Mary Agnes Heslin 1878 : Short Biography

Mary was b. in the townland of Cornageeha.

She in the US arrived with her sister Bridget aboard the SS Cretic sailing from Queenstown & arriving at the Port of Boston, MA on 14 Oct 1904.   Both were daughters of Peter Heslin & his wife Mary Jackson. 

From Boston, the Heslin sisters Mary & Bridget traveled to the Edgewood section of the city of Cranston, Providence Co, Rhode Island where they stayed with their cousin James E. Bartley.  When James married the next year, the sisters moved to the Manton section of the city of Providence.

Mary met and married Bartholomew Thomas Keegan from nearby North Providence in St. Thomas RC Church, Fruit Hill Ave, Providence on 03 Oct 1912.  They lived in the Lymansville section of North Providence where Bart built their home & they raised their children.

Remaining in Aughavas, Leitrim were the sisters' parents & siblings:

Parents  Peter Heslin & Mary Jackson married 18 Apr 1872 Gortletteragh, Cloone, Co. Leitrim.

Sister Sarah who married Patrick McCabe in Cloone on 08 Jan 1917.   Their son Bernard came to RI & stayed w/his Aunt Mary & her husband Bart before moving to NYC where he married, raised a family & died 12 Nov 1963 In Manhattan, NYC.

Sister Rose about whom little is known although it's suspected she may have been the witness named Rose Ellen Harte at Sarah Heslin's marriage.

The relatively recent availability of Catholic parish registers at the National Library of Ireland site & finding Mary's baptism in thos parish records has confirmed the family story that Mary subtracted a few years from her actual DOB to enhance her chances of finding a marriage partner.