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I’m researching my great grand father Patrick James Breen.  My grandmother always said her father was from Labasheeda, and indeed, somewhere I have a picture of her and my parents in front of Breen’s Pharmacy when they visited there in the 1980s. I don’t know whether they actually connected with any Breens there. 

Patrick emigrated to the US, probably around 1865-1868, but in any event ultimately settled in Nashville, Tennessee, by 1870.  He is there with his brother John, possibly another brother Michael, and a sister Jane and their mother Bridget. No trace of their father.  Jane’s tombstone actually says she was born in Labasheeda on March 10, 1860.  I question that year.  Bridget’s tombstone says she was born in Cooraclare, without a birth year. 

So I’m pretty sure I found PJB’s baptism.  His parents were John Breen and Bridget D’Arcy, and he was from Qilty in Kilmurry Ibricken. Then I found his brothers John and Michael, also born in Kilmurry Ibricken. So I thought I had them, but I couldnt find Jane, or the marriage of John and Bridget.  Most importantly I can’t pinpoint any of them in Labasheeda.  I think I have the right people, but Qilty isn’t Labasheeda, and I can’t follow them along the way or find them with certainty in Labasheeda.  Here's the data:

Patrick Breen baptism: 16 Feb 1842 Qilty (note he was indexed as Brown)

Michael Breen baptism: 24 March 1844 Ballymakea

John Breen baptism: 15 December 1839 Tullyvoe (not sure what this place name was, but this is how it was transcribed.  There is a Tullaroe in southwest Clare but not Ibricken.) 

There are Breen’s and Darcy’s around Clounlaheen early on. They seem to be my people, but how and when did they get to Labasheeda? 

I’ve uploaded transcriptions of the baptisms and attahced a link to Ancestry site.https://www.ancestry.com/family-tree/tree/113088029/family/familyview?c…

Any help would be greatly appreciated, and reciprocated with work in the USA if helpful!

 

Kevin Kern

Friday 11th Jun 2021, 09:45PM

Message Board Replies

  • Attached Files

    Hi Kevin,

    Regards,

    Please see attached.

    McCoy

    Saturday 12th Jun 2021, 08:57AM
  • Thanks so much!  Do you see any reference to Patrick Breen in Labaseeda?  Or reference to John Breen's death?

    Kevin Kern

    Saturday 12th Jun 2021, 09:15PM
  • Hi Kevin,

    Nothing found that would connect you with a Jane Breen in Labasheeda. It is possible that she was baptised under another first name. The records for baptism are from November 1845 and marriages from February 1836. Do yoy have her marriage and death record. Her parents names may have been recorded. No death record found in the parish for a Patrick or John. See  www.irishgenealogy.ie for other parishes - Kildysart, Kilmihil, Kilrush.

    A John Breen married a Mary Shaughnessy in Kilmurry McMahon on November 11th 1839.

    Attached are some records to indicate that the name "Breen" was in Labasheeda - Killofin in the i800's.

    Regards,

    McCoy

    Sunday 13th Jun 2021, 01:33PM
  • Attached Files

    Thank you so much. Good question about the marriage and death information. Jane's death certificate says her parents were John Breen and Bridget Breen. So I think the parents' names are correct, although, until I found the church records that I uploaded you to start off, I didn't know her maiden name was Darcy. 

    But assuming they are my people, that means John Breen and Bridget Darcy had three sons, John, Patrick and Michael, born in the Qilty/Ballymakea area between 1839 - 1844.  And then they had a daughter Jane sometime after moving to Labasheeda.

    The PDF you uploaded titled House Valuations, I have that document as well, and I wrote a date of 1845 on it. If that's right, then that means they moved to Labasheeda right after the birth of their third child, 1844 or 1845. I've looked at the index for every single birth in Killaloe, and I don't see any that could even possibly be Jane. Her tombstone says she was born on March 10, 1860. That's almost certainly wrong, but I've looked at all dates in Killaloe. No Jane. No child born at all born to a John Breen/Brien/Bryan and Bridget Darcy union. So I don't know what to make of all that. Perhaps John died and Bridget remarried, possibly to a Breen, or possibly reverted to Breen name after her second husband died. A lot of supposition. 

    There's also a John Breen in Crag as well in 1854, see attached. I'm thinking that's a different person, because i would think that a farmer in Labasheeda (or next door in Slievedooley as indicated in the Griffith's document) would not also have a farm in Crag. Too far apart. Is that fair to say?  Yet, if you look closely, the document does suggest that he had other farms in addition to the one in Crag....in Clonde??? I hate to guess on Irish names.  But anyway, for now I'm assuming John Breen in Crag is not my guy.

    So, back to the storyline. John and Bridget have three kids, and they move to Labasheeda in 1845.  Jane is unexplained.  John dies sometime between 1854 and 1868.  Bridget and the children, (maybe minus Michael) emigrate to the US around 1868. 

    Some other random facts. There was a lot of dialogue on this website and success in finding someone else's Breen in Labasheeda: Mathias Breen. I reached out to the poster, and sadly, we appear not to be related. 

    However, I am related to Conner McDermott who was executed in the Easter uprising. I know this because of my DNA matches to Breens in Texas who descend from Con McDermott. I've submitted my DNA to Paddy Waldron's site, but I don't understand how it works.

    Kilmacduane appears to be Breen central. I've read about a fairly prominent Patrick Breen there who was an architect or surveyor as I recall. Something like that. My Patrick Breen worked on the railroads in the US, and in a couple of places he appears to be more just hard labor, like most of the Irish. He was a "Railroad Bridge Builder," which makes me think he had some expertise, and thus he might be related to those Breens.

    To finish up, I appreciated the help. I would love to connect with relatives there. 

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

    Kevin Kern

    Monday 14th Jun 2021, 05:13PM
  • Hi Kevin, found this 1880 census that shows Jane born in 1855. I too have Breen ancestry, my family hail from Slievedooley, Labasheeda. Hope you have had better luck with your quest than I have !Image removed.

    osgood

    Tuesday 13th Jun 2023, 07:00PM
  • Hello, Osgood, I’m sorry I didn’t see your post about Breens in Slievedooley.  I am familiar with the John Breen in Slievedooley in Griffith’s; in fact, I’ve long wondered if that’s my John Breen.  I actually went there on my last trip to Ireland.  I followed the road up the hill but could not find any old homestead.  There was at least one other Breen family in the area, but I was unable to talk to them.  So, are you and I related?  Is your DNA out there?

    Kevin Kern

    Monday 25th Dec 2023, 04:20PM

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