Back to ROE IRELAND KEALY/KEELEY and now COLE Family lore is that John Roe married Mary Ann Kealy in Wicklow and had the following children about 1840-1855 Robert, Nicholas, Julia, John, Elizabeth Frances, Edward Thomas, and George. They immigrated to Canada about 1856 and got a Crown Land Grant there for two lots in Renfrew Cty, ON. They are on the tax rolls in 1857 there. Once in Canada John was always a farmer as were his sons. John signed his name with an X which leads the thinking that John was a farmer in Ireland and lacked education. His sons could sign their names but barely. The two older sons would have had all the education if any in Ireland. We know Elizabeth had beautiful handwriting and was literate. She went to school in Ontario. We know Julia corresponded with friends as we have a letter to Julia from a friend. The family apparently went intact to Canada. I have not found them on a ship's list. There is no example of Mary Ann's writing. Julia Kealy went to Massachusetts in 1853 and married a Portugese stevedore, Antonio Josephs, in 1855. They move in 1871 to Renfrew Cty to be near MaryAnn and the Roes. This family had money. The son became a doctor. Julia signed her name and I gather she was literate. We have found a record in Kilkenny that Thomas Ireland married Bridget Kealy and the record is in the Catholic Church. The Irelands who seem connected to Thomas were not Catholic. Everyone in this family group is not Catholic. So why would this marriage have been in the Catholic Church? Anyway, Bridget and Thomas have a son, William, in 1849. William Ireland married Eliza Mary Stephens in Kilkenny in 1873. In 1874 they had a daughter Emily Frances. The son, Frederick William's birth is not registered but Eliza died three days later in 1875. William, it appears, leaves Ireland and leaves the children behind. Wm. married Elizabeth Cole, daughter of Peter Cole and Elizabeth Sparling, from Tipperary, in the US in 1889. Wicklow and Kilkenny are next to each other. We have found no record of the three Kealy sisters being anywhere. Would Bridget, a servant, have gone to another county to be a servant? Thomas' death is noted in Kilkenny but Bridget's is not. Would she have gone back to family? Today we know that William's pallbearer was Samuel Cole Ireland. Samuel is brother to Thomas Cole Ireland both sons of Richard Ireland and Catherine (Cole). Those two are in the US in Connecticut by 1880. William appears on records in the later 1880's. Then William's children appear to be on a ship in late 1880's but they go to Renfrew Cty and their aunt Julia's. Can there have been movement between counties and even in Wexford? We found Bridget but not Julia or MaryAnn. If Samuel and Thomas Ireland of William's generation were in Tipperary why was William's father, Thomas, a plumber in Kilkenny? It appears that William was connected to Samuel and Thomas, both with the middle name of Cole (their mother Catherine was most likely a Cole) and William's second wife in the US is a Tipperary bride, Bessie Cole, sent over to him in Connecticut. I feel as if we are dancing around these families and just can't put them in order or place. Any thoughts or connections? I have asked before but I can't find anything based upon past suggestions. Bonnie in California

Cara might like to comment on this, but my understanding is that the Penal Laws of the 1700s made it illegal for (a) Catholics to own land, or was it to buy land, and (b) a Protestant to be married by a Catholic priest. These laws were gradually repealed in the 1800s but, in the meantime, many Catholics became Protestant, and then changed back again after the laws were changed. Not sure when the abovementioned laws changed, but perhaps possible that if Ireland/Kealy marriage was after repeal, perhaps one party had returned to his/her original faith. Cheers Barbara

You say Snip* > We have found a record in Kilkenny that Thomas Ireland married Bridget > Kealy and the record is in the Catholic Church. *Snap But have you proven that this is your Bridget Kealy-? Bonnie you also stated they received a land grant have you the document that gave them that land grant that alone would say from where the Roe family came from in Ireland. ANd here is where I become totally confused in your in depth mail Who are the Kealy sisters ? Are they Bridget Julia Mary Ann and it appears you believe they stayed behind in Ireland I am typing up information on marriages between the two religions but my fingers are not as fast as years past. And the Irish can be found in any COunty they did not all stay home at the family homestead they moved around like will o the wisps. I cant answer the question why the father on one lad lived in Kilkenny and was a plumber, no doubt he was there because there was work there, you have to realise that this is a terrible era and time in Ireland you are researching, where work, food and money was scarce so there would be movements between all counties. Sorry about not understanding your mail cleary. I am trying Cara