Jack (Fady)
As we have seen earlier, Jack
(John, 1790s-1850s) divided his Ballyashea farm between the three sons,
Mathew, John and Michael. Michael seems to have gone to Australia or died
young, or both, and John got his portion of land somehow. John remained on
in the old house with his mother Catherine, on a farm which was then twice the
size of Matthew's.
John, also
known as Jack or Fady, was born in 1830 according to the
1901
census (where he was recorded as John Kane senior) and married in
1864, aged 34 yrs. His wife Susan (Linnane) was born in
1840. Their daughter Catherine was born in 1865, (possibly others),
son John in 1870 and Mary (1873 but see headstone below!). The
farm was transferred from Catherine's name to that of John in 1880
(perhaps only after Catherine's death which would then seemed to
have taken place, probably in 1879).
According to the 1911 census both John (Fady) and Susan were still alive,
then aged 80 and 73 years respectively.
Chapel Pew Dispute
A family dispute over a chapel pew (seat) ends up in the county Petty sessions
(courts) as reported in the county newspaper 'The Clare Journal' in the autumn
of 1896. The families in question were Johnie
Matthew Keane
and John senior (Fady), his neighbouring uncle. A dispute arose over parcel of land
which Johnie Matthew had use of and for which he paid Fady an annual sum of money;
after 12 years he ceased payment which led to a dispute with Fady but apparently
matters settled between them a few years before the court case in question -
apparently Johnie Matthew retained under sufferance! possession of this parcel of land
for his own use.
Note: The plot of land
of some four acres existed near the public road but at
some short distance from Johnie Matthew's (and his descendents) farm; this parcel
of land comes up again in a temporary transfer to Pat
to facilitate his eligibility (applicant needed to be a land owner) in his quest for a
share in the distribution of Crowe's farm in 1917/18!
From the newspaper report of the Assizes it appears that
Jack, father to Matthew, Michael and John
(latter known colloquially as Fady), derived ownership of a family pew when the
Kilnamona chapel was being renovated in the 1840s; surprisingly from the court
case it also appears that Michael purchased a pew at that time (stated by one of
the parties to be 48-50 years before the court case) at a cost of £4 10s (a
princely sum then!). As the church was built in
1842, the pews may have been purchased about then or soon afterwards, most
likely before the great famine. As noted before in due course, either on Jack's
death or when Matthew got married in 1847, each of the brothers were given equal
shares of the farm although John and Michael continued to live at home with the
mother. When Michael left the scene, as stated in the first paragraph his
portion of the farm reverted to his mother (and thus in time to Fady).
It appears from the
evidence that the Keane mother and Fady's family were in the habit of
using Michael's pew while Johnie Matthew's family occupied the
family (the late Jack's) pew. The upshot of 'disgraceful conduct in a
Chapel' on July 26, 1896 was that Fady's family, deemed to be
perpetrators of the row on that day, were fined and bound to the
peace while no direction was given as to the rightful ownership of
the disputed pew. Thus, Johnie Matthew presumably retained
occupation of his pew (possession being nine points of the law!). A
useful snippet of information for the webmaster from the evidence is
the statement (on oath) that Johnie Matthew had occupied the pew for
the previous 30-years; this seems to point to the years of 1865/6 as
to the time that Michael left the scene. Another intriguing
inference is that whereas the row over the pew took place on Sunday
July 26th, 1896 the case was heard at least by August 2nd, i.e.
within one week of the incident, solicitors briefed etc!!
Another Keane court appearance is recounted in the Petty Sessions of
1903 but some doubt still exists as to which Ballyashea Keane it
referred to. see more.
------------------------------
![Johanna](images/Johanna.jpg)
![JohnJoe](images/JohnJoe.jpg)
John
Joe Keane (Fady's son, born 1870) and his wife Johanna (Leyden) ~ 1927. photos
courtesy of Steve Cummins
steve.cummins@people.net.au
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From Feedback page, msg 42: My name is Steve Cummins & I am a
grandson of John & Johanna Keane. My mother (r.i.p.) was Gretta
Cummins ( nee. Keane ) She passed away last March (2007), here in
Brisbane, Australia, aged 85 & 6mths. My grandmother was known to
all the family as " Muddie " & she lived with us for a while in
Dublin, after leaving Ballygriffey, & later moved with us to
Manchester. I was actually holding her hand when she died at 85yrs
on Christmas Day 1961. She is buried at Moston cemetery, as is her
sister, known as Sister Mary Agnes of the Sisters of St. Francis.
