Thomas SWEENEY is found on the 1871 census living in Cardiff, Wales..He was born in 1835-36 in Ireland and is married to Mary Ann SULLIVAN, also born in Ireland..Five children are listed as being born in Cardiff..Thomas, age 9..Elizabeth, age 7..Mary Ann, age 5..Alice, age 4..Patrick, age 2..Another child, John, was born later in 1871..The family was living at 6 Ellen St., Cardiff, County of Glamorgan, Wales.. From John's naturalization record, the family arrive at the port of Boston in December of 1873 .. The family is in Newport, Rhode Island by 1876 and four more children are born in Newport..Joseph b. 1876..Augustus b. 1878.. William b. 1881.. Catherine b. 1883.. The 1900 Rhode Island census states that there were 9 children living at the time of the census, out of 12 children born to Mary Ann SWEENEY, so I am missing 2 somewhere along the line.. I have information on most but not all of these children..Family lore has it that Thomas SWEENEY b. 1835-36 served with the British Army in the Crimea War..Joseph b. 1876 served in the Spanish-American War and later changed his name to Gordon JOHNSTONE..He moved to NYC and became an actor and a published poet..John b. 1871 worked as a telegrapher for the Newport Daily News in Newport..Patrick (age 2 above) was a Chief of Police in Newport..Catherine and Elizabeth moved to NYC..They never married.. My next step is to find the passenger record for the port of Boston in December of 1873.. Hoping someone else is researching one of these Sweeneys!! Claudia Sweeney CT USA