The Kehoe's
Writing the storied Kehoe Family history is one thing. Understanding it is another. Thomas John Kehoe, is more than just a common family name. In our family history there are several of them that we can identify. This author has chosen to use Roman numerals as is common for people who share the same name across generations. There is little evidence that the various Thomas John Kehoe\'s ever used this designation to distinguish themselves in such a manner. The Roman numerals are only being used to assist the reader.
Family oral history and archival records claim that our Kehoe clan emigrated from County Westmeath, which is an inland county within the province of Leinster. Westmeath and the native Irish who lived there like the Kehoe's, couldn't escape the attention of Samuel Lewis in Volume II of his 1837 book, The Topographical Dictionary of Ireland. His observations of the papist Irish of Westmeath, seem condescending, as most of his observations of the Irish were:
The peasants are a healthy robust race, of warm temper, and somewhat prone to litigation: they are scrupulously observant of the performance of their vows and of the penances enjoined by their clergy. The women retain their maiden name after their marriage; they perform the out-door work, bring the turf home in carts, and share in the labours of the field. The English language is everywhere spoken, except by some of the old people, and that only in ordinary conversation among themselves. The habitations are poor; the roofs without ceilings, formed of a few couples, and supported by two or three props, over which the boughs of trees not stripped of their leaves are laid crossways, and these are covered with turf and thatched with straw. A hole in the roof gives vent to the smoke; and the bare ground constitutes the floor and hearth. An iron pot, two or three stools, a course deal table, and a dresser with a few plates and dairy vessels, form the whole of the furniture: the stock of provisions is meal and potatoes. The house-leek is encouraged to grow on the thatch, from a notion that it is a preservative against fire: the peasants make their horses swim in some of the lakes on Garlick Sunday, the second Sunday in August, to preserve them in health during the remainder of the year.
Beggar's-Bridge of Westmeath
We can trace our Kehoe ancestors back to John Kehoe and Ann Conlan (also spelled Conlon), who married on July 12, 1856, at the Conlan farmhouse in Rochfort-Bridge, County Westmeath. In antiquity, the town was known as Beggar's-Bridge.
In 1837, Samuel Lewis, gave a brief description of Rochfort-Bridge:
Rochfort-Bridge, formerly called Beggar's-Bridge, a post-town, in the parish of Castlelost, barony of Fartullagh, County Westmeath, and province of Leinster, 7 plus miles (S.W.) from Kinnegad, on the road from Dublin to Athlone; containing 27 houses and 171 inhabitants. It is traditionally stated that this place derived its former name from the circumstance of a beggar having died here, in whose pockets was found money sufficient to build the bridge, which crosses a small stream at the eastern extremity of the village. It is a station of the constabulary police, and contains the parochial church and a National school.
An Gorta Mor at Beggar's-Bridge
The Great Famine, referred to by the Irish as An Gorta Mor, arrived at Beggar's-Bridge and elsewhere in Ireland in 1845, lasting for seven years -- only a few years before John Kehoe and Ann Conlan, married at the tenant farmhouse occupied by the Conlan family in Beggar's-Bridge.
The effects of the Famine were still being felt at the time of the John Kehoe and Ann Conlan marriage in 1856. The presence of the British Army's "food removal regiments" - the British 37th Regiment and the 7th Hussars, who were deployed to County Westmeath during the Famine, were facts that the Irish would never forget. The starvation coupled with British dominance, left human and political scars that helped lead to Irish Independence seven decades later.
Thomas John Kehoe I
On December 13, 1864, Ann (Conlan) Kehoe, gave birth to Thomas John Kehoe, in County Westmeath, Ireland. Only 23 years later, young Tom Kehoe, left his Irish homeland forever, sailing to America from the port of Queenstown (now called Cobh). The teenager set foot on American soil at Castle Garden in New York Harbor in 1887. The American journey of the Kehoe's had just begun.
Shortly after arriving in New York, the teenage farmer from Westmeath, found work managing horses. There were no automobiles in New York City at that time, but there were many horses and someone had to care for them and their stables. Tom Kehoe became a stableman.
A stableman's duties began early in the morning. He had to clean the horse's feed rack, place fresh hay inside the stable, give them fresh water and provide them with their main feed of oats.
Unfortunately, one of the important duties for a stableman was the job of cleaning manure from the horse stalls. The job was called 'mucking out' -- an unpleasant job, whether performed in Westmeath or Manhattan.
