Timothy Burke Sr. (abt. 1785 - abt. 1846)

Born about 1785 in Ballyoughtera, Creagh, County Cork, Ireland

Husband of Margaret (Minihane) Burke — married before 1815 in County Cork, Ireland

Descendants

Died about 1846 at about age 61 in Ballyoughtera, Creagh, County Cork, Ireland

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Timothy Burke Sr. was born in Ireland.

Biography

Biography of Timothy BURKE of 1785

Timothy Burke was born about 1785 in County Cork, Ireland, probably in Ballyoughtera townland on Lough Hyne, in the rural areas surrounding the town of Skibbereen in west Cork. We don't know the names of his parents who would have been born about 1760, but Timothy named his oldest son Daniel Burke (born 1817) and his oldest daughter Mary Burke (born 1815), so those names are good possibilities, and if they are correct, his parents would be Daniel Burke born 1760 and his wife Mary Unknown born before 1770.

More research is necessary to see if these names could be his parent's names. We may have to wait until church funeral records are available for the Skibbereen area, or perhaps cemetery records or tombstones at Creagh Cemetery where the Burkes buried their dead. However, we think the father of Randal Burke is a Timothy Burke born about 1760, and who is closly related to the other Burkes, perhaps an uncle of this Timothy Burke and a brother of his father.

Timothy Burke, Sr. is probably the brother or cousin of Daniel Burke, born about 1785-1790 and Randal Burke, born about 1795, who also live in Ballyoughtera and are old enough to marry and have children between 1815-1825. Timothy Burke, Sr. and Daniel Burke both named their oldest sons Daniel, and both could be sons of a Daniel Burke who they are honoring in the naming of their sons. Randal, however, named his oldest son Timothy, born 1820, and we don't know if that means Randal had a different father, or that he wanted his son to have a different name than his cousins. Sometimes families did not want three living family members having the same name to avoid confusion.

Timothy Burke, Sr. might also be a sibling or cousin of his child's godmother Honora "Norry" Burke, born about 1800, This Norry is not the same Norry as Timothy Randal Burke's wife Honora Norry Donoghue Burke.

Timothy Burke was probably either a farmer or a fisherman and maybe both. The Burke family has been fishing on Lough Hyne since the 1600s, when they migrated down from County Galway, either about the time of the Battle of Kinsale in 1601, or after the Siege of Galway in 1652.

Timothy Burke married Margaret Minihane before 1815, and had several children, probably in Ballyoughtra townland on Loughine, All of his children were baptized in the Diocese of Cork and Ross in West Cork:

1. Mary Burke was born in Ballyoughtra , Creagh Civil Parish, County Cork, Ireland, in late March or early April of 1815, the daughter of Timothy Burke and Margaret Minihane of Ballyoughtera; Mary Burke was baptized on April 2, 1815 in the Roman Catholic Parish of Creagh and Sutton, Diocese of Skibbereen and Rath.. Mary Burke's baptismal sponsors were Florence Foley and Catherine Minihane. Catherine Minihane is likely Mary Burke's mother Margaret Minihane's sister.
2. Daniel Burke, born in late January or early February 1817 in Ballyoughtra, Creagh Civil Parish, County Cork, Ireland, the son of Timothy Burke and Margaret Minihane and baptized on February 2, 1817, in the Roman Catholic Church , in the Roman Catholic Parish of Creagh and Sutton, Diocese of Skibbereen and Rath. . HIs baptismal sponsors were Randal Burke (born 1795), probably his uncle, and Catherine Minihane, probably his aunt. Daniel may have married Catherine Donovan and if so, had a son Michael Burke who married Mary Twomey, and who passed away in 1910. These sponsors are likely at least 17 years old and perhaps older. Catherine is baptismal sponsor a second time and probably the sister of Margaret Minihane.
3. Honora Burke, born April 1818, in Ballyoughtra, daughter of Timothy Burke and Margaret Minihane, and baptized on April 30, 1818 in the Roman Catholic Parish of Creagh and Sutton, Diocese of Skibbereen and Rath. Her baptismal sponsors were Timothy Donovan and Mary Minihane. Honora Burke, is probably the same Honora Burke who married Denis Collins of Ballylinchy in Tullagh Civil Parish, had several children in the 1840s and early 1850s, including a daughter Honora Collins, born 1852, who married Bartholomew Collins and lived in Massachusetts, USA.
4. Randal Burke, born in 1822, in Ballyoughtra, Creagh Civil Parish, County Cork, Ireland, the son of Timothy Burke and Margaret Minihane, and baptized on May 19, 1822, in the Roman Catholic Parish of Creagh and Sutton, Diocese of Skibbereen and Rath.Randal Burke's baptismal sponsors were Daniel Daly and Mary Burke, but not necessarily his sister Mary who would only be seven years old in 1822.
5. Jane Burke, born 1824, in Ballyoughtra, Creagh Civil Parish, County Cork, Ireland, the daughter of Timothy Burke and Margaret Minihane. and baptized on June 20, 1824 in the Roman Catholic Parish of Creagh and Sutton, Diocese of Skibbereen and Rath. Jane Burke's baptismal sponsors are Randal "Randle" Burke and Honora "Honor" Burke
6. Timothy Burke, Jr., born in "Ballyoutrah" Ballyoughtra, Creagh Civil Parish, County Cork, Ireland in 1826, the son of Timothy Burke and Margaret Minihane, and baptized on August 13, 1826 in the Roman Catholic Parish of Creagh and Sutton, in the Diocese of Cork and Ross. Timothy Burke, Jr.'s baptismal sponsors are Jeremiah Burke and Mary Burchel. Baptism is recorded in the Parochial Area of Skibbereen for the RC parish of Creagh and Sullon, Timothy Burke, Jr. may have passed away in 1900 at age 74.

