So Who Is this Denis Crowley? And how is he related to John Keohane?

The website - https://www.harvardmagazine.com/2010/09/vita-francis-cabot-lowell - reports that Francis Cabot Lowell, born in 1875 in Newburyport, Massachusetts, "helped lay the groundwork for the new country’s (United States) economic independence with his idea for an integrated textile mill. That concept eventually transformed the United States into a world trading power and put into play forces of technological innovation that continue today." He followed his father - who was a lawyer, politician, and delegate to the Continental Congress - to Harvard University, but followed his mother's (Susannah Cabot's) brother into international trade. "Soon he set up his own account at Boston’s Long Wharf and amassed a substantial fortune in the Federal-era trade of textiles, crops, and foreign currency. On the side, he acquired significant chunks of Boston wharf property, several residences, and tracts of Maine wilderness ... But by 1810 hostilities between France and Great Britain threatened his prosperity. With gunships patrolling the Atlantic, international shipping became an impossibly risky livelihood."

So what did Lowell do? He packed up and went off to Europe for 2 years! Because of his wealth, he was able to visit the cream of British society. His connections also provided access to the textile mills of Britain where water powered mills produced great wealth for the owners. He was unable to obtain the closely guarded plans for the mills so he memorized as much as he could - then, back home in the US, he worked with engineer Paul Moody to build this country's first totally integrated power loom - cotton entered the mill in a bale and exited as a bolt of fabric. He had raised $400,000 from family and friends by selling shares in his enterprise, the Boston Manufacturing Company. He built a 4 story brick mill on the Charles River in Waltham with a cupola and a Paul Revere bell. This was a couple of miles up the street from where I grew up in Watertown, and the mill is now the Charles River Museum of Industry and Innovation. 

View of Francis Cabot Lowell's first mill - it is now the Charles River Museum of Industry and Innovation near Moody Street in Waltham.

The website - https://forgottennewengland.com/home-new/the-beginners-guide-to-the-history-of-lowells-neighborhoods/ - talks about the history of Lowell's neighborhoods:

"Without its rivers, there would be no history of Lowell’s neighborhoods. There would be no Lowell. When a group of entrepreneurs and investors carved Lowell from East Chelmsford in 1826, they started with the 2,800 acres of land where the Merrimack and Concord Rivers meet. Those first 2,800 acres became Lowell's downtown, The Acre, Back Central, Lower Highlands, Ayer's City, and Sacred Heart neighborhoods ...

"Lowell wouldn’t be Lowell if Francis Cabot Lowell’s Boston Manufacturing Company hadn’t built its first mill along the Merrimack River at the Pawtucket Falls. It’s still strange that Lowell got the name ‘Lowell,’ though. After all, Francis Cabot Lowell actually died nearly nine years before the 1826 founding of the town that grew into the city that bears his name today.

They (Boston Manufacturing Company) had built their first mill in Waltham in 1814 along the Charles River. Under Lowell’s guidance, they built the factory that would serve as the template for all textile mills for the rest of the 19th century. Lowell also devised the mill girl system, bringing women into Waltham from the countryside, and becoming one of the earliest exploiters of the gender wage gap in the US. 

It was such a raving success and moneymaker that the Boston Manufacturing Company had plenty of capital to expand north into Lowell in the decade following Lowell’s untimely death in 1817 ..."

Hugh Cummiskey emigrated from County Tyrone in Ireland in that same year of 1817. He secured a contract to widen and deepen the canals along the Merrimack River to power the textile mills. He and 30 Irish men walked the 20 miles from Charlestown to East Chelmsford/Lowell to start work. The Irish settled in The Acre mentioned above. This "Paddy Camp" was made up of cabins constructed with rough boards, sods, and mud. Sanitary conditions were poor with outbreaks of cholera and typhus. By 1850 though, there were 13,000 Irish in Lowell. 

The story of those men became the story of The Acre - as each wave of new immigrants arrived in Lowell looking for the promise of work, they passed through The Acre. Each generation, each wave of immigrants brought its culture, language, and contributions to Lowell.