It didn't take the young Irish stableman Tom Kehoe long to become a naturalized United States citizen. On October 20, 1891, while residing at 238 W. 30th Street, in Manhattan, Tom Kehoe, stood inside the Superior Court in New York City, to take an oath to officially become an American citizen, stating, "I do solemnly swear, that I do absolutely and entirely renounce and abjure all allegiance and fidelity to every Foreign Prince, Potentate, State or Sovereignty whatsoever, - particularly to Victoria, Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, whose subject I have heretofore been; and that I will support the Constitution of the United States of America, - so help me God."
Tom Kehoe's neighbor, John Gray, of 237 W. 30th Street, Manhattan, stood beside the proud 26 year-old Tom Kehoe as his witness that day in 1891.
On Sunday, February 2, 1896, at age 27, Thomas John Kehoe, married 25 year-old Annie Lunney (also spelled Lunny), an immigrant from County Fermanagh, Ireland. They married at St. Columba Roman Catholic Church, located at 343 West 25th Street, in Manhattan. The Rev. Henry Pratt married the young Irish couple. James Flood and the bride's sister, Mary Lunney, were witnesses that day on West 25th in Manhattan. St. Columba's parish had been established in 1845.
The birth of Thomas John Kehoe II and the death of his mother, Annie (Lunney) Kehoe
In 1897, Annie (Lunney) Kehoe, gave birth to Richard Kehoe. In 1898, the following year, Annie gave birth to our ancestor, Thomas John Kehoe, who has been referred to by his descendants as Thomas John Kehoe II. Unfortunately, young Thomas, would grow up without his mother.
On Friday, February 15, 1901, Annie (Lunney) Kehoe, died suddenly at the age of 31. The cause of her death was chronic gastritis.
Annie, her husband Thomas and her two small children, Richard and Thomas, had been residing at 409 W 32d Street in Manhattan at the time of her death.
The Lunney's of County Fermanagh
The Lunney's came from the townland of Derrylin, town of Lisnaskea, County Fermanagh, Ireland. The town of Lisnaskea, is described in Samuel Lewis' 1837 Topographical Dictionary of Ireland, as follows:
Lisnaskea, or Lisneskea, a market and post-town, in the parish of Aghalurcher, barony of Magherastephana, county of Fermanagh, and province of Ulster, 9 miles (S.E.) from Enniskillen, and 71 (N.E.) from Dublin, on the road to Enniskillen; containing 89 houses and 430 inhabitants. It consists chiefly of comfortable houses and shops, and contains a handsome market-house, corn and butter stores, a savings' bank, and a large hotel. From its proximity to Lough Erne, which reaches to Lake Head, within a quarter of a mile of the town, great facility is afforded for the conveyance of corn butter, linen, and yarn, of which considerable quantities are supplied from the thickly inhabited islands on the lake, and sold in this market: it is stated that a short canal could be constructed at a moderate expense that would enable boats to come up to the town. The R.C. chapel, called the Moate Chapel, stands on a hill near the town; it was built in 1814, at an expense of about 700 pounds.
The town of Lisnaskea, sits inside County Fermanagh. The 1837 observation of the native Irish of Fermanagh, via the pen of Samuel Lewis, in 1837, reflected the feelings of the English ruling class. It is painful to read yet very entertaining two hundred years later. (A cottier is an Irish tenant who rented directly from the landowner, the rental price being fixed by public competition.) Samuel Lewis, had this to say about County Fermanagh:
The peasantry are a fine race, much superior in appearance to those of any of the other northern districts: they are tall, well formed, and robust: their countenances display the bloom of health, and they possess that uninterrupted flow of spirits which is the constant attendant on regular living and active, yet not overstrained, industry. Whether from habit or a natural propensity, the people do not rise until a late hour in the morning, and the cows are not milked until noon. The cottiers who dwell in the more retired and mountainous parts are poor, and their cabins are wretched huts, with a wattled door and a straw mat on the inside; many of the herdsmen, who are able to give their daughters a marriage portion of twenty pounds and a feather bed, live in these cabins. The lower classes have no confidence in physicians: when one is called in, the patient despairs of life; hence a dislike is entertained for the whole medical profession. Yet, notwithstanding the reluctance to spend money upon medicine, considerable sums are lavished on the wake which precedes internment.
