I found a death registration for Mary Keohane in Dunderrow - the death was noted in the Ballymartle Registration District on 11 March 1898. She was 64 or 66 years old - I can't definitely make out if she was married or a widow - but the form seems to list her as a laborer's widow. She died from influenza - she had it for 2 weeks - she also had cardiac fatigue. Her daughter Ellie Reardon of Dunderrow was present at her death.
I am wondering if this was Patrick Keohane's mother - her daughter Ellen was married to Edward Riordan. And where in Dunderrow was Mary living - with her daughter Ellie Reardon or with her son Patrick?
He was born 10 April 1898 in Killany. The civil registration lists laborer Patrick Keohane and Hannah Kiely of Killany as parents. Hannah registered the birth on 13 April 1898. I wonder if she had to go into Kinsale to register him? Although it is not that far a distance, would she have walked or gone by pony/donkey and cart - it was only 3 days after giving birth after all? I'm not sure I would have wanted to walk a couple of miles into Kinsale after childbirth, and I know I wouldn't want to go by cart over bumpy roads!
I wrote away for some Keohane baptismal records for our family reunion in 2006 - that was before irishgenealogy.ie. Uncle Jim was baptized 11 April 1898 at the Catholic Church of Kinsale - St. John the Baptist. I was especially interested to see who his Godparents were - Dan Collins and Lizzie Desmond - unfortunately they did not sound familiar.
Jim was about 19 months old when his mother, Hannah Kiely Keohane, died of childbirth hemorrhage in the Kinsale workhouse - placenta previa! I found this record on irishgenealogy.ie.Check line 351. She was from Killany - she was only 42 years old - she was a laborer's wife. Hannah Kiely Keohane died 1 December 1899 - John Murphy, occupier, was present at birth. I think an occupier may be someone working at the workhouse - or maybe someone living there - this John Murphy is also listed as the informant for several other deaths in the workhouse on this page. The column asks for the signature, occupation, and residence of the informant.
This death record gives us a lot of information. Childbirth hemorrhage - does this mean that Hannah Kiely Keohane was pregnant again - did both she and the baby die? We had always heard that she had died sometime soon after Jim's birth - but I never heard that she had been pregnant again - and had never thought that there might have been a baby that died as well. I had presumed Hannah died from complications from Jim's birth - not from another child. How sad.
So what is this placenta previa? The Mayo Clinic provides this information about placenta previa:
"The placenta is an organ that develops in your uterus during pregnancy. This structure provides oxygen and nutrients to your growing baby and removes waste products from your baby's blood. The placenta attaches to the wall of your uterus, and your baby's umbilical cord arises from it. The organ is usually attached to the top, side, front or back of the uterus. In rare cases, the placenta might attach in the lower area of the uterus. When this happens, it's called a low-lying placenta (placenta previa).
Placenta previa can cause severe vaginal bleeding during pregnancy or delivery. The management of this condition depends on the amount of bleeding, whether the bleeding stops, how far along your pregnancy is, the position of the placenta, and your and your baby's health. "
Signs of placenta previa are vaginal bleeding, abdominal pain, back pain, uterine contractions. Hannah had at least one predisposing condition for placenta previa - 6 previous births. She may also have had high blood pressure - she was an older mother - perhaps she had previous problems with her pregnancies? She must have been pretty sick to end up in the workhouse - no one wanted to go to there! I suppose that was the only care available for the poor in those days.
The website
tells us below about the workhouse in Kinsale:
"The Kinsale Poor Law Union was formally declared on the 30th January 1839 and covered an area of 121 square miles. Its operation was overseen by an elected Board of Guardians, 21 in number, representing its 16 electoral divisions ... The new Kinsale Union workhouse was erected in 1840-41 on a six-acre site half a mile to the north of Kinsale. Designed by the Poor Law Commissioners' architect George Wilkinson, the building was based on one of his standard plans to accommodate 500 inmates ... The workhouse was declared fit for the reception of paupers on 29th September 1841, and received its first admissions on 4th December."