The Irish came first and built St. Patrick's Church, on land donated from Kirk Boott of the Merrimack Mills. The Greeks soon joined the Irish and built the Holy Trinity Greek Orthodox Church. They were followed by the French Canadians, Portuguese, Poles, and Jews from Eastern Europe. Later waves of immigration to Lowell brought Puerto Ricans, Dominicans, and immigrants from Southeast Asia."

Back "in the early 1820s, the Merrimack Mills set up operations in Lowell, recruiting young, unmarried women from the countryside – just like the Boston Manufacturing Company had done in Waltham.  Boardinghouses like Dutton Street’s New Block appeared on the city’s skyline. More mills were added too. 

Downtown Lowell developed an entertainment scene, with theaters like the Savoy and the Rialto, and personalities like Uncle Dudley, a Civil War veteran turned confectioner whose clock still stands outside the site of his candy shop. 

Downtown Lowell lived and died with the fortunes of its mills, and suffered greatly when the mills left for the South, starting in the 1920s. Stores closed, jobs vanished, and people left. World War II briefly injected some life into the city when the factories supported the war effort. However, it wasn’t until the 1970s and the establishment of the National Park that Lowell’s renaissance arrived and the city started moving toward prosperity again.

Back in the 19th century, as businesses and the city grew further and further away from downtown, workers followed, settling further and further into lands that had once been farms. The Irish followed jobs further south, building St. Peter’s Church (on Gorham Street) in 1841. 

By a generation later, they had pushed deeper south still, into Lowell’s new Grove neighborhood, and built Sacred Heart Church and School in the 1880s, reinventing a neighborhood that had already been known for its Bleachery as early as the 1840s and even a Civil War training camp on Gorham Street in the 1860s. So this is the Lowell where John Keohane arrived in 1912 when he came to his cousin Denis Crowley who lived beside Sacred Heart School.

129 Andrews Street, Lowell

A look down Andrews Street. Denis Crowley's house is gone, but these houses survive.

So who is this Denis Crowley? How is he related to John Keohane?

I found Dennis Crowley - laborer - on 126 Andrews Street in 1912 - the year John Keohane arrived.

The map below shows 126 Andrews Street/red icon in relation to The Acre, downtown Lowell, Belvidere.

124-126 Andrews Street is now the gray duplex building on the right below - the house Denis Crowley was renting has been knocked down. This is a look down the street. I visited here several times with my sister Patty or my brother Jimmy or my son Dan who teaches at Lowell High School. Patty and I struck up a conversation with a gent living on the corner of Moore Street and Andrews Street - he gave us some history of the neighborhood and suggested that I contact Virginia Mayo at UMass Lowell for information re Lowell.

I went backwards from 1912, and I found Dennis Crowley here again at 126 Andrews street in 1911 - he is still a laborer.

Going back again, I found a Dennis Crowley - laborer in the 1910 Lowell City Directory - not on Andrews Street but at 5 Stromquist Avenue. This was the only Dennis Crowley listed as a laborer.

The red icon above is where 5 Stromquist Avenue would be. The street is South of Lowell Center off Gorham Street then off Lundberg Street.

5 Stromquist would have been to the right but has been knocked down.

So then I tried www.ancestry.com again for the 1910 census. I finally found a Dennis Crowley at 5 Stromquist Street. He is the 28 year old brother-in-law of Bernhard Roach. He is single. He immigrated in 1903 and is an alien. He labors at rendering work.

Bernhard Roach is the 35 year old head of the family. This is his first marriage - he has been married for 12 years. He was born in Massachusetts, but both parents were born in Ireland. He is also a laborer - he also works in rendering - he likely got Dennis Crowley a job. He is renting his house. His wife Catherine is 36 - this is her first marriage as well. She has had 2 children but only one is living. She emigrated from Ireland in 1894. James F. Roach is their 8 year old son. He was born in Massachusetts and attends school.

I tried to find information about what rendering was in 1910 - the best information I could find was on Wilkapedia - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rendering_(animal_products) -

"Rendering is a process that converts waste animal tissue into stable, usable materials. Rendering can refer to any processing of animal products into more useful materials, or, more narrowly, to the rendering of whole animal fatty tissue into purified fats like lard or tallow. Rendering can be carried out on an industrial, farm, or kitchen scale. It can also be applied to non-animal products that are rendered down to pulp.