Tom Lunney marries Rose Maguire in 1865
Annie Lunney is born in 1870
Thomas Lunney (also spelled Lunny) (1836 -- 1907), age 30 and 24 year-old Rose Anne Maguire (1840 -- 1912), married on February 5, 1865, at Knockninny Roman Catholic Chapel, in the parish of Derrylin, town of Enniskillen, County Fermanagh. The witnesses at the Lunney-Maguire wedding on that Sunday in 1865, were John O'Hara and Rose McManus. Five years later, on June 10, 1870, our ancestor, Annie Lunney, was born.
Tom Kehoe I remarries
Annie Lunney's untimely death in February of 1901, left 36 year-old Tom Kehoe to care for his two sons, ages 4 and 3. The stableman also had to work full-time caring for the horses that were in his care -- seven days a week.
In the 1800's, relationships and the constellation of families, were greatly influenced by the unforeseen deaths of caretakers. Those relationships were born out of necessity. Tom Kehoe had to remarry, and he did. Tom Kehoe, married Irish immigrant Bridget Horan, who was five years younger than he. Together, they added to their young Irish family. John Kehoe, half-brother to Richard and Thomas John Kehoe II, was born in 1905.
After Bridget Horan took over the reigns of the Kehoe household, it was obvious that she owed no allegiance to her two stepsons, our ancestor Tom Kehoe II and his older brother Richard. That disconnect ultimately showed its face after their father, Thomas Kehoe's death at the age of 49, in June of 1914. The widow Kehoe asked her two step-sons to leave. And that they did.
Annie Lunney's brother, Thomas Lunney, took his two nephews into the Lunney household. His own son, Thomas Lunney, was the same age as his first cousins, Richard and Thomas. They were "The Three Muskateers".
The three first cousins joined the United States Navy within weeks of the United States entering WWI, also known as The Great War, in April of 1917. President Woodrow Wilson had tried to keep the United States from joining the global conflict which started after the assassination of Austrian archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria on June 28, 1914. (See the 1917 photo of the three first cousins in full navy dress after their enlistment in the U.S. Navy. It can be found in the 'Family Photo History'.)
Two million American troops deployed overseas during WWI. By the time the fighting ceased, with an armistice at 11 a.m. on November 11, 1918, more than 115,000 Americans had perished. According to American historian George Kennan, WWI was the "great seminal catastrophe" of the 20th century. In November of 1918, much of Europe lay in shambles. The seeds of the next global conflict had also been sown. More of our ancestors would serve during the next global conflict, a conflict we now refer to as World War II.
The Navy connection was a significant one for the Kehoe/Lunney family. Thomas Lunney, of "The Three Muskateers", became the father of James Robert Lunney (1922 -- 2022), who himself joined the United States Navy. He served during WWII and the Korean War. His military and naval accomplishments earned him the promotion to Rear Admiral. In 1994 the Secretary of the Navy decorated Admiral Lunney with the Navy Distinquished Public Service Award -- the highest form of public service recognition bestowed by the Navy. Rear Admiral James Robert Lunney, passed away on March 11, 2022, in Bronxville, New York.
Thomas John Kehoe II marries Mary Cuddihy
On Saturday, February 3, 1923, Thomas John Kehoe II, married 21 year-old Mary Elizabeth Cuddihy. Associate Pastor, Fr. A.J. Donlan, married the young couple. Thomas Lunney, the grooms first cousin and Agnes Shields, stood with Tom and Mary as their witnesses that day.
Tom Kehoe, only 25 years of age, had been residing at 230 West 33rd Street in Manhattan. Mary Cuddihy, the 21 year-old daughter of James Cuddihy and Mary (Dunn) Cuddihy, had been living with her parents at 197 7th Avenue in Manhattan.
The location of the Kehoe-Cuddihy wedding was the monumental Church of St. Francis Xavier Roman Catholic Church, located at 30-36 West 16th Street, between Fifth Avenue and the Avenue of the Americas in the Flatiron District neighborhood of Manhattan. The church, which was dedicated on December 3, 1882 after four years of construction, was designed by Irish-born architect Patrick Charles Keely.
On July 12, 1856, John Kehoe married Ann Conlan in Beggar's Bridge. It would have been a simple wedding. The sting and destruction in the aftermath of An Gorta Mor was very strong. On that Saturday in July of 1856, it would have been unthinkable that their grandson, a young Irishman, Thomas John Kehoe II, would one day be married (on February 3, 1923), in the most magnificent church in the United States of America.