The first picture below comes from the same website -
and reports that "The buildings followed Wilkinson's typical layout. An entrance and administrative block at the east contained a porter's room and waiting room at the centre with the Guardians' board room on the first floor above."
The caption under the top picture states "Kinsale entrance and administrative block from the east, 2002."
The second picture shows "The main accommodation block had the Master's quarters at the centre, with male and female wings to each side. At the rear, a range of single-storey utility rooms such as bakehouse and washhouse connected through to the infirmary and 'idiots' wards via a central spine containing the chapel and dining-hall."
The caption under the bottom picture states "Kinsale general view from the north, 2002."
"A small mortuary was located at the west of the site."
The top picture below has a caption "Kinsale mortuary from the north-east, 2002."
The page states "During the famine in the mid-1840s, sheds were erected to accommodate 200 extra inmates. Some fever patients were sent to Carrigaline fever hospital while others were treated in sheds at the workhouse. The old town jail at Desmond Castle was also hired to accommodate a further 200 inmates."
The bottom picture of Desmond Castle was also taken in 2002.
"The workhouse had its own burial ground at the south-west of the site. A plaque commemorating victims of the famine has been placed at its entrance gate."
The picture on the last page is the plaque to the famine victims at the burial site.
"The former workhouse site is now partly used as a local council depot, and as the home of Kinsale Community Hospital."
The rest of the page lists records held at Cork City and County Archives.
Ireland Reaching Out - https://irelandxo.com/ireland-xo/news/kinsale-workhouse-county-cork - explains that the hospital used to be the workhouse for the Kinsale Union - an area comprising Kinsale and surrounding parishes. The graveyard is where inmates of that workhouse were interred. It has the following picture of the Kinsale Union Workhouse Graveyard entrance:
The website goes on to explain "When the second season of potato blight ravaged this area in 1846/1847 these poor unfortunates had no chance. The scale of the Great Famine was cataclysmic, with the poor suffering the most as an entire social class - cottiers, beggars, vagrants and laborers - was destroyed."
"The potato was the staple diet for over half the population and the appearance of potato blight, phytoohthora infestans, in the second week of September 1845 signaled the greatest calamity ever to beset Ireland.
"When the second crop failure occurred, it soon became clear that British Government who ruled Ireland at this time, were unwilling to take the necessary measures to avoid disaster. The workhouse became the last refuge of a desperate population. Many would succumb to a variety of rampant diseases. Many more would die wretched deaths outside the workhouse."
Derek Reed of the Irish Famine Exhibit in December 2019 wrote the following about the workhouse:
"The workhouse was introduced into Ireland as part of the English Poor Law system in 1838. The British government believed it to be the most cost effective way of tackling the desperate state of poverty in Ireland. Some English politicians also believed that it would prevent the Irish destitute from swarming England.
"Workhouses were not designed for Famine condition.
"By 1845, 123 workhouses had been constructed, one per district or Poor Law Union. The cost of poor relief was met by payment of rates (a tax) by owners and occupiers of land and property in that district.
"Each Poor Law Union was overseen by a Board of Guardians which consisted of elected members, magistrates and justices of the peace.
"Conditions of entry into the workhouse were very strict and entry was seen as the last resort of a destitute person. Once inside the inmates were forced to work, food was poor, and accommodation was often cold, damp, and cramped.
"It was in the interests of those who funded the workhouse through taxation, to keep the numbers of inmates as low as possible.
"A roll call was carried out each morning.
"A typical day inside an Irish workhouse was to rise at 6am, breakfast at 6:30 am, work until 12 noon, lunch break and then work until 6pm. Supper was served at 7pm, with lights out at 8pm.
"Meals were served in a communal dining room and held in silence. Husbands, wives and children were separated as they entered the workhouse and could be punished if they attempted to speak to each other. An inmate's only possessions were his/her uniform, mattress and blanket. Once a week the inmates bathed and the men shaved.
"The Famine caused a crisis in the Irish Workhouse System.
