County Kilkenny => Hillsborough County, New Hampshire => Dubuque County, Iowa => Beyond
(Part Two)
Ballinteskin area of County Kilkenny
Based on family research the parents of Edmund, Patrick, and Alice Walsh, who came to Dubuque County, Iowa in the 1850s, were named Thomas Walsh and Mary Keefe (Keeffe, O'Keeffe). They lived lived in Ballinteskin townland in County Kilkenny, located in the civil parish of Aghaviller, and the Catholic parish of Ballyhale. This was the area our Walsh family was raised prior to coming to America, an area is in the heart of what was commonly called the "Walsh Mountains", and an area where many Walsh families have lived for many centuries.
(click on map for closer view of Ballinteskin)
Based on available records Thomas Walsh married Mary Keefe sometime prior to 1815. Their son Lawrence was born in County Kilkenny in 1815, most probably in Ballinteskin. Thomas and Mary's family were definitely living in Ballinteskin during the 1820s and 1830s, based on the baptism records of their children John, Edmund, Robert and Mary. Their children Patrick and Alice were also likely born there. Other names in their family included Bridget and Anastasia.
According to the early census substitutes for Ireland, among the names living in Ballinteskin included Thomas Walsh, Patrick Walsh, and John Shea. Members of their families later appear in the U.S. Census in New Hampshire.
Ballinteskin townland, Aghaviller civil parish, Ballyhale Catholic parish, County Kilkenny 1832 Tithe Applotment 1850 Griffith's Valuation John Walsh, 35 acres Patrick Walsh, 82 acres Thomas Walsh, 32 acres Walter Walsh, 32 acres Patrick Walsh 45 acres James Cuddihy John Shea John Cuddihy Michael Hearns Simon Hearne Patrick Keeffe James Shea John Shea Michael Shea (immediate lessor John Shea) Thomas SheaCiting from the Valuations of Poor Rates is a Rent and Valuation of £10 County Electors, for those who were registered between 1832-1840. Under the Carrick-on-Suir Union and Electoral Division of Kilmoganny, both Thomas and Patrick Walsh are listed for the same valuation (of property) in Ballinteskin, that is, for 114 Acres, 1 Rood, 22 Perches. For this they paid 42£. 7s. 6d. Both Patrick and Thomas Walsh were registered in October 1832 and June 1838. Thomas Walsh was also registered for June 1840.
The others listed in Ballintesin for all three dates (1832, 1838, 1840), included Michael Hearns and John Shea. A note under John Shea cites the names "Bridget and John in rate-book", suggesting a spouse or mother named Bridget.
The others listed in Ballinteskin for the latter two dates (1838, 1840), included Thomas Hearns (different lands than Michael), and also John Shea, Jr. (different lands than John Sr.). A note under John Shea Jr. cites the names "Frederick and Thomas in rate-book"
In neighboring Boolyglass the names included Walter Walsh (all three years), Richard Aylward, Patrick Brophy (1832 only), James Conway (1832 & 1838), Michael Duggan (1832 only), Nicholas Kelly (all three years), and William Conway (1838 only).
[source: The Sessional Papers Printed by Order of the House of Lords; Oxford University; 1842]
For the families of Thomas and Patrick Walsh of Ballinsteskin, baptismal records indicate the names of their spouses and some of their children. Thomas Walsh was married to Mary Keefe (Keeffe) and among their children included John (1824), Bridget (possibly a transcription error for their son Patrick, 1826), Alice (1828), Edward (or Edmund, 1829), Robert (1832), and Mary (1834).
Patrick Walsh was married to Bridget Hurley, and among their children included John (1828), Thomas (1830), Edward (1832, possibly? their son although the baptismal transcription indicates a mother's name of Bridget Scurry), Anastasia (1835), and Robert (1843).
Additonally there are baptismal records for family members of John Shea and Bridget Power (or Poor) of Ballinteskin which indicate children named Eliza (1826), James (1828),and Nicholas (1841).
What is known of Thomas and Patrick Walsh's families is many of their children immigrated to America, and had connections with Hillsborough County, New Hampshire. Members of Thomas Walsh's family left Ireland and landed in Boston on June 9, 1848, including his wife Mary (possibly widowed), the family of their eldest (known) son Lawrence, as well as their single children Patrick, Alice, Edward, Robert, and Mary Walsh. Most of the family appear in the 1850 census for Hillsborough County, New Hampshire. Lawrence Walsh, the eldest son of Thomas and Mary, had married Bridget Cuddihy in County Kilkenny, and their older children Mary, Ellen and Thomas were all baptised in Ballenteskin.
