Searching for decedents of Maura Bhui O'Leary (Burke)

Dear Marianne

Welcome to Ireland Reaching Out and apologies for the delay in getting back to you.

Unfortunately we don't yet have a volunteer in Inchigeelagh but I do see that there is a gentleman online named Don who seems to be researching the same family. Have you had any contact with him? He seems to have posted in a number of places including at the links below and so is perhaps open to sharing with you:

http://www.genealogy.com/forum/surnames/topics/oleary/1651/

http://www.clansandnames.org/forum/read.php?1,38

I have had a look on Historic Graves but can't seem to find a grave for Maura. Do you know when she died?

I take it you have seen this English translation of some of her work. The introduction refers to some members of the family and might be useful to you:

http://www.scribd.com/doc/223266082/The-Poetry-of-Maura-Bwee-O-Leary#sc…

Best wishes

Clare Doyle

Genealogy Support 

She is buried in Inchigeelagh in the churchyard there....I have found her grave. Just looking for decedents that are alive:) Thank you Clare. I have tried to email Don but the email bounces back. 

Hello Michael and Marianne. My name is Michael Burke and Mary O'Leary is my 4X grandmother through her son James(Seamus). James married Abbie Burke(née de Burca) of Macroom and their son Patrick(Padraig) married Ellen Donohoe of Dunmanway(Mohona). Patrick and Ellen emigrated to Woburn, Mass. with three of their surving Irish born sons. They were known as the "Inch Burkes", most likely because this whole neighborhood in Woburn was settled by West Cork Irish and to distinguish them from another Cork born Burke family living in Woburn and others who were from Galway etc. I've been researching my dad's family for many years now and have plans to one day visit the "Inches". My great grand parents had my grandfather when they were in their 40's and my grandparents had my dad when they were in their 40's as well so there is quite a lag in the generations on my end. Good luck with your trip and keep in touch with any discoveries! 

Regards, 

Michael Burke

Hi Micheal

So you and my husband are sown kind of distant cousins. I've also been I contact with a woman who,lives in Ireland who is related through Maura's son Eilic. She tells me there are two Burke brothers living at the old homestead where Maura and James lived. She says Paudie lives in the old home and his brother Gerard lives across the street. I think the are descendents of Maura's son Eileic so far, but have not been able to get any contact info for them. My husband's family is al Irish....his grandmothers family....Finnegans, and his grandpas family...Cashmans all emmigrate to Newburyport. And I haven't even gotten to his moms side yet..all Oconnels and Lannigans.....its been interesting! If you ever do go to Ireland there is a hotel/ bar owner in Invjigeelagh named Joe Creedon who knows it all I guess.....has the history of the O'Learys and Burkes down and will help anyone who goes over try to find relatives. Do you have the manuscript written by the priest from Holy Cross College regarding Maura? You can get it for free on Scribd. 

Yes I have the Maura Bwee manuscript as well as Brian Brennan's 'Songs of an Irish poet'. I think a few of the O'Leary-Burkes ended up in Massachusetts/New England. I'd love to find us all and have a get together. I'm also on 23andMe DNA site and discovered quite a bit through that end

Hello,

My name is Susan Howard Erbaugh.  I am continuing research regarding my ancestors in Ireland.  My Great Grandmother was Mary Catherine Burke (about1845-1887), whom I believe was the daughter of Aleck/Eilic Burke/deBurca and Mary Callihan of Inchigeelagh, and Granddaughter of James/Seamus Burke/deBurca and Mary/Maire/Maura O'Leary (Bhui Ni Laoire), the poet.  Mary Catherine emigrated to America in the 1860's and either before or after emigration, married my grandfather, John Barry.  They had a number of children, Katie (1864}, John Joseph (1866 or 1867), who became my grandfather ,Samuel (1868), William (1870), David (1872), Mary "Mamie" (1876) and Lillian (1883).  I am not sure how many of those children survived to adulthood, although I am quite sure that Katie,John, David, Mary and Lillian did.  Mary Catherine died in the 1880's, probably in 1887 and is probably buried in the Holy Name Catholic Cemetery in Jersey City.

My great grandfather, John Barry, married again to Delia Adele Clark, and they had more children.  My grandfather left home and became alienated from the family after his mother's death, but was reunited with his siblings after his father's death in 1916.  He married my Grandmother, Elizabeth Autenrieth in about 1898.  They had 3 children, Elinor Elizabeth Barry Osborne, (1904-1993) Dorothy Elizabeth Barry Howard Sabo (1911-1982)and John VonAutenrieth Barry (1915-1996).   Dorothy was my birth mother, but I was adopted into the family of the older sister, Elinor, after my parents were divorced in 1947.  If it is of interest, I can provide additional information about my children, my siblings and cousins and their children.

