By the Bridge

The Swantons of County Cork,
Boston, MA and Brooklyn, NY


by Ginni Swanton


Anne Swanton and James Murray

In 1901, Anne Swanton was 18 and worked as a general domestic servant for the Kingston family in Enniskeane. Mary Kingston, 27, was the head of the family, and she had two daughters, Ada, 7, and Hilda, 1. Mary Kingston was a widow, and was of the Church of Ireland faith.

Mary Kingston was born in 1871. Her maiden name was Mary Wood, and her father was Richard Wood of Castlelands - just north of Enniskeane. She married her first cousin and ran the Post Office in Enniskeane until her death in 1926. Her daughter Ada took it over and ran it until her death in the 1970's. There is a family story that Hilda was dropped on her head when she was a baby and never fully recovered, dying at the age of 11 in 1911 .

In 1911, Annie Swanton was 27, and she worked as a domestic servant for the Nyhan family in Kinneigh. The Nyhan family was Catholic, and consisted of John, 79, a retired farmer, his wife, Anne, 78, their son John, 38, who now ran the farm, and their son, James, 46. The other family members were John’s wife, Mary, and their children, Con, 5, Denis, 4, Mary, 2, and Tom, 1 month.

On June 12,1920, at the age of 36, Anne Swanton married James Murray, a laborer from Palace Anne on June 12, 1920 in the Church of the Immaculate Conception in Enniskeane. They had at least one son, Patrick Murray. Patrick Murray married Maura Hart, and they had a son Noel and two daughters.

In 1998, Patrick and Maura Murray lived in the town of Enniskeane, next door to Thomas and Maura Bradfield, who are also related to me through my Bradfield line. Patrick, Maura, and their son, Noel, help Father Sean McCarthy out at the Church of the Immaculate Conception.

Anne’s daughter, Jane Good, married Patrick’s Murray’s brother.