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woman‎Ellen "Elenor (per Kilbegley Cemetery gravestone)" Ward‏‎
Born ‎1821 County Roscommon, Ireland, died ‎Jun 1846 Ballydangan, County Roscommon, Ireland Event Description: Kilbegley Cemetery, Ballinasloe, Galway, Ireland‎, age 24 or 25 years
Initial dates for her were about 1814 to about 1827 and that she was born and died in County Cork. However, as of about 2016, locals were able to read a gravestone in the Kilbegley Cemetery which is probably hers, and send that information and photos to Randy Rooney. The vital information has been changed to match that stone.

This cemetery is in the Parish of Clonfert, Parish More, where the records burned in the late 1800's.

Geraldine says: "My grandmother, Margaret Murphy Rooney, wrote on a small piece of paper: Ellen Rooney, Kilbegley Cemetery, Parish Moore, Pat and Stephen Ward. My Mother never knew how Pat and Stephen Ward were related to Ellen."

[In about 1975, Helen Rooney Felling's mother, Margaret Murphy Rooney, wrote a note on possible brothers or parent of Ellen Ward Rooney: "Pat and Stephen Ward last known address in 1847: Parish of Clonfert - County Galway, Parish More - Kilbegley Cemetery."]

Geraldine says, "The 26 hour shoeless walk in 1844 from Parish Moore to Sligo for my great grandfather Thomas, his sister Catherine and the two wee boys must have been a nightmare."

June 23, 2016:

"Hi everyone,
I heard from Mary Dolan again and Ellen Ward Rooney's tombstone has been added to the historicgraves.com website: http://historicgraves.com/ kilbegly/ro-klbg-0248/grave. They are still working to get photogrammetry done on it, but had to wait for the weather to improve. Hopefully it will be available soon.
Mary sent the following as well. I'm trying to confirm with Mary how the sibling relationship was established, but thought you would be interested...
With regard to details on Eleanor Ward Rooney, she appears to be a sister of Stephen and Patt Ward. Stephen Ward lived in Kidlawn, Ballinasloe. He was born in 1808 and died on the 5 May 1883. He married Bridget Caulfield in 1844. Their daughter Eleanor was born in 1847 a year after Eleanor Rooney died, so she may have been named after her. This Eleanor was Mary Ward Dolan's husband's great grandmother. Patt Ward died on 1st Aug 1890 aged 80 years.
So, Mary said it looks as if Eleanor Ward is related to her husband and not to her, even though her maiden name is Ward and her ancestors also came from the Townland of Kidlawn. (If you are looking up Kidlawn it was also known by its Irish version, Curraghnagower, pronounced curr a na gower, which means "goats field" hence Kidlawn.)
I'll let you know when/if I hear more that may be of interest.
Best regards,
Randy [Rooney]"

Married ‎between 1842 and 1843 County Roscommon, Ireland, age 21 or 22 years to:

man‎Thomas Rooney‏‎, age by marriage 25 or 26 years, son of Michael ""Daddy Mick"" Rooney and Catherine ""Mammy Kitty"; Catharine on gravestone" Caulfield‏.
Born ‎17 Mar 1817 County Roscommon, Ireland, died ‎23 Apr 1897 Bangor Township, Pope County, Minnesota Event Description: St. Anthony of Padua Cemetery, Padua, Stearns, MN‎, age 80 years, buried Padua, Stearns County, Minnesota, ‎1st marriage to: Ellen "Elenor (per Kilbegley Cemetery gravestone)" Ward, ‎2nd marriage to: Bridget "Biddie" Brown
Thomas Rooney

Died, at his home in Bangor Friday evening April 23rd, Thomas Rooney, aged 83 years. Deceased was born near Athlone, County Roscommon, Ireland in 1814 [his gravestone says he was born in 1817]. In 1847 he emigrated to Canada, settling near the Gatineau river, where he remained until 1867 when he removed to Raymond township, Stearns county, Minn. in which place and in Bangor, Pope county he resided until his death. His death was caused by cancer of the throat which the best available medical skill sought to overcome in vain. The last six months of his life were months of intense suffering which death alone had the power to allay. The funeral services were held from the Raymond Church on Sunday and the large procession which followed his remains thither was an indication of the high esteem in which he was held. Whole souled kindness and benevolent affection made him an ever welcome gue t where-ever he went and those who knew him best will be saddest for his departure from this world. A wife, three sons, Michael, John, and Thomas and two daughters, Winifred and Mary, are left to mourn his death, and scores of relatives and friends will cherish his memory through life.

Glenwood Herald, April 30, 1897.

Geraldine says, "The 26 hour shoeless walk in 1844 from Parish Moore to Sligo for my great grandfather Thomas, his sister Catherine and the two wee boys must have been a nightmare."