Muddies eldest daughter Norah is also buried in the same cemetery,
with the name of Norah Lynott.
![JohnJoegrave](images/JohnJgrave.jpg)
It
is interesting to note that in the
1901
census the name was recorded as Kane. This is not so unusual
as there was a tendency in rural areas of the west at that time to
speak in a broad accent. In 1900, Mary (27) married John Keane
(30), Derroolagh (Derula, see table in
Forebears).
Fady's son John (32) married Johanna Leyden (22 ), Inagh, in 1900.
By 1911 census it seems they had 9 children, 7 surviving, namely,
Frank (b. 1902), Norah (1903), Myles 1904), Mary (1905), Andrew
(1906), Catherine (1908) and Susan (1910) (1911 census, National
Archives, Dublin).
![Keanesists](images/keane%20sisters.jpg)
Above
Left:
Headstone over the grave of John Joe Keane & his parents, & also son Myles, in
old cemetery Kilnamona (courtesy Steve Cummins, Queensland).
Photos courtesy Steven
Leyden, New York and Sheila Pickwell, Calif.
Right: Keane
sisters in 1925, daughters of John Keane and Johanna Leyden.
From left: Norah,
May (Mary),
Susan,
Kitty (Catherine)
and
Gretta.
Gretta was born in 1911 or later, hence her absence from above
census.
![Frank](images/img4.jpg)
Steven Leyden's Aunt Norah Leyden standing between two
male Keane cousins (we're guessing that Frank may be on the right since he is
oldest, Mylie or Andy is on the left). (surprisingly Mylie might be expected to
be in uniform being in the National Army in the 1920).
photographs courtesy of Mary Leyden, 99 years
old in 2007, via her nephew Steven Leyden, New York (great, great grandson of
James Hegarty and Brigid Kelly (see
odea and
Gretta),
who added that his Aunt Mary possessed lots of information about her Uncle John
and Aunt Johanna's family, including the girls and their brothers.)
Below: John Joe and Montage of the John Joe
Keane Family of the 1920's
![JohnJoe](images/img5.jpg)
![SrAgnes](images/SrAgnes.jpg)
Photos:
Headstone, courtesy Steven Leyden
Steven.Leyden@us.ngrid.com
Sr Agnes, courtesy Shiela Pickwell
spickwell@ucsd.edu
![JohannaTomb](images/hedston.jpg)
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John Joe & Johanna Keane Family
They had 11 children
Frank was the oldest. He married a Bridget Sullivan.
Frank Married
into the farm of Brigid O'Sullivan, of Drumcreen, Kilnamona. They
had 9 children - Maisie, Eileen, Paddy (Ennis, deceased), Jessy, Joe
(Ennis), Frank (Francie, Ennis), Bridget, (Bibby), Susan, &
Stacia.
Of the five
in family two, Francis and Joe, were very skilled Gaelic hurlers (national
sport using stick and ball ) for the parish and county in the 1960's/70's.
![FrankPat](images/FrankPat.jpg)
Frank
took an active part in the Irish War of Independence, 1917-1922 (see Pat's
extended Testamonial published in the
Clare Library historical webpage). He was a member of the
Kilnamona IRA Company (Coy). For example, one engagement he took part in
June 1921 with his first cousin Paddy O'Keeffe (mother Leyden of the above
family), Toureen East, Kilnamona was an attempt to disarm two British Black
and Tan soldiers on duty outside a shop in Ennis.
It seems that this attack was undertaken without Coy
authorisation. The attempt failed and a
running firefight broke out as the Volunteers rushed through the streets
into a dead end. Trapped, they continued to fight until they were
wounded and taken prisoner by the troops chasing them. Unfortunately,
a six year old child was killed in the crossfire. Taking up the story from
Pat who was then Kilnamona O.C Coy:
'Two volunteers from my Coy were dangerously
wounded in an encounter with Black and Tans on the streets of Ennis on the
26th
June 1921.
I visited them at the Hospital, Ennis a few hours
later getting through the guard to make arrangements for their removal. On
(local hospital GP) Dr McClancy’s advice they were not removed for two
weeks'.
