North Street, Newry, County Down

North Street, Newry, County Down
North Street, Newry, County Down

Sunday, 13 October 2019

Mary Bray, Thurles, County Tipperary

 Mary Bray was the daughter of John Bray, of Thurles, County Tipperary, and his wife Mary Fogarty.
She married Denis O’Brien. They had two sons.

1. John Bray O’Brien [1805-1839]
John [Luke?], of Denis O'Brien and Mary Bray, Main Street, sponsors John Bray, Elizabeth Bray. [1]
John Bray O’Brien died by drowning in 1839.
Tipperary North Riding Summer Assizes 1839. Thurles 1st August: John Bray O'Brien J.P. of Turtulla drowned. With his two brothers and his cousin german, John Bray Esq., went boating on River Suir, very swollen after recent heavy rain, on Wednesday 31 July. At bridge of Cabra, the boat struck a concealed weir and capsized. The other three scrambled ashore but O'Brien was cast headlong into the water and drowned. He merited high esteems (sic) and affection. Considerate and indulgent as a landlord: friend and benefactor to all in neighbourhood: upright and impartial as a magistrate.

2. Francis Bray O’Brien [1806-1870]
Francis, son of Denis O'Brien and Mary Bray, sponsors Thomas Lanigan of Castle Fogarty and Margaret O'Brien wife of Ml. Ryan of Abington.[2]
Francis Bray O’Brien married his first cousin Frances Agnes Bray, known as Fanny, the daughter of Luke Bray and Ellen Ronan, in Thurles on the 24th of November 1840. They had six children.  Francis died in 1870. Fanny died in 1874.
O'Brien, Jan 12, at Ardfort House, Thurles, after a long and painful illness, Francis Agnes, relict of Francis Bray O'Brien, Esq., J.P. [3]
Both are buried in St. Mary's Graveyard, Thurles, along with other members of the Bray O'Brien family.

Denis O’Brien died on the 26th April 1812.  

His widow Mary Bray married again, to John Burke. They had three children. Mary Helena Burke [1813-1889] also found as Bourke, Emily Burke, and William Burke.
Mary Bray’s granddaughter Mary Helena Bourke married Charles Laurence Toole on the 8th of October 1839 in St. Andrew’s Church, Westland Row, Dublin. They had nine children. Their fourth son, Edmund Toole, born in 1848, was a recipient of the Victoria Cross in 1879, in recognition of his services at Ulundi, Zululand, South Africa.


[1] Catholic Church Registers, Thurles 02489/04 P. 6 1805 [www.nli.ie]
[2] Catholic Church Registers. Thurles 02489/04 P. 14. 1806 [www.nli.le]
[3] The Belfast Newsletter, Jan 16, 1874.

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