"By the end of 1846 many of the workhouses were full and refusing to admit new applicants. There was widespread shortages of bedding and clothing. Unwashed clothes of inmates who had died from fever or disease were given to the next new inmate arriving at the workhouse. There was often a shortage of coffins and burial grounds were often located close to the workhouse, sometimes next to the water supply.
"As panic gripped the country, and with no other options available, there was a great rush to enter the workhouse.
"The road to the workhouse became known as 'Cosan na marbh' or 'pathway of the dead', and over a quarter of those admitted died inside the workhouse. "The 1847 Soup Kitchens Act gave some relief to the workhouses. However, in the summer of the same year, the newly elected British government declared the Famine to be over and ceased providing financial relief. The Poor Law Unions were made responsible for future relief measures. They were unable to cope and large numbers of people continued to die.
"The workhouse system was abolished in the early 1920s, when Ireland gained independence from Britain."
Although the famine had been about 40 years before Hannah died, we may now have some understanding why the workhouse was such a dreaded place for the Irish. So Hannah must have been pretty ill to end up there.
I searched around on the National Archives of Ireland and found the 1901 census for the Kinsale workhouse. There were almost 200 inmates!! In 1901! When I looked more closely, most - perhaps 3/4 - of the inmates were elderly although there were some children as well. The inmates' names were not used - just abbreviations. Most are Roman Catholics. I've attached 2 of 9 pages for a look.
In the 1901 House and Buildings return I found a familiar name - John Murphy - he is Master of the workhouse! The informant for Hannah Kiely Keohane's death in the workhouse was "occupier" John Murphy - I guess in this case occupier is the master! At least the workhouse is a 1st class building with 48 windows in the front!! And 29 rooms. And look at building #4 - John Murphy is the head of the family residing in a 2nd class Kinsale District Council house. It looks like there are 5 other families but 6 other buildings which are 2nd and 3rd class. And there is a 2nd class lodge attached to the workhouse.
I searched a little further in the 1901 census and found an entry for 31 year John Joseph Murphy - a Roman Catholic who reads and writes - he is Master of the Workhouse - he is married - he was born in Cork.His wife is 21 year old Elizabeth B Murphy - she reads and writes - she was also born in Cork.
By 1911 John Murphy's wife was Matron of the Workhouse as noted in the census below.
I don't know anything about Uncle Jim's young life - I wonder if it was at all happy? Remember his father would bring women from the workhouse to help run the house and care for the children. Aunt Nellie had talked about jabbing the women in the butt with a hat pin!
In the winter of 1902 Patrick Keohane did remarry - about 3 years after Hannah died. He was a laborer and wed spinster Julia Murphy who was working as a servant - the wedding was on 8 February. She was brave to come into a home with 6 children!! I don't know how they all got along, but years later Aunt Nellie sounded fond of her stepmother. I hope there was some happiness for these small children.
Nellie also told me about a time that Jim was late coming home - I don't know how old he was, but his father locked him out. Nellie said that he slept in a ditch on the side of the road. She said their mother appeared and watched over him till morning. We always though Aunt Nellie had psychic powers!
Jim's father, Patrick Keohane, died of colon cancer at home in Ballythomas on 26 May 1917 when Jim was about 19 years old - Patrick was 58 years old. Aunt Nellie talked about hearing banshees around the time of his death. I wonder if Jim heard them? I suppose that Patrick's death left Jim supporting his stepmother Julia (Murphy) Keohane and his half sister Julia Keohane who was born in 1903 and must have been about 14. I wonder what kind of work he did - was he a farm laborer, did he work in Kinsale?
My father and mother took Aunt Nellie to Kinsale several times. They would land in Shannon. My father would rent a car and drive to Kinsale where they would drop off Aunt Nellie at Acton's Hotel and continue on their way. They would come back a few days before the departure date to pick her up again. My father also took Aunt Nellie a couple of times when my mother didn't go. He said that she "held court" at Acton's, and all the relatives would come to visit. She would have ham for sandwiches and tea. He would also take her to the cottage in Ballythomas where she would cook up a storm there. This is how my folks got to know Uncle Jim.