Pat also classed Frank as one of nine most active members of Kilnamona Coy
(with membership 64) during the War of Independence. Frank also took the
republican side during the Civil War period following Irish independence
while his brother Myles (Mylie) joined the National army of the newly formed
state.
Above: Comrades in Arms: Formal photo of Frank
and first cousin (once removed) Pat, both active members of the IRA. Dating
the photo from ~1920 - Frank (b. 1902) appears to be about 18 years of age
and thus Pat (b. 1894) would be about 25/6 years!
Norah married a Martin Lynott.
They had 10 children -
Rita, Norah, Sheila, Anne, Margaret, Susan, Martin, John, Patricia, & Mary.
Myles Keane was married to a Mary McInerney
(Cork).
They met while Mylie was
stationed in Cork when serving in the National Army. They had 6 children, Loretta (England but regularly
holidays with husband in old home, Kilnamona, Delores, Michael, John
(deceased), & Vera (deceased), Delores, Michael & Vera emigrated to N.Z.
many years ago & they brought their mother out later. Michael now lives on
the Gold Coast here in Queensland,
Myles (also known as Mylie) also took part in the War of Independence,
1917-22 (see
listing in
Clare Library) and subsequently joined
the National army of the newly formed Irish State where he remained for
about ten years. His first posting was at Ennistymon where he got into some
difficulties assisting Pat's abortive effort to retake the Barracks (see
account of this incident in
Pat). His
later posting to a Cork unit led to his meeting his future wife Mary
McInerney. Mylie's excessive drinking lead his family emigrating to England
in the early 1950's, he remaining in Ballyshea until his death in 1979. A
number of very enjoyable Christmas 'wren dance's' (Céili) was
held in Mylie's house.
Andy married Kitty (deceased 1951) Conlon
They had 4 daughters - Maureen
(resides in Ennis), Philomena (in England), Kathleen (a Nun with Little
Company of Mary), Mona (in N.Z.)
John's third son, Andrew - known locally as Andy John Joe - in turn
inherited the home farm. Andy's wife Kitty, died in 1951 and later in
the 1950's, Andy sold the farm (to Paddy O'Keeffe, Derula) and emigrated to
England where he settled and remarried and lived to 1980's. He was
buried in Kilnamona cemetery.
May married a Mr. Ali in Canada
They had 1
daughter, Anne, who now resides in Austin, Texas.
Catherine (Kitty) married a Mr. Harvey
They had a
daughter - Susan who lives in England.
Susan married Edward Coleman
They had one daughter - Catherine (a doctor) who resides near Leighlin
Bridge, Co. Carlow.
Margaret (Gretta) married Stephen Cummins
They had 1
son, Stephen jnr.*
John (known as Sonny) & ?
They had 2 children - John &
Marie. Marie is in England & John is here in Brisbane & is with the
Australian Federal Police.
Michael never married & lived most of his adult life
in London.
Bridget married a Leslie White but no children.
They lived mostly in England until
about 1985, then widowed she moved to Leighlin Bridge, Co. Carlow & set up
a farm near her sister Susan.
(*Family
information gratefully received (March 2009) from Steve Cummins, Queensland,
Australia as obtained from his mother Gretta - most of her siblings now all
deceased.
A Listing of
Keane's interred in the old Kilnamona Cemetery
Keane, Andrew,
d. 30 Nov 1951, Husband of Bridget, [AR]
Keane, Bridget,
d. 14 Jul 1988, Wife of Andrew, [AR]
Keane, Bridget,
d. 27 Oct 1982, age: 86yr, Wife of Patrick, [AR]
Keane, Cornelius,
d. 7 Nov 1970, age: 38yr, Son of Patrick and Bridget, [AR]
Keane, John Joe,
d. Feb 1943, Son of John and Susan, [AR]
Keane, Josephine,
no dates, Daughter of Andrew and Bridget, [AR]
Keane, Mary,
d. 5 Jul 1997, age: 86yr, [AR]
Keane, Myles,
d. 18 Dec 1979, Son of John Joe, [AR]
Keane, Patrick,
d. 18 Jan 1952., age: 58yr, Husband of Bridget, [AR]
|
updated
March 24, 2009; latest update, November, 2014
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