Ferns
Further to my earlier request for information on Kathleen (Kate) Annie Kearns or family. Kathleen was born in Ferns around 1896/97 and went to the village school. she may have lied about her age on the marriage certificate but was working as a housemaid in Dover at the time of her marriage in 1917 to William Bruce Collins of Lincolnshire. All attempts to trace her Irish roots have hit a brick wall. Her niece Anne (Nancy) Riley (deceased) was some help and may have some relatives still in the area.
Kate always said that she was orphaned and went to live in Leeson Street with an aunt before coming to England. Family names I have discovered are: Brennan, Cotterill, Redman, O'Brian or O'Brien, Morell and a connection to the boxer Jem Roche. Kate may have been brought up by grandparents as their own. Any one able to help?