"In animal products the majority of tissue processed comes from slaughterhouses, but also includes restaurant grease and butcher shop trimmings and expired meat from grocery stores. This material can include the fatty tissue, bones, and offal, as well as entire carcasses of animals condemned at slaughterhouses and those that have died on farms, in transit, etc. The most common animal sources are beef, pork, mutton, and poultry.

"The rendering process simultaneously dries the material and separates the fat from the bone and protein. A rendering process yields a fat commodity (yellow grease, choice white grease, bleachable fancy tallow, etc.) and a protein meal (meat and bone meal, poultry byproduct meal, etc.).

"Rendering plants often also handle other materials, such as slaughterhouse blood, feathers and hair, but do so using processes distinct from true rendering.

The occupation of renderer has appeared in "dirtiest jobs" lists."

This certainly doesn't sound like a very pleasant job! The smell alone must be atrocious! Does it permeate the neighborhood? 

Below is an ad in the 1910 Lowell City Directory for the Lowell Rendering Company on School Street with the factory in South Lowell. I have taken a drive down School Street but there is nothing left of the rendering company. Do you suppose this is the company where Bernard Roach works?

"Manufacturers Of And Dealers in 

Hides, Calfskins, Pelts

Oils, Tallow, Grease, Bones, Ground Bones

Poultry, Meal, Meat Scrap, Cracked Bone

HIGH GRADE ANIMAL FERTILIZERS

Hard Tallow for Machinery Use a Specialty

429 School St.                Factory, So. Lowell

Telephone 1095-2            Telephone 322"

I looked back further and found Denis Crowley in the 1908 and 1909 Lowell City Directories boarding at 5 Stromquist Avenue - he is a laborer in both directories. Below is 1908.

I had been planning to take a tour of St. Patrick's Cemetery in Lowell on Saturday, September 24, 2011, but I didn't wake up until 8:30 am, and Lowell is about a 2 hour drive from here in Falmouth. So I was disappointed that I had missed the tour - until I met Frances Keohane in Falmouth Heights later that day. She told me that when she was 5 years old, her father, Thomas Keohane, had a car. (Tom was my grandfather's brother.) He took her and Aunty - Mrs. Mahoney with whom Frances lived after her mother died - for a drive to Lowell to visit some relatives including the Roach family! This pretty much proves that we have the correct Denis Crowley! She said the family was well off at the time - they had a piano, and the daughter played it. Frances also said that there was a cousin who played the accordion for any occasion when music was needed.  Some relative owned a bar. Francis said she did not remember the name Dennis Crowley. I said that my mother always said that John Keohane came out with Jerry O'Brien, but I could not find him on the ship manifest with John Keohane. Frances said that Jerry O'Brien was the man who played the accordion. 

Okay then, let's see how much more we can find out about the Roaches.

On www.ancestry.com I found Bernard Roach in the 1911 Lowell Directory living at 5 Stromquist - he was a laborer. Remember this is the same address where I found Denis Crowley in 1908 and 1909.

There were no other directory listings for Stromquist Avenue. So, with the info from the 1910 census that we just looked at - that the Roaches have been married for 12 years -  I found a marriage between Bernard Roach and Catherine Crowley on 7 July 1897 in Lowell. They were both living in Lowell - he was 22 - she was 23. Bernard's occupation was mill operation; Catherine was a table girl. He was born in Tewksbury, Massachusetts; she was born in Ireland. His parents were Michael Roach and Bridget Riley. Catherine's parents were Dennis Crowley and Catherine Burke. This was the first marriage for both. William D Joyce OMI, Rector in Lowell officiated. Reverend Joyce was an Oblate priest assigned to the Immaculate Mary parish - he oversaw the founding of Sacred Heart parish in South Lowell where the Roaches and Denis Crowley were living. Boston's Archbishop Williams dedicated the basement in August 1894 - services were held in the basement during construction. The cornerstone for the church was laid in June 1896. I wonder if the marriage took place in the basement or at St Peter's Church where the people of south Lowell normally attended church?