Thomas John Kehoe II and Mary Elizabeth Cuddihy, had five children: their son, Thomas John Kehoe III, our ancestor and four daughters: Regina, Patricia, Marie and Ursula.
The Cuddihy's and Dunn's of Kilkenny
Our ancestor, Mary Elizabeth Cuddihy, was born on April 22, 1902, the daughter of James Joseph Cuddihy and Mary (Dunn) Cuddihy. Three other children were born of the marriage: William Redmond Cuddihy (1903 -- 1979), Anne Cuddihy (1906 -- 1997) and James Joseph Cuddihy Jr. (1912 -- 1978). They all lived and raised families in New York.
After Mary Cuddihy's marriage to Tom Kehoe on February 3, 1923, until her death in March of 1976, Mary (Cuddihy) Kehoe, resided in the Bronx, on East 193rd Street.
Mary's father, James Joseph Cuddihy, was born on December 1, 1868 in Ballyragget, County Kilkenny, Ireland. At his baptism on December 3, 1868, the sponsors were John Kenny and Bridget Mansfield. James' parents were Michael Cuddihy and Mary Ann Mansfield. At the age of only thirteen, on April 28, 1882, James Cuddihy had stepped off the ship The Lake Champlain, onto American soil at Castle Garden, New York. James Joseph Cuddihy, resided in his adopted homeland for the next 68 years until his death on July 11, 1950. He is interred at Calvary Cemetery in Queens, New York, next to his wife, Mary (Dunn) Cuddihy.
Ballyragget, also known as Donoughmore, is a post-town and parish, that sits within the province of Leinster and the county of Kilkenny. Ballyragget, which is situated on the Nore River, is 8 miles northwest of the city of Kilkenny.
Our ancestor, Mary (Dunn) Cuddihy, was born in Freshford, County Kilkenny and baptized on the same day - February 14, 1871, the daughter of William Dunn and Honora Brenan. The Dunn's came from a small town called Castlecomer, "down the road from" Ballyragget and Freshford. Mary, was born only 26 months after the birth of her future husband, James Joseph Cuddihy. It is a certainty that the Cuddihy's and Dunn's of Kilkenny, socialized and worshiped together in Kilkenny, Ireland.
Mary Dunn, arrived in New York City on the City of Baltimore, on May 6, 1891. She married Jim Cuddihy just four years later, on October 8, 1895, at age 24, at All Saints Church in New York City. Mary (Dunn) Cuddihy, passed away on July 2, 1940, of a cerebral hemorrhage.
The U.S. Senator Mike Mansfield
Family oral history has always held that the late United States Senator Mike Mansfield, of Montana, is a cousin of ours through the Cuddihy-Kehoe line. Our common ancestry dates to the 19th century in Ballyragget, County Kilkenny, Ireland.
As noted above, Reese and Lula Niederpruem, Vivian and Quinn Kaylor and Allesandra Kaylor, are the great, great, great, great grandchildren of Michael Cuddihy and Mary Ann Mansfield of Ballyragget, County Kilkenny.
Mike Mansfield, son of Patrick and Josephine Mansfield, was born in New York City on March 16, 1903. Michael was three years of age when his mother died suddenly of pneumonia. His father brought Michael to live with an aunt and uncle in Great Falls Montana, before returning to work in New York City.
At the age of 14, Michael traveled to New York City to secure his father's permission to enlist in the military. Failing that, young Michael falsified his birth record. He thereafter served 3 wartime deployments in the United States Navy aboard the USS Minneapolis. He left the Navy to serve in the United States Army. After a one-year Army enlistment, Michael Mansfield, joined the United States Marine Corps.
Mike Mansfield, was elected to serve in the United States House of Representatives. In 1952, he was elected to the United States Senate, the same year Massachusetts sent John Fitzgerald Kennedy to the United States Senate. The two young Irishmen would become best friends. Mike Mansfield, became the longest-serving Senate Majority Leader in United States history - from 1961 to 1977, until Kentucky Senator Mitch McConnell, eclipsed Mike Mansfield's length of service in 2024. Mansfield's public service came to a close while serving as Ambassador to Japan under Presidents Jimmy Carter and Ronald Reagan.
Mansfield, passed away on October 5, 2001. He was laid to rest in Arlington National Cemetery. His tombstone simply reads "Michael Joseph Mansfield -- PVT, USS Marine Corps".
