Mary-Ann Burke

John and Mary's first child was a girl, Mary-Ann, who was baptised on April 8th 1861.Fast forward to the 1901 census and we have Mary-Ann's age listed as "30", a full 10 years knocked off her age! We can only speculate why at this stage but in those days in rural Ireland a woman's options were limited. There were only two routes to economic independence, marriage or emigration. Otherwise someone like Mary-Ann would end up living in Kilmacow looking after her elderly parents. When they died she would continue to live there but the son who inherited the farm would possibly marry and a new mistress of the househould would move in. Sometimes this arrangement worked out but in many cases misery ensued for everyone involved. Was Mary-Ann deliberately lowering her age to keep herself in the marriage stakes?. Anyway, it worked! Soon after the 1901 census was taken, Mary-Ann married a farmer called Dan O'Gorman from near Charleville, Co. Cork. Dan was a widower who had a young daughter.The "deception" continues on to the 1911 census where Mary-Ann gives her age as 42 (only 8 years out now). Dan's age is given as 39 so I wonder did he know his wife's true age. Catherine Burke told me that her father Bill (Mary-Ann's brother) used to say that Mary-Ann baked delicious Christmas cakes. My Dad used to talk about going to stay at Mary-Ann's for holidays. Dan used to get them to sing his favourite song - "Lament of an Irish Emigrant" (Lady Dunferrin) which earned them a couple of pennies. My aunt, Sr. Maura used to tell the story about when their father died (Michael - Mary-Ann's brother), they were sent to Mary-Ann's for a few days around the funeral. As it was Christmas, Mary-Ann bought Sr. Maura a beautiful red coat which she adored. However, it was then decided it was too bright and the coat was sent back leaving Sr. Maura devastated. Mary-Ann is buried in the family plot in Kilmacow cemetery but is not listed on the gravestone.