So Catherine's maiden name points us to a possible relationship with Denis - Crowley - her parents are Dennis Crowley and Catherine Burke. Can we find Denis' parents listed somewhere?

I tried looking for Bernard Roach in Tewksbury with the information from the marriage registration and the 1910 census. I did find a Roach family in the 1880 census of Tewksbury. Michael Roach is a 40 year old laborer from Ireland. Hs wife Bridget is also 40 years old - she was born in Ireland - she is keeping house - she cannot read or write. Their son Barnet is 4 - he was born in Massachusetts. I can just imagine census taker M. J. Spaulding trying to understand the Roaches with their Irish accents pronouncing Bernard! But I didn't find a birth registration for Bernard.

I did find a Lowell City Directory for 1896 which lists Bernard Roach, operative, boards 11 Tremont corp., Bradford.

 

The next page in the 1896 Lowell directory lists a Michael Roach, operative,  boarding at the same address - 11 Tremont corp., Bradford. I imagine he is related to Bernard Roach, but I wonder how? A brother? An uncle? His father? And how is Bradford involved?

So, I looked up Bradford, Massachusetts and found that it had originally been a part of Rowley in Essex County - it is located on the south side of the Merrimack River. In 1897 Bradford was annexed to Haverhill. So what? Are Bernard and Michael working in Lowell and boarding in Bradford? That is a wicked long walk each way - what is up? 

The website - https://familypedia.wikia.org/wiki/Bradford,_Massachusetts - reports "Bradford was primarily a farming community and there are a few farms still in operation, Bradford had several shoe manufacturers who later moved to Haverhill ... Several mills long operated on the Johnson's creek (now in Groveland) - [Groveland incorporated as a separate town in 1850 - it was formerly eastern Bradford]. These included fulling mills (used to remove the lanolin oil from woolen cloth), saw mills, bark mills, and grist mills for grinding corn." Well, this information doesn't help.

11 Tremont Street in Bradford/Haverhill

So we know that Bernard Roach was 4 years old and living in Tewksbury in 1880. He may been living in Bradford in 1896 with a Michael Roach. He married Catherine Crowley in 1897 in Lowell. 

As I was looking for more information on the Roach family, I came across a birth certificate on https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:FHG7-5L7 for a Lena Roach born in Lowell on 18 December 1898 to Bernard Roach and Kate Crowley of Lowell, but no street address was given. Bernard's occupation is an operative. He was born in Tewksbury; Kate was born in Ireland. 

Then I looked up Lena Roach on www.ancestry.com and found a sad record. Lena died 20 February 1899 - she was only 2 months 7 days. She died at 179 Moody Street in Lowell. Parents were Bernard Roach and Catherine Crowley - he was born in Tewksbury; she was born in Ireland.  Cause of death was pneumonia. Lena was buried in the Catholic Cemetery. 

The red icon just off center of the map below is 179 Moody Street - not too far from City Hall. Maybe the Roaches were renting here. I believe Moody Street is part of The Acre which began as a "Paddy Camp" for Irish workers.

I just - 13 June 2021 - found the 1900 US Census for Lowell that lists our Roach family. They are boarding at 228 Moody Street. Barney was born in June 1874 in Massachusetts and is 25 years old. Katie was born in Ireland in February 1877 - she is 23 years old. They have been married for 3 years - Katie has had one child, but that child is not living - we just saw the death registration above. Interesting that Barney's parents are listed as being born in Massachusetts - the 1910 Census lists his parents being from Ireland.

Katie immigrated in 1889 - she has been in the US for 11 years. Barney is a day laborer in a cotton mill; Katie is a hosiery knitter. They can both read, write, and speak English.

The red icon in the upper right below is 228 Moody Street in Lowell - note in the lower left there is St Patrick School.

Next I tried looking up Barney and Kate's son James Roach. The 1901 registry for Lowell lists the birth of James F Roach on 5 September - he is listed on the first line. Place of birth is 391 Adams Street - parents are living in Lowell. Bernard is still working as a laborer.