Author Don Oberdorfer, in his book entitled, The Extraordinary Life of a Great American Statesman and Diplomat, by Smithsonian Books, captured the soul of this Kehoe cousin like nobody ever has. In quoting Mansfield's grandniece at his funeral in October of 2001, she eloquently said, "If I could speak to Mike directly right now, on behalf of the family, I would say this: Mike, with all apologies and love, we cannot view you with the same degree of humility that you viewed yourself. You are a giant. Our hero. A colossus in the continuum of our nation's history. But you are also our Uncle Mike, whom we will mourn and miss."
Mike Mansfield, a Kehoe-cousin and descendant of Ballyragget, willingly entered a global conflict at age 14, before becoming one of the most influential and consequential Americans of the 20th Century.
Many of the 21st century American descendents of the Lunney's, Mansfield's and Kehoe's, have opined that coming from small Irish villages named Ballyraggett and Beggar's-Bridge, is like being part of a J.K.Rowling fantasy novel -- 'Harry Potter'. If only that were the case.
Thomas John Kehoe III
Thomas John Kehoe III, son of Thomas John Kehoe II and Mary (Cuddihy) Kehoe, was born in the Bronx, on October 2, 1923. Like so many of his generation, he enlisted in the United State Army at the age of 19. At the time of his enlistment, the Kehoe family was residing at 311 East 193 Street, in the Bronx, New York City.
Tom Kehoe, fought the German Army in the European theatre during World War II. He was wounded twice by enemy fire. He received two Purple Hearts in the global fight to liberate the countries of Europe -although Tom was actually wounded on three different occasions. Tom Kehoe, served with the 10th Mountain Division, as well as the 71st Infantry Division. He was also awarded the Bronze Star and the Combat Infantryman's Badge.
Tom Kehoe, was hospitalized in Europe. His injuries were so extensive, however, that he had to be flown back to America to spend many months at the Staten Island Halloran Hospital, recuperating from his war injuries and undergoing physical therapy.
On March 10, 1946, a photo of Tom Kehoe appeared on the front cover of the New York Tribune Magazine. The magazine cover shows the handsome twenty-three year old soldier, engaged in craft therapy with his hospital nurse during his rehabilitation at Halloran. (The front cover of the New York Herald Tribune Magazine from March 10, 1946, is shown in the accompanying 'Family Photo History' album.)
The 71st Combat Infantry Division
Tom Kehoe's military unit was the 71st Combat Infantry Division. Tom Kehoe, trained at Camp Carson in Colorado, before being sent to Hunter Ligget Military Reservation in the mountains inland from Big Sur, California. The division's next stop was Fort Benning, Georgia. It was their last stop before leaving for Europe and engaging in combat with the German Army.
The 71st, arrived at Le Havre, France on February 6, 1945. In March of 1945, the 71st moved east, ousting the German Army along the outer belts of the Siegfried Line and through the Rhineland. The Siegfried Line, was a system of pillboxes and strongpoints built along the German western frontier in the 1930's and greatly expanded in 1944 before Tom Kehoe and the 71st arrived.
By April, of 1945, the division had taken the German cities of Coburg, Bayreuth and Regensburg. By war's end, 13 weeks and 800 miles after the 71st first arrived in France, they had advanced further East than any other United State Army division in Europe.
May 4, 1945, was a day that seared the horror of war into the hearts of the soldiers serving in the 71st. On that day, those soldiers found themselves hopelessly unprepared to render aid to survivors of Nazi atrocities when they arrived at Gunskirchen Lager concentration camp in Lambach, Austria. When the 71st Infantry Division arrived at Gunskirchen on May 4, 1945, there were an estimated 15,000 prisoners still in the camp - mostly Jews from Hungary. The starving survivors more dead than alive, were sitting and lying among corpses of those who had already perished at the hands of the Nazis. They were described as "insane with hunger". Upon entry to Gunskirchen, the survivors crowded around to touch an American, to touch their jeep, to kiss the soldiers of the 71st -- "just to make sure it was true."
The 71st suffered total battle casualties of 1,114. Tom Kehoe, was one who survived death but who found himself one of the 843 wounded in action. Every soldier serving in the 71st suffered from Soldier's Heart by the time they returned home to the United States on March 1, 1946.
Aeschylus (525 BC -- 455 BC)
Aeschylus, referred to as the "Father of Greek Tragedy", was both a playwright and a Greek soldier. He fought in the pivotal battles against the mighty Persians, including at Marathon (490 BC). He authored the earliest recorded commentary on sending young men into battle and the reality of them not returning the same. That quote is as follows:
"They send forth men to battle, but no such men return; and home, to claim their welcome, come ashes in an urn."