Geraldine writes: "Thomas Rooney, Jr obit says he came from Canada with his family to Getty Grove in 1871. So Thomas and Bridget could have been in Minneapolis from 1867 to 1871. [I cannot for the life of me find them in this period, after spending quite a few hours doing lots of searches - David.]
"I'm wondering is it possible to check church/government death records in both Canada and Minnesota to see if another child was born to Thomas and Bridget between 1867 and 1871 but did not survive.
If we located a child, we can maybe get a better date for when they came to Minnesota.
"We know definitely Thomas & Bridget were in MN in 1871 as their last living child, Mary Ann, is born in Raymond Township on Sept 1, 1871."

The family is listed in the 1875 Minnesota state census in Raymond Township, Stearns County with all the other Rooney's and relatives.

Emigration ... Parish Moore to Sligo to Liverpool to Grosse Isle to Ottawa
Thomas Rooney, his sons Michael & John and his sister, Catherine Rooney
Departed Liverpool (via Sligo) 9/13/1847
Arrived Ottawa 11/01/1847
Thomas Rooney's younger son, Baby John, died on the voyage. Deplorable ship conditions.
Ship: the Lord Ashburton

Children:

1.
man‎Michael Ward Rooney‏‎
Born ‎25 Jan 1844 Ireland, died ‎12 Dec 1918 Padua, Stearns County, Minnesota‎, age 74 years
Most of this narrative was from a June 7, 1937 interview of Margaret Murphy Rooney by Dorothy Hansmann:

Michael Rooney was born in Ireland. His mother died in Ireland while Michael was an infant. When he was three years of age his father, Thomas Rooney, and an Aunt, Katherine Rooney, brought him to Wakefield Township, Quebec, Canada. His father was employed in the woods near Ottawa, Canada for about seventeen years. He decided to take up farming and heard there was much land being given away in the United States and in 1855 he removed to New York City and a few years later to St. Anthony, MN where he was employed until about 1863 when they came to Stearns county and settled on a homestead in Raymond township.

[The 1900 and 1905 census say Michael arrived in the U.S. in 1867. This would be about the same time as the other Rooney's in Minnesota. The 1910 census says it was 1847, which makes no sense.]

Thomas Rooney and his son Michael Rooney took adjoining claims and during the winter Thomas Rooney went to live at the home of his son. A claim jumper came through the country and finding the log cabin unoccup ied moved his family in and laid claim to the property.

In 1872, the grasshoppers came and destroyed all the crops and Michael Rooney left his father on his homestead and went to Montana to hunt buffalo. The hides were worth $30 each and the government granted them permission to shoot a certain number.

In 1896, Michael Rooney and Margaret Murphy were united in marriage at the Assumption Church in Eden Valley. Margaret was born in Ottawa, Canada of a family of eight children. To Michael and Margaret were born four children that eventually lived on their own farms in Raymond township near Padua, MN.

The Rooney families were the first to settle in Raymond township. They erected a church and a school building in Padua. The original church structure was sold to Michael Rooney and a new church was erected in 1886. (This church burned down in 1943 and the present church was then built).

Michael Rooney served on the school board and as assessor for several years. He died in 1918, at age 74 years, and is buried in St. Anthony's cemetery at Padua.

Cause of death: Dyspepsia.

2.
man‎John Rooney‏‎
Born ‎± 1845 Ireland, died ‎1847 At Sea Event Description: buried at Grosse-Île, Quebec, Canada‎, buried Atlantic Ocean Or Grosse Isle, Canada
John died on the ship from Ireland. The dead are customarily buried at sea, but the story is that Thomas, his father, had become friends with the captain and convinced him to let them land before they buried John. He's buried at Grosse-Île, Canada, a small island in the St. Lawrence River just downstream from Quebec City. Today it appears to be a largely unoccupied island with a few hotels and is the Irish Memorial National Historic site of Canada.

"Death put a period to her existence," writes Robert Whyte in his "1847 Famine Ship Diary," book. It's the diary of a six-week trip from Dublin to Canada by 110 desperate and wretched Irish immigrants, many of whom may have been sick at the start of journey, though they were supposedly first examined by a doctor. So many died on board, and their sickness was often and simply due to bad water and provisions, resulting cholera and other diseases, and were buried at sea.

However, once they entered the St. Lawrence seaway, they did not dump the bodies overboard because the many islands there and the tide coming in would have resulted in them washing up on shore. So they saved them to bury on Grosse Îsle, the quarantine island just below Ottawa. And one of the Rooney children was buried there – John Rooney, about two years old and the son of Thomas Rooney and Ellen Ward and grandson of Daddy Mick and Mammy Kitty, was buried there in 1847, perhaps the most difficult year of the Irish immigration.