Aunt Nellie holding court at Acton's Hotel - Jim Keohane, my folks Ellen and John Manning, Aunt Nellie.
My father was very interested in Irish history. Jim told my father that he was a scout during the Irish War of independence.
Lord Robert Baden-Powell was a soldier - a British national hero - who started the Boy Scouts in Britain on the advice of King Edward VII who was concerned that British youth were "soft." The Encyclopedia Britannica at https://www.britannica.com/topic/Boy-Scouts reports that "Baden-Powell’s idea was that boys should organize themselves into small natural subgroups of six or seven under a boy leader—the patrol and patrol leader. Their training would consist of such things as tracking and reconnaissance, mapping, signaling, knotting, first aid, and all the skills that arise from camping and similar outdoor activities. To become a scout, a boy would promise to be loyal to his country, help other people, and in general obey the scout law, itself a simple code of chivalrous behaviour easily understood by the boy."
In Ireland Bulmer Hobson and Countess Markievicz founded Na Fianna Eireann or the Irish National Boy Scouts as an alternative to the Boy Scouts which they viewed as a recruiting ground for the British Army. According to the History of Na Fianna Eireann on https://fiannaeireannhistory.wordpress.com/about/, the Fianna "hoped to play a part in ‘re-establishing the independence of Ireland through the training of the youth of Ireland, mentally and physically, and to achieve this object by teaching scouting and military exercises, Irish History, and the Irish language’. Upon joining Na Fianna Eireann new members had to declare that they ‘promise to work for the independence of Ireland, never to join England’s armed forces and to obey my superior officers’. Fianna Eireann was open to all Irish boys, irrespective of their class or creed ...
"The Fianna were the forerunners and pioneers of the independence movement, which was emerging at that time. The IRB faction of the Fianna, in particular, formed an influential nucleus of young men that would play an extremely significant role in the subsequent developments, especially in the period leading up to the formation of the Irish Volunteers in 1913.
Patrick Pearse said in 1913 that “we believe that Na Fianna Éireann have kept the military spirit alive in Ireland during the past four years, and that if the Fianna had not been founded in 1909, the Volunteers of 1913 would never have arisen. In a sense, then, the Fianna have been the pioneers of the Volunteers; and it is from the ranks of the Fianna that the Volunteers must be recruited.”
Fianna members took part in carrying the smuggled guns from the yacht Asgard into Dublin city, they contributed to the action in each garrison during the Easter uprising, and they were involved in the fight for Irish Independence and the Civil War.
Tomas MacCurtain, a Lord Mayor of Cork and commandant of the Cork No 1 Brigade of the IRA, invited Countess Markiewicz to organize the Fianna in Cork City.
The Cork Examiner - https://www.irishexaminer.com/business/arid-20388504.html - reports that "The boys, aged eight to 18, were sworn in under the oath ‘I promise to work for independence of Ireland, never to join England’s armed forces, and to obey my superior officers’.
"Before they could be fully fledged fiannaidhe, or fians, they had to get a uniform. The uniform differed from sluagh to sluagh, with some wearing kilts and jerseys, some wearing breeches and blouses, and all wearing different hats, haversacks, and accessories.
"The boys would save for these, item by item."
I don't know if Uncle Jim was a member of Na Fianna Eireann or just scouted out information or ran errands for the IRA. But he did take my father to several battle sites in the area including the Upton train station ambush where the Irish Third Cork Brigade ambushed a train carrying British soldiers. Ronan McGreevy - https://www.irishtimes.com/opinion/signal-failure-ronan-mcgreevy-on-the-upton-train-ambush-of-february-1921-1.4485590 - explains that on 15 February 1921 the Cork to Bandon train left Cork with 20 British soldiers on board. Ten minutes before the train was due in Upton, the 13 or 14 members of the Cork Brigade set up an ambush. However, unbeknownst to them, 50 more heavily armed soldiers boarded the train at Kinsale junction. McGreevy writes "When the IRA scouts on bicycles witnessed this, they pedalled furiously in the direction of Upton to warn Hurley and his men, but the train won the race.