Soldier's Heart
Over 2,350 years after the Battle of Marathon, there was a very descriptive term coined to define and to explain what happens to those who have fought and returned from battle as changed men. Some people refer to the change as Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder' or PTSD. Author Gary Paulsen, in his historical war novella entitled 'Soldier's Heart', would refer to it as damage to a warrior's soul. His book, about a Civil War Union Army soldier, was published by Dell Publishing.
For two centuries, many of our family members have received visible combat wounds. Not all wounds are visible, however. As Jimmy Lawton, often stated to his five sons during the height of the Vietnam conflict, "I watched my friends die in Germany hoping that if I ever had children, they would never enter combat, because if they did, their combat would never end".
It is obviously unknown how many of our descendants may one day be asked to serve in the time of military conflict. We do know that many of our ancestors have done so.
We know that Tim Ryan (1848-1926), Maggie (Ryan) Cashman's brother, served as a 'drummer boy' for the Union Army during the Civil War; Tim Ryan's nephew, John Henry Cashman (1897-1973), husband of Beatrice (Poudrier) Cashman, served with the United States Army on the front lines in France during WWI; Aileen (Kehoe) Kaylor's grandfather, Tom Kehoe II, along with his brother Richard Kehoe and their first cousin, Thomas Lunney, enlisted at the same time to serve in the United States Navy after America entered WWI on April 6, 1917; Fred Lawton (1893-1931), husband of Christine (Twohig) Lawton, also served during the 'The Great War'; James Burke (1896-1920), brother of Hannah (Burke) Clifford, died at the age of 24, in a U.S.P.H. facility in Boston, from injuries received in France during 'The War to End All Wars'; Mike Mansfield (1903-2001), a famous Kehoe cousin, entered WWI at the age of 14 using a falsified birth certificate. He served in the United States Navy, the Army and the United States Marine Corps. He'd eventually serve our country in the United States Senate, becoming one of our longest serving Majority Leaders; Marcus H. Moore, Jr. (1915 -- 2019), Dawn (Giel) Lawton's maternal grandfather, served in the United States Navy during WWII; John Henry Cashman (1921-1943), the oldest of the seven Cashman children, was killed in North Africa while under the command of General George Patton, fighting Rommel and the Germany Army. His body was never found; The blue-eyed 140 pound baby brother of Snub O'Leary, Timothy Leo O'Leary (1918 -- 1983), served in the Army's 741st Field Artillery Battalion, in Normandy, Northern France, the Rhineland and Central Europe during World War II; Snub and Timothy's brother, John Vincent O'Leary (1914 -- 1951), also served in the Army during WWII; Jimmy Lawton (1925-2007), Fred Lawton's son and grandfather of Army Ranger Tim Lawton, dropped out of Brockton High School to join the United States Army. At age 19, during "Operation Varsity", Jimmy parachuted behind enemy lines with the 17th Airborne Division, receiving extensive injuries in Munster, Germany. He received the Bronze Star and Purple Heart. He carried his wounds and physical disfigurement until the day he died; Thomas John Kehoe III (1923-2012), who also served in the war to liberate Europe, was shot in the upper body, received a Purple Heart and went back into battle only to be shot a second time, earning a second Purple Heart. He was also awarded the Bronze Star and the Combat Infantryman's Badge. He served with the combat-tested 71st Infantry Division. The six foot four inch Tom Kehoe, spent many months recuperating at the Halloran military hospital upon his return from Europe; Frederick Lawton (1923 -- 1980), older brother of Jimmy Lawton, served in the Army's Signal Corp during WWII, as did their sister Marguerite Lawton (1921 -- 2018), who served in the Marine Corps. It was Marguerite Lawton Ofria, who at age 94, cut the cake at the Marine Corps' 240th birthday celebration at the Boston Convention and Exhibition Center on November 13, 2015; Kehoe cousin, James Robert Lunney (1927 -- 2022), grandnephew of Annie (Lunney) Kehoe, enlisted in the Navy at age 17. He served in the South Pacific during World War II as well as during the Korean War, receiving the Navy Combat Action Ribbon, the Navy Commendation Medal and the Korean Service Medal with two stars, retiring as Rear Admiral J. Robert Lunney; William Michael O'Leary (1941 -- 2006), brother of Patricia (O'Leary) Lawton, served honorably in the early 1960's in the United States Army; William 'Bill' Giel, father of Dawn (Giel) Lawton, served in the United States Marine Corps during the Vietnam conflict, entering Parris Island on July 21, 1966 and becoming an instructor in combat infantry training at Camp Pendleton by 1967; Tim Lawton, grandson of Jimmy Lawton, a graduate of West Point and later a Captain in the 1st Ranger Battalion, served four tours of combat, two each in both Iraq and Afghanistan. While platoon leader with the Third Infantry Division and the 1st Ranger Battalion, he witnessed many of his soldiers die from IEDs -- improvised explosive devices; Rear Admiral Edward Cashman, grandson of John Henry Cashman (1897 -- 1973), assumed command for Joint Task Force Guantanamo, located in Cuba. He was charged with the care and custody of war detainees from the terrorist attacks on the United States on 9/11/11.
