Burke's of Mounthoward

[psun]

Hi again Mogue,

Regarding the information you heard about James joining the army in Cork and then went to England and joined the army is partly true:
As far as I know at some point James left Monamolin (I don't know when this was) but in Limerick during 1932 he got married to Ellen Manly/Manley (of Limerick).
I know he had a long career in the Army, at some point he was a provost sergeant in Collin's Barracks, Cork - his first daughter was born there in 1933. He had 5 daughters whilst in the barrack's and stayed there until he left for England. Apparently about 1948 there were no real work opportunities for women and Ellen, being the mother of 5 girls who were at or nearing working age, decided that she wanted them all to move to be near her sister - Bridget Manly - who had previously moved to England. So she and the girls went and she told James he could follow them if he wanted to, which he eventually did, reluctantly, as he wasn't a great fan of the English (to put it mildly!).

He definitely didn't join the British army though, on arrival in England he found some kind of work "indoors", such as office or factory work I presume, but he wouldn't do that as he said he had to be "working outdoors". So he found a job as a street lamp glass cleaner, cleaning the gas lamps that lit the streets in those days.

I don't think James had contact with his siblings in England, at least I know his daughters never heard or saw any of them. I am unaware of his brother Joe you mentioned (who moved to England). I am currently only aware of James' sibling as of the 1911 census (Patrick, Charlis, Jack and Maggie), although I hear from family that James was said to be one of thirteen children. It would be really helpful if you have details of all James' brothers and sisters.

My mother recalls some Burkes attending James' funeral and one introducing himself as James' brother (perhaps John, Jack or Joe).

It is interesting to hear James was last home about 1958/60, do you know if it was just a short visit or did he return for a while? His wife Ellen had died in 1957 and I think the daughters would have probably moved out into their own places by then. I understand James married again after that to a lady named Doris where they continued to live in the city of Bradford in West Yorkshire until James died in 1979.

Thanks for the clarification regarding the Margarets, it makes more sense to me now I was getting a bit confused for a while there.

I appreciate all the information, it is helping me no end!

Regards,

Patrick.

[psun]

Hello Steve (Westy),
It is great to hear from you too!
Yes I have been in touch with Mogue regarding the Burkes and as you can see he has been a great help already in my research of the family tree.
It's amazing that you have been to Ireland and met with Marks Burke, I would never have suspected that their could still have been living siblings of my grandfather.
James' story does sound similar to John's in that James didn't appear to keep up communication with relatives in Wexford when he left (he first left Wexford for Cork, where he lived for many years, before moving on to England - see my previous post on this thread about that). James' wife and children knew virtually nothing about James' family in Wexford and the children never met their paternal grandparents, aunts and uncles, etc.
My mother was surprised and interested to learn, only the other day, that her grandfather was called Patrick and her grandmother was Maggie! Before then she had no idea. (Thanks to Mogue's postings and the gravestone photo).
She was even more surprised and interested to see the photo of her grandfather Patrick Burke that you posted, as she had never seen him before and never expected to.
We certainly appreciate your posting of this information (and photo) and it would be wonderful to see any other photos and documents that you might be able to send if it's not too much trouble.

Good luck with your research in Dublin!

Thanks again,

Patrick. (PSun)

[moguemosey]

Hi Patrick

Thank you for all the information, funny how some of the siblings kept in touch with each other in England and others didn’t.

Jack (John), James, Joe and Maggie went to England. Joe and Maggie kept in touch with each other. They and their families holidayed together in Wexford, probably in the 1960’s early 70’s. We have no contact details for them.

I attach headstone of James’s brother Charlie Burke born 1905, buried in Monamolin Graveyard. I will send more soon

I have sent you a Personal Message (PM)

Bye for now
Mogue

[moguemosey]

Tom Burke 1914-1979 who died at Lower Ballinastraw, Monamolin, Gorey, Co. Wexford, brother to James Burke.

Regards
Mogue

[psun]

Thanks again Mogue,

It is great to hear from you and get some more information about my ancestors. I am keeping family here up to date with developments, in particular two of James' daughters are interested to find out more about their father, his family, background etc.

How many of James' siblings do you know of? I have a few, but like I said before, it has been the understanding of his daughters that James was one of twelve (or maybe thirteen) children.

I was wondering who Michael Redmond was, he is named on the gravestone of Thomas Burke (Died 22 Jun 1979)? I came across the birth record of a Margaret Mythen, in Wexford, daughter of James and Jane Mythen (Nee Redmond) and was curious if it could be our Margaret Mythen.

Thanks for taking the trouble to post the photos and other useful information.

Bye for now,

Patrick.

[moguemosey]

Hi Patrick

As far as I am aware there were 12 children born and possibly twins died at birth, making 14 in total. Hopefully over the weekend I will have all the names and dates sorted out.

Michael Redmond, I believe, is the first husband of the widow that Tom Burke married.

Bye for now
Michael

[moguemosey]

Hi Patrick

Margaret Mythen/Mithan/Migan (as spelt in different records) was the daughter of Patrick Mythen and Bridget Wafer, who married in 1880

Margaret Migan born June 1881
Her mother Bridget Migan (nee Wafer) died 2 months later in August 1881.

Baby Margaret Mythen was then raised by her mother's mother Catherine Wafer. In 1900 Margaret Mythen married Patrick Burke.

Bye for now
Mogue

[moguemosey]

Hi Patrick

Were you able to open the PM (Personal Message) I sent you?

Mogue

[psun]

Hi Mogue,

Thanks for the information, I did read the PM you sent it was very interesting. I will mention it all to my mother later and see if it rings any bells for her, although she has always said that she (and her sisters) didn't ever see grandparents / aunts / uncles in Wexford and their father (James) never told them anything when they asked about the family on his side.

It is curious as to why James was like that and didn't keep in touch with his family in Wexford, my mum and her sisters never understood why that was. I will PM you back later once I have had a chat with my Mum.

Talk to you later,

Patrick.