The red icon below shows 391 Adams Street where the Roach family was living. It is still within The Acre.

I couldn't find the Roaches listed in a City Directory until 1901 when I found a Bernard Roach listed as a laborer with a house at 962 Central Street.

I found the same Bernard Roach, laborer, house at 962 Central Street in 1903. I'm not positive that this is our Bernard Roach, but I am thinking it is.

The red icon below shows 962 Central Street in the Back Central section of Lowell. A little further south is Moore Street - Andrews Street runs off of Moore Street.

The picture below shows Central Street - the house where Barney and Katie were living is no longer there, but you get an idea of the neighborhood.

The 1905 Lowell Directory lists Bernard Roach as departed to South Lowell.

We have already seen that the Roaches and Dennis Crowley were living at 5 Stromquist Avenue in the 1910 US Census - the Roaches lived there until 1913.  By 1914 the Roaches have moved to 124 Stromquist Avenue. Note there is another Bernard Roach who is a weaver boarding on Adams Street.

124 Stromquist Avenue

Bernard Roach registered for the WWI draft on 12 September, 1918. He had moved to 124 Stromquist Avenue in Lowell by 1914. He was 42 years old - his birthdate is 14 January 1876. He works as a foreman for Consolidated Rendering Company in South Lowell. His nearest relative is Catherine Roach of the same address. He is described as of medium height and build, brown eyes and gray hair. 

The 1920 U. S. Census of Lowell's Ward 9 lists the Roche family at 124 Stromquist Avenue. Bernard Roche is 43 years old and is still working for the rendering company. He is renting the house. His wife Catherine is 43 years old - she immigrated in 1891 and was naturalized in 1897 when she married Bernie. Their son James F Roche is 18 and single. He was born in Massachusetts. He is a machinist helper in a railroad car shop.

1929 has a Lowell City Directory that lists James F. Roach, musician at 488 Merrimack, resides 128 Stromquist Av. Bernie is listed as a laborer - no place of work is given.

The website - http://cinematreasures.org/theaters/13369 - has a post from "jimroy on April 4, 2010 at 1:51 pm:       

The theater was opened as a movie house at 488 Merrimack in 1911 by Charles Harfort as the Jewel Theater. In 1913 he purchased property across the street at 507 Merrimack and built a new 1200 seat theater he called “The New Jewel.” Though he had planned to close the original, it operated as the Royal as early as 1914 until 1964."

The same website has a post from "tprovencher on March 30, 2009 at 3:54 pm:

"The ROYAL, or what’s left of it, is located in a building called The Husson Block diagonally across from the Pollard Library on Merrimack Street. It is located at the edge of a district called Little Canada and well-known to Jack Kerouac. It and the State, The Crown, the Capital, and the Palace, constituted the neighborhood theatres in Lowell. The theatre was owned by the Husson family. Years after it closed, a daughter…Nellie Husson, I believe, reminisced about travelling to Boston with her father to arrange for the second-run movies they would show. As was practice at the time, the bill was changed twice a week. The Royal had a square marquee with the name “Royal” in big block, red neon letters on three sides. Above the entrance were three floors of apartments. About all that can be said for the Royal is that it was an entertainment bargain. It was quite undistinguished."

Exterior of the Royal Theater in Lowell.

The UMass Lowell website - https://libguides.uml.edu/movie_theaters - tells us that:

"From the 1920s to the 1960s, downtown Lowell was a major entertainment mecca in the Merrimack Valley, and movies were what people flocked here to see.

The Strand, the Merrimack Square, and RKO Keith featured first run films and fans stood in line for hours to catch the current blockbuster.  At second and third run movie houses like the Rialto, the Royal, the Crown, the Capitol, the Victory (later, the Tower/LGM Memorial/ Palace), and the State (the Opera House/Gates), they saw B-movies, serials, cowboys, comics and their favorite movie stars the second and third time around."

So James Roach must have played the piano at the Royal Theater - maybe they had a house band.

