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Hi Don,

A Clarke from Kinnegad, ending up in Newport RI definitely seems like too much of a coincidence alright!

Esther Clarke Keegan, who moved to Rhode Island to be with her son Francis and daughters Mary and Margaret in 1883, died in 1892 and her death cert in Newport listed her parents as Patrick Clarke and Esther. The question is: could her mother be listed incorrectly?

From a preliminary search on rootsireland, Patrick and Margaret Clarke have 3 baptism records in Kinnegad:
1826 Esther (corresponds very well with our Esther as death cert has her birth in 1826)
1830 Richard
1834 Francis (our Esther had a son, Francis, so seems to run in the family).

Add to that Esther's daughter Margaret and we have a matching up of names. It does seem increasingly likely that the death cert had Esther's mother listed incorrectly and it potentially should be Margaret.

The fact that there's a connection to Newport and perhaps that's why Esther's son Francis moved there, does increase the likelihood that your gg-gm Margaret Clarke was our Esther's sister.

However, there were quite a number of Clarkes around Kinnegad and it's common for people in a general area to emigrate to the same place in the US or elsewhere. I think if we can find correlation between our Esther and her children in Rhode Island with your gg-gm Margaret, then we can perhaps tie it down better.

I am in contact with several members of the family, including some who are still in Rhode Island. I will send you a PM.

Talk soon,

Alan.

Hi s_p_w & Faye,

I did a little more digging with regard to the Esther Keegan death record in Rhode Island and think there's enough circumstantial evidence to conclude that this is most likely our Esther - mother to Elizabeth and my Esther.

I found a ship record for Esther Keegan, 55, housewife, Irish in July 1883 on the Phoenician from Glasgow-Derry-Galway-Boston. She arrived in Boston on the 18th of July 1883 and final destination was listed as Newport.

She was listed in various City Directories in Newport from 1884 to 1891. I cross-referenced her addresses and they also coincided with addresses of Francis Keegan and Mary Keegan. She is listed as "Mrs" until 1886, then in 1888 she is "widow". I didn't see a reference in 1887.

So we know that Michael Keegan and Esther Clarke had children called Francis, Mary and Margaret:

I investigated Francis Keegan (b. 1852) - he arrived in 1877, became a soldier in the US Army (4th Artillery L Company) in 1882 and discharged in 1887. He became a labourer and was widowed by 1905. I saw on Ancestry someone had him in the family tree and he married a Mary Fitzgibbon - presumably not the infamous Molly Keegan?

Mary (b. 1857) and Margaret (b. 1853) are in the census as laundresses.

Back to Esther. Her father is given in the Rhode Island death record as Patrick Clarke and mother also Esther. I looked at Griffith's Valuation for 1854 in Kinnegad. Michael Keegan is in 12a and Patrick Clarke is 9b, both on the Mullingar road coming from Kinnegad - next door neighbours.

Interestingly, a relation of mine told me that my grandad (brought up by his granny, Esther Keegan Coyne) used to visit relatives in Kinnegad and their house was located in that place. We had always assumed it was Murphys rather than Coynes or Keegans.

I have attempted to locate Michael Keegan's death record. I found one Michael Keegan 1807-1885 Jan-Mar that is most likely, but I will have to pop to the GRO to get it and confirm.

Thanks for all of your info.

Alan.

Thanks Dathai, but I already have the original cert from the GRO.

Thanks Faye, I got the pic from Ancestry. It's great to see a picture of a member of that family, as we have no contact or records of that side at all.

With regard to the Keegans, since the address for Elizabeth's birth record has them in Kinnegad, there is a Griffith's Valuation record of Michael Keegan in Kinnegad (plot 12a). Although Michael is a labourer according to the birth cert of Elizabeth, Griffiths lists him as the owner of the small plot of land ("in fee").

Have you been able to trace that family further back?

Hi bupski,

I got the civil birth record for your ancestor Elizabeth in the GRO today. It lists the address for Michael & Esther Keegan as Kinnegad. Michael was a labourer. Looks like they lived in the village and not in the surrounding countryside.

PM me if you want more details.