"Two IRA scouts were also supposed to have been on the train, but never turned up. It was planned that they would leap out from the carriages on arrival in Upton, indicate how many British soldiers were on board and point out where they were located. It was assumed the British soldiers would travel together and not mix with civilians."
When the military returned fire, Charlie Hurley realized that they were outnumbered by the British soldiers and ordered a retreat.
Uncle Jim also took my father to the site of the Cross Barry ambush. The British authorities had received information after the ambush at the Upton train station that the Ballymurphy area was headquarters for the West Cork Brigade. According to http://homepage.eircom.net/~corkcounty/crossbarry.html,
"The British devised a plan to surround the Ballymurphy townland area using troops from Bandon, Cork, Ballincollig, Kinsale and Macroom. The troops were to be transported to within four miles of the area where half of the troops would dismount and advance on foot in a line towards Ballymurphy. Every house in the area would be raided and all adult males arrested. The soldiers on foot were to interchange periodically with those in the lorries, thus ensuring fresh troops throughout the operation.
"The encirclement began about 1 am on the morning of March 19th., 1921. The troops involved were the elite of the British military forces in Ireland at that time, many of them having seen action in the first World War. They were drawn from the Hampshire Regiment (stationed in Cork) the Essex Regiment (stationed at Bandon and Kinsale) and the infamous Auxiliaries (all ex-World War officers) based in Macroom."
Republican Commandant General Tom Barry was notified about 2 am of military movements, and he quickly devised a plan to ambush the British near the crossroads at Crossbarry despite being heavily outnumbered. Flor Begley played his war pipes during the action. That the IRA who only had about 104 men and officers could beat the 1300+ British seems amazing! But they did!
Uncle Jim and my father at Crossbarry
As I was looking for pictures for this section on the ambushes, I came across an interesting article about a Catholic priest leading a National Army party of soldiers from Kinsale on a raiding mission. The information is from another Irish Examiner article - in 2017 - about files recently made available at that time to researchers - https://www.irishexaminer.com/business/arid-20461909.html.
Apparently Tom Barry and Tom Hales claimed that an Irish priest led the National Army raiding party that caused the deaths of 3 Republicans. What spiked my interest was that 2 of the murdered Republicans were from Kinsale!! "In his April 1933 account of the deaths at Upton in October 1922, also contained in one of several MSPC files relating to Patrick Pearse, Tom Barry wrote that he (Patrick Pearse) “was murdered by members of “National Army.””
“The particulars of this Volunteer’s death are well known to ex-Father Jeff O’Connell who whilst acting as Chaplain in Kinsale left the Barracks (carrying a rifle and two revolvers) in charge of a raiding party of Free State troops,” he wrote ... they 'murdered several Republicans' in the same raid ... I was told that this Fr O’Connell actually did the shooting. This ex-priest is now I understand a high official in the Free State Land Commission.
"In a separate handwritten form, completed on the same date, Tom Hales who previously commanded the IRA’s Bandon Battalion, wrote: “Free State soldiers from Kinsale under command of Rev O’Connell and Capt Byrne were or must have taken up positions, creating an element of surprise, against Republicans in this area.
“When this became known to (the) Republican Officer-in-Command, Pearse and his two comrades was [sic] placed in a position by Tom Kelleher O.C, the safest and best, as he thought. A few minutes after, shots rang out. No other engagement ensued. The three were found dead,” wrote Hales.
"In his own account a few months later, in support of a claim by Patrick Pearse’s mother Margaret, Tom Kelleher said he was in charge of the IRA column, but made no mention of who fired the fatal shots.
“He was ambushed by the Free State Army, while going on outpost duty, and shot dead... A rifle bullet went through his chest and out his back at the shoulder blade,” Kelleher wrote ...
"The National Army’s official account of what happened at Lisaniskey near Upton was carried in the Cork Examiner on October 10. It said three IRA men were shot dead after refusing to halt when they attempted to cut off National Army troops of the Kinsale command operating in the Upton area."