In 1930 Bernard Roche owns the house at 128 Stromquist Avenue, and it is worth $1500. Bernard is 54 years old - he was 23 when he first married. He continues to labor at the rendering company. Catherine is 52 and was 21 when she was married. She immigrated in 1895. Son James is 28 and single. He is a musician in an orchestra but has not been working. Frances Keohane said a daughter played the piano, but perhaps it was James playing the piano - it was back in the 1920s and she was only 5. She later told me that her aunt had seen the piano player, but she had not.

128 Stromquist Avenue

124 and 128 Stromquist where the Roach family lived.

I found James F. Roche, musician, living with his parents in 1934 to 1936. Bernard is listed as a laborer.

1940 finds Bernard F and Catherine Roche still at 128 Stromquist Street. They own the house which is worth $1500 - the same as it was in 1930. The X beside Catherine's name means that she answered the questions for the census taker. Bernard is now 64; Catherine is 65. Bernard went to school as far as the 3rd grade - Catherine went as far as the 4th grade. They lived in the same house 5 years ago. Bernard is working steadily 40 hours weekly as a laborer at the Rendering Company - his income is $1150 from work - he has no other income.  Their son James Roche is not listed at this address.

So we have had a look at Bernard Roach and Catherine Crowley - let's see if we can figure out the connection between Catherine and Dennis Crowley - brother and sister? cousins? And will we find a relation to the Keohane family? How is John Keohane cousins with Denis Crowley?

We have seen that Dennis Crowley immigrated to the United States in 1903 per the 1910 US Census. 

I found a Dennis Crowley sailing on the S.S. Ultonia from Queenstown on 15 April 1903 for Boston. Dennis is a 24 year old single laborer; he is able to read and write. His last residence was Ballygarvan, and his destination is Newburyport, Massachusetts. He does not have a ticket to his final destination. His cousin paid for his passage. He has $40. He has never been to the United States before. He is joining his cousin Margaret Flaherty on Lime Street in Newburyport - I can't make out the street number - perhaps 44. He is in good physical and mental health.

Ballygarvan is north of Kinsale and just south of the Cork Airport. I don't know yet if this would be our Dennis Crowley.

I checked the directories for Newburyport on www.ancestry.com - indeed there was a Dennis Crowley in 1904 - he was a foreman at 63 Water St. with a house at 69 Middle street. I couldn't tell how old he was - was it the same Dennis Crowley? It seems too soon for him to be working as a foreman - he just arrived the year before. 

I also checked the Newburyport directories for Margaret Flaherty - there were numerous Maggie Flahertys in Newburyport and the surrounding towns, but none on Lime street and none with any obvious connection to Dennis Crowley

I did find a listing for a Dennis Crowley in the Lowell City Directory for 1907 for 962 Central Street. The Roaches were living at this same address in 1903 - they departed for South Lowell in 1905. I don't know if this is our Dennis.

In 1909 Denis Crowley was returning to Boston on the S.S. Ivernia from Queenstown on 8 September per www.ancestry.com. Line 25 reports that he is 31 years old; he is single; he is a laborer. He is a British citizen of Irish race. His last permanent address was Lowell, Massachusetts. His nearest relative is his mother Mrs. Crowley in Kinsale, Co. Cork. His finale destination is Penacook, New Hampshire. Penacook is a village in Concord, NH - it was a mill city on the Contoocook River that falls about 100 feet before joining the Merrimack river.

Page 2 of the passenger list reports that Denis Crowley does not have a ticket to his final destination. He reports that he was in the United States previously in 1903 in Lowell. He is heading to his cousin John Flaherty, 24 Summer Street, Penacook, NH. He is 5 feet 7 inches with a fair complexion, fair hair, blue eyes. 

So if Denis had been in Lowell in 1903 then why is he now going to his cousin in New Hampshire? Has he not taken out papers for citizenship? And are his cousins Margaret Flaherty in Newburyport and John Flaherty in Penacook related?

I couldn't find any information on www.ancestry.com for either Flaherty.