In addition, Thomas and Mary Walsh had another daughter named Anastatia who married James Cuddihy. Anastatia and James' children were born in County Kilkenny (two with baptisms confirmed in Ballenteskin, and another in Ballhale RC parish) and their family also immigrated to Hillsborough County, New Hampshire (circa 1851). James Cuddihy (spouse of Anastatia Walsh) and Bridget Cuddihy (spouse of Lawrence Walsh) were both children of James Cuddihy and Ellen Shea.
Two members of the family of Patrick Walsh and Bridget Hurley are also known to have immigrated to the U.S., John and his sister Anastatia. They are both cited in a marriage record of January 23, 1855 at Cambridge, Middlesex Co., Massachusetts, an apparent double-wedding. John married Eliza Shea, and Anastatia married James Shea, the Sheas were children of John Shea and Bridget Power (Poor) of the Ballenteskin records. Both John and his sister Anastatia raised their families in Hillsborough Co., New Hampshire. Another member of Patrick Walsh and Bridget Hurley's family, Robert Walsh, is found in the 1900 U.S. census listed with the family of his older brother John and Eliza (Shea) Walsh in Hillsborough County.
The cross-connnections with the Ballenteskin families of Walsh, Cuddihy and Shea continued in America with the marriage, in Hillsborough Co., New Hampshire, of Ellen Walsh (daughter of Lawrence Walsh and Bridget Cuddihy) to Nicholas Shea (son of John Shea and Bridget Power). In addition, the other children of Lawrence and Bridget (Cuddihy) Walsh married County Kilkenny natives in America. Their daughter Mary married Edward Mulhall, their son Thomas married Ellen McGrath, and their daughter Anastacia married Thomas F Shea (son of Thomas).
What seems probable from the various inter-connections of these County Kilkenny families is that Thomas and Patrick Walsh of Ballinteskin were brothers. They appear to be the Thomas and Patrick Walsh of the Ballinteskin valuation records. The various marriages in their families suggest close ties to their Ballinsteskin neighbors, especially with the familes of Cuddihy, Shea, and Keeffe.
It was from New Hampshire that younger members of the family of Thomas Walsh and Mary Keefe settled in Dubuque County, Iowa in the 1850s. This included their children Patrick, Edmund, and Alice. In Dubuque the three siblings married County Kilkenny natives who had also moved there. Patrick Walsh married Ellen Brennan, Alice Walsh married Patrick Brennan (Ellen Brennan's brother), and Edmund Walsh married Mary Walsh (of a different Walsh family from County Kilkenny). Other children of Thomas and Mary are cited living in the Dubuque area at varying times, including Bridget, Mary, and, perhaps for a short time, John.
Based on this research a previously unknown member of the family of Thomas Walsh and Mary Keefe has been discovered. This was Anastatia Walsh who married James Cuddihy in County Kilkenny. Anastatia was close to the age of Bridget Walsh who married James Broderick in County Kilkenny, and family tradition suggests Bridget was a member of the family as well. Bridget and her family relocated to Dubuque, Iowa by 1860, following the death of her husband. There are a series of immigration records which appear to relate to various family members of the Brodericks and Cuddihys arriving together in the years 1850, 1851 and 1852. Although inconclusive these records account for the arrival of most of their family members and are interesting to share here.
Record # 1 - arriving together aboard the Anglo American in Boston in November 25, 1850 were Irish passengers Johan Broderick (40,female), Margt (14) Broderick, and James Cuddy (30). Although listed as a female, this would seem to be John Broderick (husband of Bridget) with his eldest daughter Margaret, and listed after them may be his brother-in-law James Cuddihy (husband of Anastatia).
Record # 2 - arriving together aboard the Hungarian in New York on October 13, 1851 were the following Irish Brodericks - Brid. (35), Edw. (12), Mich. (10), Mary (8), Brig. (4), John (2), and Pat (6 months). Listed after them were the following Irish Cuddys - Anastasia (30), Thomas (4) and Mary A (2). This certainly seems to be Bridget (wife of John Broderick) and her younger children, along with her sister Anastatia (wife of James Cuddihy) and her younger children.
Record # 3 - arriving together aboard the Clara Wheeler in Boston on November 26, 1852 were Irish passengers Eliza Shea (20), Thomas Broderick (11), Walter Broderick (1), and Ellen Cuddahee (7). This would seem to be the elder sons of John and Bridget (Walsh) Broderick (although Walter should be about age 10), along with Anastatia (Walsh) Cuddihy's eldest daughter Ellen. They are perhaps accompanied by Eliza Shea, daughter of John Shea and Bridget Poor. If so, this is the same Eliza who married John Welch (son of Patrick Walsh and Bridget Hurley) in Boston, Massachusetts in 1855. And the same Eliza Shea whose brother Nicholas Shea married Ellen Walsh (daughter of Lawrence Walsh and Bridget Cuddihy).
Article compiled by Dennis Walsh, September, 2009.
Map Source: Irish Ordnance Survey, circa 1841