I have been unable to trace the lineage of my great-grandfather, John Barry,but it seems likely that he was one of the many John Barry's from County Cork.  If there are any bits of information or suggestions about his parents and ancestors, I would be very pleased to know about that.   I have found some leads about John Barry's born about the time of his birth in Ballygeary, Mallow,and Boherbue as well as Inchigeelagh,but have been unable to confirm any of those possibilities.  It's very satisfying to have found some of the connections in Inchigeelagh.  I would be most interested in knowing if or how I mght obtain copies of the poetry by Maura O'Leary/Laoire and also to have any further information about preious generations of the Burke/deBurca family and the Sullivan/Shuilleabhain family.

Susan there is a book titled "Maire Bhui Ni Laoire A Poet of Her People" authored by Brian Brennan. He is also a descendent of Maura.. I think you can find it through Amazon. There is also a manuscript titled "The Poetry of Maura Bwee O'Leary" by fathers O'Donoghue, Sweeney and Burke. One or two of them were teachers at Holy Cross and I'd extensive research into the family. It was given to me by a deceased family member who attended Holy Cross....and I believe you can find it on Scrbid.

Thanks, Marianne....I will follow up the info about Maura O'Leary's work.  I find myself wonderin if I have the details of the Burke lineage correct.  I have found Roman Catholic recores records of baptism of Mary Burke, whom I believed to be my great grandmother, indicating her parents were Aleck Buke and Mary Callihan, but wonder if there were others with the same name (Alek/Eilic Burke) in the same area.  Reading through the message board posts, it seems there are a number of differences in the family trees.  Any cofirming information of details would be welcome....

Susan if you get the manuscript written by the priests I mentioned above....they have a very, detailed family tree in it....from Maura's parents on down, including all of Maura's children and their children. If you can't locate the manuscript....you can email me privately at mcashman@stny.rr.com and I can at least scan  and email you the trees. Although looking at it right now...I see that Maura and Seamus did have a son Ellic born 1804 who married Maire Callaghan in 1842...... But then I don't see where these two had a daughter named Mary Catherine...they had eight children according to this tree....Sean b1843, Eibhiin b 1847, Michael b 1849', Brighid b 1852, Seamus b 1852, Siobham b 1854, Ristard b 1857 and another Eilic b 1861. That Eilic also married and had another Eilic! 

So I don't see that Maura's son Eilic had any children named Mary Catherine. But like I said.....I can send you a copy...I have made a lot of notes on it.....but you can check it out. 

Hello Marianne,and thank you again for your response.  I was able to download the manuscript you cited and also found some publications by Brian Brennan that are available on Amazon.  I will keep on with the genaology research and see  if I can confirm the possible connections. In any case, it seems very nice to know about and believe, at least for a while, that we are descended from the poet.   Interestingly enough, on the other side of my family, the Irish Howard family who settled on Prince Edward Island, there is an ancestor (a great uncle), Larry Gorman, who was a folk singer and song writer of some note in Canada in the latter half of the 19th century, about whom there have been a number of publications and citations.  So maybe I'll just go along with the happy thought I am descended from these artists and not try too hard to discount or disqualify the connections.....

Susan...hopefully you can find your connection:) I'm new at all of this....and the family tree can be a little confusing........so I could absolutely be wrong in how I read it! Best of luck with your research!

Michael....did you do the Ancesrty DNA? My husband is waiting for his results on that. Where's in Mass are you located? We have other Burke relatives...well, last names are no longer Burke on Cape Cod that we visit once a year. We also hope to visit Newburyport area in the coming year, as we have Finnegan ( our Burke Madrid a Finnegan) and also Cashman peole to,try to connect with. There is also a park named Cashman Park, and that Cashman is likely related to my husband. As for the Burke end, our little tour company actually contacted Joe Creedon...the man I mentioned above who owns a bar in Inchigeelagh...and they changed the tour a bit for us...Joe is going to give us a tour of the cemetery and hopefully the Burke homestead! So, if you ever do go over, be sure to contact Joe!

Marianne, I've just had my test received my AncestryDNA on the 26th of January, so I'm still waiting on my results. I am on 23andMe and GedMatch(kit # M379939) now so if your husband gets his results sooner than I, he can have his AncestryDNA result uploaded to GedMatch. GedMatch is a much more interesting site for genealogy than either 23andMe or Ancestry...and it's free! I'm sure my results on Ancestry will be posted soon enough. I think my screen name on that site is burkemick8.

I have got in contact with Joe through Email but he seemed a bit busy and only sent a short email about having a weekend available in September to discuss O'Leary/Burke history. I sent him an email in return to ask if he had a vacancy for a weeks stay and never heard back. He does seem to be a valuable resource for my/our genealogy, so I do hope to meet up with him one day. You'll have to let me know what you find out. Good luck!

Mick Burke      

Marianne, 

I grew up in Winchester on the Woburn Winchester line, just about 3/4 of a mile away from where my 2X great grandfather, Patrick Burke, first settled in Woburn in the 1870's and even closer to the house his Irish born son, Patrick(my great grandda)built the home my grandfather grew up in by hand..., I'm afraid we haven't roamed too far in 146 years! I currently live in Needham, Ma..