I found a bit more interesting information about Dennis Crowley again on www.ancestry.com. The S.S. Saxonia left Queenstown about 9 May 1910. The ship docked ten days later on 19 May in Boston. On board is Minnie Eardley, a 24 year old servant. She is single; she reads and writes. She is of British nationality and of the Irish race. Her last residence was Ballygahan in County Cork. Her nearest relative is her father CH Eardley (? Charles) of Ballygahan, Co. Cork. Minnie is headed for Lowell, Massachusetts. Don't Ballygahan and Ballygarvan, where Dennis Crowley may have lived, look and sound pretty similar?

Minnie has a ticket for her destination that was bought by a friend; she has $50 in cash. She is going to join her friend Dennis Crowley at 5 Stromquist Avenue in Lowell. She is in good physical condition. She is 5 feet 3 inches with a fair complexion, fair hair, and blue eyes. She has no marks of identification. She was born in Staffordshire, England.

I looked up the 1911 Census of Ireland and found the Early family living in Ballinphelic/Liscleary, Co. Cork. The Eardleys were living in the townland of Ballyphelic in the parish of Liscleary in the barony of Kerricurrihy in the DED (District Electoral Division) of Liscleary in the Poor Law Union of Kinsale, Co. Cork.

The red icon below is Balliphelic - note to the right - after you cross the N71 - is Ballygarvan - Dennis Crowley said that his last residence was Ballygarvan when he immigrated in 1903. To the south of Balliphelic is Inishannon and Dunderrow.

The 1911 Census lists Charles Henry Eardley as head of the family - he is an Irish Church Protestant - he can read and write - he is 46 - he is a brick works manger - he has been married for 28 years - he was born in Straffordshire, England.

Myra Eardley is Charles' wife - she is also Irish Church Protestant - she reads and writes - she is 50 - she has been married for 28 years - she has had 10 live births but only 9 are still alive - she also was born in Straffordshire.

Their son John Edward reads and writes - he is 16 and is a brick worker hand - he was born in Straffordshire as well. 

Son Frederick George is a 13 year old scholar - as is 10 year old son Robert Charles - they were born in County Dublin.

7 year old son William Henry is also a scholar - his sister May is a 5 year old scholar - they were both born in County Cork.

The Eardleys have 3 boarders living with them - interesting that 2 are Baptists - the other is Church of England - they are bricklayers - all were born in England.

I found this very interesting re the brick works - I hadn't read anything about brick making in Ireland before. I tried looking it up but could only find - http://www.askaboutireland.ie/reading-room/history-heritage/architecture/Architecture/building-materials-and-cr-1/brick/.

"In Ireland local developments in brick construction has left a rich variety of forms and patterns throughout the country. Here bricks tend to appear generally from the seventeenth century when, initially, their use was limited to particular parts of a building, notably in lining bread ovens and in decorative chimney stalks. In the Georgian and Victorian periods and in the twentieth century bricks became by far the most common Irish building material ...

"Before the coming of the Irish canals and railways, the materials from which any building was constructed had to be procured locally. Where bricks were to be used, very often they were made by a traveling brick-maker who contracted to bake the thousands of bricks necessary for any job on the site. This must have happened at Jigginstown outside Navin in Co. Kildare. This huge house was planned by the Earl of Strafford, Charles I's Lord Deputy, in 1632. Though ruined it retains much fine brickwork in two colours.

"As brick building became more common, local brickworks were set up. Each had its own character, quality and size of bricks. By the 1840s bricks were being made in some 150 different locations in Ireland. In the countryside many were burned in clamps, covered with earth and baked with turf fires; the larger manufactures used kilns and, where it was available, coal to fire the brick. 

Exceptions to this local provision are Dublin and Drogheda where many of the bricks that were used in the Georgian age are of English origin. These bricks were imported from Bristol and were brought to Ireland principally as ballast in ships which would otherwise have returned empty having taken corn to England for export. In the nineteenth century bricks were also imported from Liverpool, from Ruabon in North Wales and from Staffordshire."

I checked the 1901 Irish Census for the Eardleys - they were living in Stillorgan, Co. Dublin. This census tells us that they belong to the Church of the Latter Day Saints. Charles Henry is a flower pot thrower. 