"National Army reports, copied in an MSPC file relating to Daniel O’Sullilvan, reveal that a document captured the day before tipped off the National Army to a meeting of IRA Kinsale battalion officers in the area that evening." Daniel O'Sullivan was also from Kinsale - he worked for David Acton, a Kinsale merchant. I wonder if this Acton is related to the hotel?
Patrick Pearse's mother Margaret received a gratuity of £112 and 10 shillings, as she had proved herself to have been partially dependant. His father was Batt Pearse but he was denied any payment. "The couple had separated around 1910 when Patrick was 13 and he and most of his siblings stayed with their mother, one brother going on to join the British Army.
"Patrick Pearse was casually employed as a labourer with a contractor at the British Army barracks in Kinsale and at Charles Fort, also in Kinsale up to August 1919. He was more permanently employed up to his arrest in February 1921, earning over £2 a week ...
"Patrick Pearse’s sister Annie Pearse was awarded a dependant’s allowance worth £125 a year from September 1957 up to her death in 1988."
"Michael Hayes, the other victim, was an 19-year-old apprentice carriage painter in Bandon, one of five orphaned children who lived with an aunt and uncle. He was a member of the republican boy scouts, Na Fianna Éireann, and an IRA scout during the War of Indpendence from about 1919, and was present when the IRA kidnapped the Earl of Bandon shortly before the Truce of July 1921."
There is a memorial erected to the 3 fallen heroes in Abbeylands cemetery on Main Street south of Bandon Road in Kinsale - it has a stone wall around it and an iron gate.
I don't suppose you remember me talking about Annie Pierce - she was a cousin to the Keohanes and lived near Desmond Castle - I visited her with Aunt Nellie in 1981.
I am copying the information from that post of 14 September 2015.
"Annie Pierce told us she had 6 brothers and one sister – “they’re all gone – none of them lived to be any age.” They were tall men. She said that she reared her niece. Annie said that her mother’s father was Buckley - he lived to be 96. Aunt Nellie and I visited Annie on Saturday, July 11, 1981. She said the coming Thursday she would be 87. Annie and Aunt Nellie said they did not know how they were related.
"I found a Pierce family living in house 43 on Barracks Street in Kinsale in the 1901 Irish Census. The head of the family is 36 year old Bartholomew Pierce who is a general laborer. He was born in County Cork; he is unable to read.
His wife Margaret is 34; she was also born in County Cork, but she is able to read and write.
"The Pierces have 4 children who attend school - 14 year old Mary, 12 year old John, 10 year old Michael, and Annie who is 6. Patrick Pierce is the baby - he is 4. The children were all born in Co. Cork.
"The 1911 Irish Census lists a Pierce family in house #50 on Barracks Street. This is Batt Pierce and his family. Batt is 50 years old now and still laboring. The census lists him as married but Margaret is not listed. There are 6 children. John is now 22 - Michael is 20 - both are laborers. Annie is 17 - looks like she no longer goes to school - she must be helping keep house. Patrick is 14, William is 10, and Bat is 5 - they all go to school.
"I wonder where Mary Pierce is - she must be 24 now - but I couldn't find her in the census.
"And I wonder where Margaret is? I couldn't find her in the census either."
I'd say that this was Patrick Pearse's family - father is Batt - mother is Margaret - brother William - sister Annie.
I recently found an 1894 birth registration for Johanna Pierce of Camp Hill - she was born July 15 to the above Batt Pierce and Margaret Buckley - Batt is a laborer. Our Annie Pierce would have been born about this time - her mother's father was Buckley - don't you think she belongs to this family? So she would have received that yearly allowance from her brother Patrick's murder.
But back to Jim Keohane. He married Kate O'Donovan 19 November 1925 in the Catholic Church in Kinsale. They are both of full age - he is a bachelor - she is a spinster. Jim is a laborer living in Lefany, Dunderrow - she is residing in Dunderrow. His father is Patrick Keohane - her father is James O'Donovan - they are both laborers. Witnesses are John Riordan and Nora O'Donovan.
