Keiran or Kernan Burke of Thomastown

Timothy, think you would need to join the Offaly message board, http://www.irish-place-names.com/ will help you pin down the parish as well :)

Thanks Amanda, I'll give it a try.

Thanks,

Tim

I think I have already posted my message to the Offaly message board. I probably posted it on all the Parishes that I joined because I have found records of Burkes in all of those places too.

Hello Timothy,

yes, you did post to the Offaly page. I have seen a number of your messages - unfortunately, the difficulty is not being able to narrow down the area your ancestors hail from...

You mention Thomastown in one of your messages in relation to County Offaly. There is a town land of Thomastown in the parish of Ballymacwilliam (barony of Warrenstown). And another in the parish of Drumcullen in the barony of Eglish. Also in the parish of Ballyburly.... where did you get find this information? Have you exhausted that lead?

regards

Dolores O'Shea

IrelandXO for Co. Offaly

The Thomastown I was referring to was the one in County Kilkenny. It was a baptism record for a Kieran Burke b. 1826.  This is less likely to be my gg-grandfather because he was born about 1818 according to U.S. Census records.

Another possible match I found at the Irish Family History Foundation was a marriage record for a Kieran Burke who married a Joanna Prendergast in Ballylooby Parish, County Tipperary in 1838.  Since U.S. census records show Kiean's birth year as about 1818, this would be a reasonable possibility. 

I don't believe my gg-grandfather was born and raised in County Offaly, I have come to believe he or his family must have moved to Offaly from some other county. I believe that his mother (Mary Flannagan) was from Kildare because in the cemetery where she is buried, close nearby is a monument to a Bridget Flannagan and the inscription says she was from Kildare. Bridget could have been a relative of Mary's & her reason for moving to Cincinnati Ohio in 1850.

Kieran's wife Anna (nee Feasty?? - spelling from death certificate is suspect) was from County Laois. Since I can find no marriage record here in the U.S. & since their U.S. Census forms state they were married in 1850 (same year as immigration) I have assumed that they were already married when they arrived in the U.S.

I'm beginning to believe that Kieran's parents (I don't know his father's first name) moved to Offaly after Kieran was born. They may have moved to the area around Portarlington which is close to the borders of Counties Kildare & Laois.  As a young man he met Anna (maybe short for Joanna???) who lived in nearby Laois, & they lived as Cottiers or small land holders until emmigrating in 1850.  Family lore says that he and Anna came to the U.S. via the port of New Orleans, and then traveled up the Mississippi & Ohio rivers by riverboat to Cincinnati Ohio.  I remember reading somewhere that the poorest of the Irish emmigrants went to either Canada or New Orleans, because travel to New York and Boston was much more expensive. 

Even if I don't find the exact townland that Kieran was from, I plan to visit Ireland again and travel to some of the places that I think he likely could have lived.  Hopefully I'll meet some fellow Burke's while I am there.

Thanks,

Tim Burke

Hello again,

well, let us know nearer the time when you are visiting and where and we'll try to link you up with some local volunteers while you're here.

regards

Dolores