The children living with them are:

Daughter Alice is 13

Daughter Eva is 10

Son Ernest Edward is 8

Son John is 5 

They were all born in Straffordshire, England. Then there is:

Son Frederick George is 3

Son Charles Robert is 5 months

Frederick and Charles were born in Dublin. 

They are renting a 4 room house with 2 windows in the front.

But look at this next bit of information! Four days after her ship docks Dennis Crowley marries Minnie Eardley in Boston! This is the first marriage for both of them. Dennis is living in Lowell; Minnie is listed as living in Boston. He is a laborer; she does house work. He was born in Ireland; she was born in England. His parents are Dennis Crowley and Catherine Burke. But wait a minute! Minnie's parents are listed as John Eardley - not CH Eardley as per her passenger listing and Maria Barlow - not Myra as in the Irish Census. The priest who marries them is Thomas R McCoy of Boston. The marriage is recorded 23 May 1910.

I happened upon a marriage certificate filed in Boston for this marriage. The information is the same EXCEPT this entry list's Minnie Eardley's residence as the SS Saxonia!! Was she detained on board ship? Where was she between landing and marrying? Was Dennis there waiting for her when the SS Saxonia docked?

The priest Thomas R. McCoy who performed the ceremony was based at 75 Union Park Street in Boston which is the address for Holy Cross Cathedral. I imagine the wedding took place in a chapel of the cathedral - who were the witnesses? Who else was there? When did Dennis Crowley set the wedding up? Did Minnie convert to Catholicism? I suppose we will never know. 

And what about the difference in the parent's names? I can see Myra being Mary, but John instead of Charles Henry? It's got to be the same person, don't you think?

Holy Cross Cathedral in Boston

So John Keohane came out to Dennis Crowley who had recently married and moved into a new apartment.

From the marriage certificates we learn that Dennis Crowley's and Katie Crowley Roach's parents are Denis Crowley and Catherine Burke. I was able to find a civil birth registration for Catherine Crowley - born 7 June 1874 to Denis Crowley of Ringrone and his wife Catherine Burke. Denis is a laborer, and he reported the birth. The birth was registered in the Registrar's District of Ballyfeard in the Superintendent Registrar's District of Kinsale. 

When I looked up Ballyfeard, I found out that there is no Ringrone townland, but there is a Reagrove - and if I look closer, this looks like what is written. I am familiar with Ringrone, Co. Cork and presumed that was what was listed. 

The red icon in the map below is supposed to show Reagrove. Note Ballygarvan is at the top center of the map, Kinsale is at the bottom, and Dunderrow is at the lower left.

I then found a marriage registration for a Denis Crowley and Catherine Burke. They were married about 15 February 1874 - I can't exactly make out the day. They are both of full age - he is a bachelor - she is a spinster. Denis is a farm laborer; Catherine is a servant maid. They both live in Reagrove, Co. Cork. Denis' father is farmer Cornelius Crowley. Catherine's father is farmer Michael Burke. The marriage took place in the Roman Catholic Chapel of Minane Bridge (you can see Minane Bridge on the map above) and is  registered in the Registrar's District of Ballyfeard in the Poor Law Union of Kinsale. So I am presuming this is our family - same names and they are living in Reagrove where Catherine was born.

Then I found a birth certificate for Denis Crowley of Reagrove - born 25 April 1877.  Father is Denis Crowley of Reagrove - mother is Catherine Crowley formerly Burke. The father is a laborer and registered the birth on the 16 May.

So where are we after all this time and searching? We have proof that Catherine Crowley and Denis Crowley are brother and sister. Frances Keohane verified that the Keohanes are related to the Roach family. But that doesn't tell us HOW they are related to John Keohane. I did a lot of digging around on www.ancestry.com and www.irishgenealogy.ie but didn't find any definite connections re the Crowleys and Keohanes or the Crowleys and John Keohane's step-mother Julia Murphy. So I'll leave it here for now - maybe sometime we can find the connection. All we need to know for now is that Dennis Crowley and his wife Minnie Eardley were living at 126 Andrews Street in Lowell when John Keohane arrived.