Jim must be working and living in Lefany - we know that John Keohane bought the house in Dunderrow for his and Jim's father. So did Jim and Kate move into the cottage in Ballythomas when they married? If not, where did they live?
I don't really know too much more about Jim Keohane - he and Kate moved into Ballythomas at some point and had several children. I knew Josie Nelson because she lived here in Boston. I met Mona Dwyer in Kinsale- she lived in Belgooly. There was Kathleen Donovan who lived in Riverstick. I think there was a son - Paddy maybe? I need to pull out my big family tree to check this out.
Aunt Nellie had the following pictures of Jim and some of his children. I hope my Kinsale cousins can fill in some details for me.
Uncle Jim outside the cottage in Ballythomas - I think he is holding Mona - would the other two be Madge and Josie?
I would love to know who the fellow is holding Mona on the goat!
I do know that Uncle Jim made a trip to Boston in 1967 - it was written up in the Kinsale Christmas Newsletter of that year. I've included the 4 pages here - Uncle Jim is mentioned on page 3.
Page 3 below states "The American Saga of Our Dunderrow travelers:
On October 25th, the big Aer Lingus jet took its place in the queue over Logan Airport in Boston. Minutes later it touched down, ever so gently, and rolled to a halt at the terminal building. For James Keohane, Denis Carroll, and Mrs. Carroll, it was a long throw from Dunderrow and home - in just a few hours. It was no new experience for Mrs Carroll, but for Den and Jim it was an adventure. They received a Cead Mille Failte (Americano-style) from their own family and relatives. James went off to the home of his daughter - Mrs. Josephine Nelson - later visiting his sister Mrs. Ellen Albert and his sister-in-law Mrs. Margaret Keohane. Parties and outings were organized in his honor and Jim saw all the wonders of the Boston world. Den and Mrs. Carroll attended the marriage of their daughter Josephine and did all the merry circuit of the stores and sights for the following weeks. All went well until the day came to return. Boston traffic was frozen to stand-still in the earliest snow of the century. James left his stranded car and hailed a passing train. He just made the plane. Denis and Mrs. were not so fortunate and were forced to stay another day. However all are safely home after a wonderful trip."
Page 4 has a Thank you to Mrs. Ellen Albert, Boston. Maybe for a contribution for the printing of the newsletter?
1967 - the 3 Jim Keohanes taken while Uncle Jim was visiting Josie. My uncle Jim Keohane of Foxboro - my mother's brother, our Uncle Jim Keohane of Dunderrow, and my cousin Jim Keohane of Foxboro.
My mother, Ellen Manning, coming out of Uncle Jim's cottage in the 1970s.
My mother and Aunt Nellie at Kate Keohane's grave in the 1970s.
I found the following pictures among my mother's things. I don't know if she took them or if someone sent them to Aunt Nellie? Sorry the pictures are not too clear.
Mona and Uncle Jim - I wonder who the child is?
Mona outside the cottage - who are these two children?
And who would these folks be? Is that Mona in the blue? And who is the older woman with the sweater on? And all the children?
I visited Uncle Jim when my father, my friend Beth, and I took a trip to Ireland in 1977. My father drove us out to the cottage to meet Jim. Unfortunately, I don't remember much about the visit except that my father did most of the talking!!
MEM, Uncle Jim, my father in May 1977
Beth, Uncle Jim and MEM
I also visited Jim in 1978 with my friend GeeGee - we went to the cottage. He was so quiet - I am quiet too - I didn't know what to talk about. So we took Jim out for a pint to the Dunderrow Pub - that place that Aunt Nellie hated because her father would come home drunk! Jim seemed to enjoy himself - he met some friends to talk with. It was a quiet but nice visit.
Jim died the December after our visit in June. He was such a sweet man - all my relatives talked about how gentle he was. I am so glad that I had the chance to meet him in Boston and again in Ballythomas.
