Not sure whether the present Ballycotton Roman Catholic Church ('Star of the Sea') was built when Hannah O'Regan was born (about 1859), or whether there is a graveyard there which might contain remains of some O'Regans.
Hannah married William St John O'Neill in the Chapel of Sts Peter and Paul, City of Cork in 1878. William was an accountant, the son of William O'Neil, who had also been an accountant. O'Neil senior died in 1875 of apoplexy and paralysis.
At the time of Hannah's marriage (she was about 19 and a dressmaker living in Patrick Street, Cork), her father was dead. On the marriage certificate his occupation was listed as "Gentleman". I'm not sure what this means.
Hannah and William had five children in Ireland, but two boys died young of TB. They migrated to Melbourne, Australia, arriving in January 1887. They had five more children in Australia, all girls. The eldest of their ten children, Martha Mary, became Mother Mary Patricia, the Head of the Mercy nuns in Australia. The youngest child, Margaret Mary, was my grandmother, Rita Hannan.
