From info.contained in a will of an aunt of my father called Mary E Burke (Nora's eldest child) who emigrated to USA around 1901/1902 and subsequently married Henry L Durwin of Lenox Massachusetts (they had no children) there were other descendants of the Browns as she left small legacies to her cousins Mary Hahn of St. Petersburg Florida, Marion Milbury of Irvington on Hudsonand Helen V Doorley of North Tarrytown New York as well as Father Smyth.

Without wishing to complicate the info. it was said that one of the Brown sisters was called Anastasia. This may have been the name of one of the sisters who went to USA. It is also possible that it was the actual name of Anna Elizaor just wrong information.

At the time of the 1911 census Kate and Anna Eliza had living with them in Bridge Street a 13 year old called Joseph Shanley who was described as "an adopted boy" and a 34 year old teacher John Gallagher originally from Donegal.

Andrew Brown's father was Pat Brown who was one of four sons and a daughter of an earlier Andrew Brown who was born sometime in the middle of or later in the 18th century. That Andrew Brown who was buried in Swinford Co. Mayo married a Mary Phillips from Cloonmore in Co. Galway and she had a sister-name unknown- who married a Sir Anthony Brabazon of Swinford.

The Browns had a relation who was a priest in USA  attached to the Diocese of Charleston South Carolina called Fr William Tobin. I believe he came from Henry Street in Galway City and that his mother Julia Tobin was Brown to her maiden name. She was 43 at the time of the 1901 census. It is possible that she was a cousin of the Brown sisters and there's an outside chance that she was their sister.

If anyone is reading this they may well be bored or even confused by now but I have put in as much info. as possible just in case someone could help in providing even a little info. I am interested to know if any old photos exist of Bridge Street and whether any parish records  exist confirming where Kate , Anna Eliza and their father are buried. It is likely to be in the grave in Killursa Cemetry and the names were simply not added to the gravestone .

I have been writing a private family history so that my children and future generations wil know where they came from and would welcome any help anyone can give.

4 October 2013