Jim's Memorial Card:
Below:
"'All I ask of you is that wherever you may be, you will remember me at Holy Communion and at the foot of the Altar', - St. Monica
Jesus Mercy - Mary Help
In Loving Memory of
James Keohane
Ballythomas, Kinsale, Co. Cork
who died on
16th DECEMBER 1978
Aged 80 years
R.I.P.
Oh! you whom I have loved so much on earth pray for me and live in such a manner that we may be re-united for ever in a Blessed Eternity. St. Bonaventure
MY LORD AND MY GOD
A light is from our household gone,
A voice we loved is stilled,
A place is vacant in our home,
That never can be filled.
Lonely is the home without you,
Life to us is not the same;
All the world would be like Heaven,
If we could have you back again.
The happy hours we once enjoyed,
How sweet their memory still,
But death has left a vacant place,
This world can never fill.
We received this Thank You card from Jim's family.
"The family of the late
JAMES KEOHANE
thank you most sincerely for your kind
expression of sympathy in their
recent bereavement.
The Holy Sacrifice of the Mass has been
offered for your intentions.
Ballythomas, Kinsale, Co. Cork August 1979
Somehow I have a copy of Josie's wedding - maybe my aunt Hannie gave it to me because her husband, Norman Huliston was a groomsman. I don't know the other 2 fellows, but there is Harry, Josie, Uncle Stephen De Courcey, I don't know the Maid of Honor, and Norman.
Josie came to my parents' 25th wedding anniversary party at the Hibernians in Watertown. Here is a picture of Josie and my mother's uncle Pat O'Sullivan - this is how I remember Josie - always smiling!
Josie sent my folks a postcard when she went home in 1973.
"August 12th
Hi Ellen & John,
Having a good vacation. Weather nice. Family good. Everyone is asking for John, you too. Hope all is well. Time going too fast.
Love,
Josie."
Josie and her kids - she might have given me this for our family reunion is 2006.And this picture is from that 2006 Family Reunion - Ann, Josie and Kathy.
I made a trip to Ireland with a whole group of my family. Some of us drove to Kinsale and stopped at the Dunderrow Pub before stopping at the cottage in Ballythomas.
My sister Christine Breen with my nephew Rick Schiavoni behind her, my cousin Joan Huliston Vachon, MEM, my sister Patty Schiavoni, and my cousin Diane Huliston Pierce raising a glass at Dunderrow Pub.
Then we barged in on Mona and her daughter Ann O'Sullivan at the cottage. Ann, Joan Vachon, Mona, Christine Breen, MEM, Diane Pierce, Lauren Pierce. They invited us to stay and have a drink, but we only stayed a few minutes - we hadn't let them know we were coming.
Ann and her husband Vincie had built a house beside Uncle Jim. I had gotten to know them when I stayed in the old cottage in 1981 - the year I took Aunt Nellie to Kinsale. I had a great time with Ann and Vincie - they made me feel so welcome. We had a couple of great nights that ended with fish 'n chips wrapped in newspaper - I was appalled when they put salt and vinegar on their chips!!
I met Margaret O'Dwyer - Ann's sister - briefly. She was living in the cottage. My husband and I had driven to Kinsale one nice day in February. We stopped in Ballythomas, and I ran up to the door. Poor Margaret answered and apologized because she had just come home from the hospital. I just said a quick hello, introduced myself, apologized for coming without contacting her first, and left. We then became friends on FaceBook. When I started writing about the Keohanes, I wrote that my grandfather, John Keohane, had bought the cottage before leaving for America - his picture used to hang in the sitting room. Margaret told me that she remembered seeing it there.
I think that sums up almost all I know about Uncle Jim. Certainly feel free to correct or add more information.
I do have two more questions - do theses picture look familiar to anyone in Kinsale? They were in with some of Aunt Nellie's pictures - it's a farm in Cork - the Kinsale area I am sure. My mother thought they might belong to relatives of Brother Tim Cummins - but that is another story! If you recognize them, please let me know who they are. Thank you!
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