Every one of our ancestors knew the rare sense of brotherhood derived from service during battle. Henry Shakespeare, captured this emotion in his play Henry V, believed to have been written in 1599, in which King Henry V of England, seeks to inspire his troops to defeat the French in the Battle of Agincourt, by declaring:
We few, we happy few, we
band of brothers;/For he to-day
that sheds his blood with me/
Shall be my brother.
Army Veteran Tom Kehoe III marries Aileen Manning in 1947
Thrice-wounded WWII veteran Thomas John Kehoe III, married Aileen Manning, at St. Rose Lima Church, of Washington Heights, New York, on January 25, 1947. They were both 23 years of age.
Tom and Aileen Kehoe, were a young, dashing and accomplished couple -- and, very busy. Aileen, taught in New York City's public school for many years. Tom Kehoe, attended St. John's University Law School and served as a New York City Police Officer, before being appointed as an Associate Justice in the New York City Trial Court.
Tom and Aileen, had four children. The oldest of the Kehoe children was, Thomas John Kehoe IV, who was born on April 9, 1949. The second child was Vincent DePaul Kehoe, who was born on December 12, 1951. The third oldest was Aileen Marie, our ancestor, who was born on April 4, 1953. Their youngest child was Gregory William Kehoe, who was born on June 25, 1954.
The Kehoe's, lived in Riverdale, New York, before moving to Rockaway Beach, New York in 1960. It was during this time period that Tom Kehoe, the twice wounded Army World War II veteran, served as a justice in New York City's Trial Court.
Aileen (Manning) Kehoe, died on September 24, 2017, in Brooklyn, New York, just shy of her 93rd birthday. Judge Thomas John Kehoe III, predeceased her on June 30, 2012, at the age of eighty-eight.
Aileen Marie (Kehoe) Kaylor
Aileen Marie Kehoe, was born on April 4, 1953, at St. Vincent's Hospital in New York City. She was the third oldest of the four children born to WWII veteran and New York City Justice Thomas John Kehoe III and New York City school teacher Aileen Frances (Manning) Kehoe.
Aileen Kehoe, attended St. Brendan's High School in Brooklyn, New York. She then enrolled at the University of Dayton in Dayton, Ohio. August of 1975 was a turning point in the lives of both Aileen Marie Kehoe and Brian Kaylor, of Connecticut. While working for a company in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, Brian Kaylor would meet the 21 year old Aileen Marie Kehoe from New York City. He'd soon fall in love.
Brian and Aileen, temporarily left the State of Florida for Connecticut. They married on October 21, 1978, in Washington, Connecticut. Ron Schultz and his wife, Sandy Schultz, performed the duties of 'best man' and 'matron of honor.' The Kaylor wedding reception was held at the Curtis House in Woodbury, Connecticut, one of the oldest continually operating Inns in the United States.
The newlyweds returned to Florida, where Alieen (Kehoe) Kaylor, gave birth to Travis Manning Kaylor, on November 13, 1979, at the Broward General Hospital, in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida. Brooke Ashley Kaylor, was born on March 1, 1981, also at the Broward General Hospital. Ashley Marie Kaylor, was born on February 14, 1984, also at the Broward General.
Brian and Aileen Kaylor, moved back up North in 1984. Initially they moved in with Aileen's mother, Aileen Frances Kehoe, who was residing in the Belle Harbor neighborhood of Rockaway Beach, Queens County, New York City. While in Rockaway, young Travis Kaylor, attended kindergarten at PS (Public School) 114, which was located on 135th Street in Rockaway.