Mick

Hello all, this may be a long shot.  I am trying to trace my greatgrandmother Mary Burke who married a soldier William Connell (from Kilkenny) in Mayo in 1850. His best man Michael Cleary in same regiment  (from Limerick) married an Ellen Burke a week later with William as his best man.  I have been unable to find any birth or parental info on these two Burke girls.   On the assumption that they were sisters, the only Mary and Ellen sisters I can locate would be the daughters of John Burk and Narry Cronin in Inchigeelagh, Ellen in 1829 and Mary in 1825.   Ellen Burk  and Michael Cleary stayed in Canada after Cleary was posted there in 1857.  Mary and William Connell ended up in Newbridge after his retirement from army (at Curragh) in 1870.    Both of these men had been  in the Crimean War.      Would love to hear if any local people know of two local sisters  who may have married these  two soldiers.

John O'Gorman

Hamilton, Canada

Hi - I'm a descendent of Maura's son Richard (1798).  His son Alexander was born 1842 and baptized at St. Finbars.  Alexander sailed for America in 1863 (brother James folllwed later), and by way of Erie PA and Cynthia KT he came to reside in Chicago where he established the Alexander Burke Brick Mfg company that prospered following the Great Fire.  He married Margaret Moore of Cynthia KT in 1872 - they had 11 children all born in Chicago.  Alexander visited Ireland several times, and installed a headstone for his parents on their grave in the old churchyard in Inchigeelagh, as well as building the altar in that church.  When  St. Patrick's Cathedral in Chicago was built (one of the few buildings that did not burn) he donated the St. Finbar's stained glass window in their memory, which I understood was restored by members of the Burke family in 1992.  His son Richard was a Chief Justice in Chicago, but died (1873 - 1963) due to food posining at Bishop Mundelein's celebration.  His son Richard (my grandfather) died young, several months before my father, Richard Alexander Burke, was born.  My grandmother, Helen McWeeney did not remain close to the Burke family, but about the time my parents (Elaine Sachs) got married, they got to know his uncle, John Burke.  My father passed away in 2008 - I have four other siblings, primarily in WI.  

I was lucky enough to travel with my dad to Gouganne Barre just as he was starting to put together some of the pieces (we have ahd some great family historians) - I'd like to go back now that I know more.  I do have some more ancient family background:  I'm going to try to attach a link to a pdf that is a start to a family book I'm working on.  Read that one before you click or cut/paste this link: http://www.daft.ie/cork/houses-for-sale/inchigeelagh/carrignacurra-cast…. surprised to find all of you - great fun!

Kathy thanks for the link. We visited Inchigeelagh in July. Jos Creedon,  a local business owner and historian gave us a tour of the cemetety and the town.  We drove by the castle but did not get up close as we were with a 25 person tour.  It was just magical to see the places that I had researched about for my husbands family. We also visited the Goughane Barra which was one of the most beautiful places.....

Hi All, My name is Anne Twomey

I am also a decendant of Maura Bhui, through her son Elick Burke, his son Séan Burke, his daughter Johanna Burke married Michael Twomey from Ballyvourney, her son Alexander is my father.

I am a first cousin to the named author Brian Brennan. 

I am very curious about the "Burkes of Chicago", as they are know to me.My father often visited them, I "assume" (i know thats dangerous..!!) they were uncles of his...There are loads of old photos here belonging to my late dad, unfortunately only "Burkes" written on the back...

Anyone able to shed some light please...

Strange how many of her decendants ended up around the Boston area, i grew up in Revere Mass, and lived in the US up to 11 years ago. I am now back on the home sod and visit Incheegela, Googane Barra and Ballyvourney often. 

Happy diggin folks

Anne

Hi All,

I am coming to the party late but my uncle was Richard P. Burke, SJ who co-authored the biography of Maura Bwee! I am named after my uncle and am citizen of Ireland with a passport! Very excited to visit and paint the meaningful places in the area of Ireland where our ancestors came from. 

I currently reside in Newburyport, MA, USA but hope to travel back and paint Ireland this summer/fall. My website is richardburkejones.com and has my contact info on it. If anyone has any contact information as to whom I might connect with while visiting, I would greatly appreciate it. Email is richardburkejones@gmail.com

Sincerely, Richard

Hello All,

I am Liam Burke in Australia - Maura is also my 4 x Great Grandmother. My father was Daniel Burke of Schull, West Cork, the second son of Brigid and Richard Burke (1890) who all eventually moved to Innishannon. Sadly, all the family have passed away except for Aunty Breda who is in Kinsale. 

I was lucky enough to spend three months there as a child and have been back several times as an adult. I have the book of Maura's poetry also, which was eventually published in English. I believe there is a second book about her - is that the one you're talking about Richard? 

Nice to meet you all cyberly! Feel free to email me - liam@artscargo.com

All the best,

Liam Burke