Hi Jill ,
I didnt know that John had drowned http://www.census.nationalarchives.ie/pages/1901/Mayo/Kilbeagh/Tawnyinah_Middle/ , this is the village that I believe that John Halligan came from , right beside Knock airport . This is knowledge gained from my investigations into Nora Kilcoyne here in Ireland and from word of mouth from Kilcoyne family members . My mother is a Kilcoyne from Curry co Sligo , ( Fuel Drumbaun ) , in the early 1900,s 4 of my grandfathers brothers and 2 sisters went to Philadelphia . All 4 brothers on arrival went to stay with Nora who was a widow by this point at Roberts ave , they all had jobs at the Midvale steel plant , where I believe John had also worked until his death , James Kilcoyne , Patrick , John , and Thomas . While the other brothers moved on , Patrick and Nora stayed together and had a son in 1914 who died young of TB ( 1941/42 ) shortly before her death Patrick and Nora married , Patrick , although I believe they were cousins which may have delayed the wedding until now . I was sad when you said that Maggie had died young , must have been shortly after she had arrived , on Maggie's arrival form she is collected by John Kilcoyne , who she describes as a cousin , John was Patricks brother . As I said I have always admired Nora , her home seems to have been a halfway house for new arrivals for many of her cousins and in laws .
As for the Halligans , I have never researched them and I have seen the name twisted into Hennigan , Henigan etc , the word is that the Halligans and Kilcoynes would always greet and Chat when meeting in Charlestown , right down until very recently . Its plausible that Halligan when pronounced in a good Mayo accent would easily sound like Hennigan to an American , and its probable that John was not literate and just went with the flow . Its also Possible that John and Nora knew each other before America , as they may have met on market days in Charlestown .
Its nice to connect and I would say that there is a strong possibility we are related , Kilcoyne is not a common name and I would say all the Kilcoynes around here are related in some way , Thomas Spellman