In the Spring of 1985, the Kaylor's moved back to Connecticut, purchasing a home at 76 Carter Road, in the town of Warren, Connecticut.
The youngest of the four Kaylor children, Brendan Andrew Kaylor, was born on January 29, 1987, at the New Milford Hospital, in New Milford, Connecticut.
Not long after arriving back in Connecticut, Brian Kaylor, decided to do what few people have the courage to do. He and his wife, Aileen, started their own business. It was 1991. Their business was very successful. That success and joy, however, came to a halt on March 13, 2004. Brian, fell at home, sustaining a traumatic brain injury. After a long heroic struggle, Brian Kaylor finally succumbed - on March 25, 2008.
The popular businessman and great grandson of Killorglin, County Kerry, Ireland, was only 60 years of age. His grandchildren would never have the opportunity to know him.
Aileen Kaylor, a great granddaughter of Beggar's-Bridge in County Westmeath; the daughter of an American war hero; the wife of a dashingly popular and successful businessman; the mother of four wonderful children, found herself at the age of 54, without her life partner. Aileen (Kehoe) Kaylor, dedicated the rest of her life to her four children and five grandchildren.
Aileen's siblings
Aileen's brother, Thomas John Kehoe IV, married Doreen Hydell in 1975. They had six children: Yvonne, Thomas John Kehoe V, Matthew, Veronica, Rebecca and Marielle. Aileen's brother Vincent DePaul Kehoe, commonly known as Vince, married Lisa Dapprich. The couple had two daughters: Meghan and Katherine, known as Kate. Brother Gregory William Kehoe, married Lonnie Marchibroda -- daughter of the NFL legend, Ted Marchibroda. They had one daughter, Elizabeth, known as Liz.
Gregory Kehoe: from paperboy to the prosecutor of war criminals
The youngest child of Tom Kehoe and Aileen (Manning) Kehoe, was Gregory William Kehoe. As a young boy, Gregory Kehoe (born in June of 1954) delivered the Brooklyn Eagle newspaper for the Long Island Press. At the time, the Kehoe's were residing at 135th Street in Rockaway, Queens County, New York.
Because of his days delivering newspapers, Gregory, was well known within his Belle Harbor neighborhood of Rockaway. Several decades later, Gregory's renown had spread well beyond Queens County. He enjoyed international celebrity.
In 1976, Gregory received his undergraduate degree from Boston College. By 1988, Gregory was being honored by the Federal Bar Association and the United States Department of Justice for his superior legal achievements. From 2007 to 2013, he was singled-out in the 'Super Lawyers Magazine'. His accolades were based upon his dramatic international accomplishments.
Greg Kehoe, prosecutions included some of history's most notorious war criminals. In 1996, Greg Kehoe, prosecuted former Bosnian Croat General Tihomir Blaskic, at the International Criminal Tribunal held in The Hague, Netherlands. Blaskic, had been indicted for crimes committed by troops under his command and in particular, for the brutal massacre of Muslim women and children. He also led a team of lawyers that advised the Iraqi Special Tribunal formed to prosecute Saddam Hussein and members of his former regime.
Greg Kehoe's ancestors, hailed from Beggar's-Bridge of County Westmeath and Ballyragget of County Kilkenny. During an entire millennium, there could be but only a few individuals from those ancient villages whose accomplishments would even come close to equaling those of Greg Kehoe's. However, Greg's father-in-law, Ted Marchibroda, may have created his own reputation for greatness, but within the American sports arena, a reputation that will be impossible to equal during any era.
Coach Ted Marchibroda
On January 16, 2016, in Weems, Virginia, America lost one of it's favorite and most admired coaches -- Ted Marchibroda. Theodore Joseph Marchibroda, was born on March 15, 1931. He was a college quarterback, married Henrietta Schossler and had four children, Lonnie Marchibroda being the oldest of his children. Lonnie, would marry Gregory William Kehoe.
Ted Marcibroda, played for the National Football League's Pittsburgh Steelers from 1953 to 1956 and the Chicago Cardinals in 1957. He was later the head coach of the Colts in two different cities and decades, first in Baltimore during the 1970's and then in Indianapolis during the 1990's. In 1996, he was hired as head coach of the Baltimore Ravens, becoming the only individual to serve as head coach with both of Baltimore's NFL teams. There were few people who were as influential in the creation of the NFL's popularity than Gregory Kehoe's father-in-law.