Timothy Burke, Sr. passed away sometime in the late 1830s or by 1840, before the Great Famine. His name is canceled out on the original 1840 Valuation of Ballyoughtera, and his wife Margaret's name replaces his in the handwritten record. The next valuations were taken after 1850, and records are not available for 1846-1849 for Ballyoughtera townland. Only handwritten House Book valuations for the early 1850s remain. Printed valuations were compiled in 1853 by Griffith.

1. Daniel Burke, Timothy Burke and Patrick Burke each have their own houses in Ballyoughtera on February 16, 1852, and perhaps each has a family.
2. These three Burke families could be Daniel Burke born 1817 and Timothy Burke born 1826, both sons of Timothy Burke, Sr. and Magaret Minihane. Patrick's birth date is unknown at this time. More research of church records is necessary. Usually the family of anyone named Patrick Burke is involved in the weaving trade in the 1800s.
3. It is possible "Timy" Burke, born 1844, was named for Timothy Burke, husband of Margaret Minihane. He would be too young to be the father of Randal Burke born 1860 and Randal's older siblings born in the 1850s, so he is NOT Timothy Randal Burke. He would also be too young to pay taxes in 1852 or 1853, but would have been old enough to marry in the 1860s if he survived that long.

Research Notes

1. Timothy Burke, Sr. who married Margaret Minihane named his first son Daniel in 1817.
2. Daniel Burke who married Ellen Keefe named his first son Daniel in 1815, and had Randal Burke as a baptismal sponsor/godfather for his son Daniel.
3. Randal Burke married Ellena Collins, named his first son Timothy, was widowed and then married Anne "Nancy" Keefe, and had addtional sons.
4. Timothy, Daniel and Randall Burke look like they are probably three brothers if not just cousins. Each would be born in the late 1700s, between 1780 and 1795.
5. We are not sure how many of these family members survived the Great Famine of 1845-1861, which killed thousands of people in Ireland, especially in the area around Skibbereen in County Cork. There is a Daniel Burke, age 18, his mother Anne Burke with whom he shares land, and a Timothy Burke, with separate leased property on the 1853 Griffith's Valuations for the area near Ballyoughtra.
6. We think that Timothy Burke, Sr. was not on Griffith's Valuations and we do not find Marageret Burke either.. We do not know if he died due to the effects of the famine, or had passed between 1829 and 1840 due to other causes. But his name is cancelled out on the original records of the 1840 Valutations which were taken a few years before Griffith's Valuations of 1853. There is a Timothy Burke on Griffith's Valuations, however, and we think it is the Timothy Burke born either 1818, 1820, 1825 or 1826, or it might be Timothy Randal Burke.
7. Several of the children of Timothy Burke, Sr. and Margaret Minihane Burke seem to have married into the Leahy family in the 1850s after Timothy Burke, Sr. had passed away. Margaret Burke and Joanna Leahy are sponsors. More research is necessary to verify this.

Information as researched by Sharon Centanne, Thursday, March 26, 2015, and updated Friday, June 5, 2020.

This profile is a collaborative work-in-progress. Can you contribute information or sources?

Sources

• Department of Arts, Heritage, Regional, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs, Irish Genealogy.ie (https://www.irishgenealogy.ie), Baptism, Marriage and Burial Results 1818 Roman Catholic Church Parish Baptismal Register for Skibbereen, # 1443, for Honora Burke, daughter of Timothy Burke and Margaret Minihane, April 30, 1818 - https://churchrecords.irishgenealogy.ie/churchrecords/display-pdf.jsp?pdfName=cork%20%26%20ross.skibbereen%20%28creagh%20and%20sullon%29.p4774.00235

• Department of Arts, Heritage, Regional, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs, Irish Genealogy.ie (https://www.irishgenealogy.ie), Baptism, Marriage and Burial Results 1826 Roman Catholic Church Parish Baptismal Register for Skibbereen,

1. for Timothy Burke, Jr., son of Timothy Burke and Margaret Minihane - August 13, 1826 - https://churchrecords.irishgenealogy.ie/churchrecords/display-pdf.jsp?pdfName=cork%20%26%20ross.skibbereen%20%28creagh%20and%20sullon%29.p4774.00344

• Department of Arts, Heritage, Regional, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs, Irish Genealogy.ie (https://www.irishgenealogy.ie), Baptism, Marriage and Burial Results - Baptismal Records for Mary Burke, daughter of Timothy Burke and Margaret Minihane -https://churchrecords.irishgenealogy.ie/churchrecords/details/4fb3190268233?b=https%3A%2F%2Fchurchrecords.irishgenealogy.ie%2Fchurchrecords%2Fsearch.jsp%3Fnamefm%3DMary%26namel%3DBurke%26exact%3Dtrue%26location%3DSkibbereen%26yyfrom%3D1800%26yyto%3D1845%26submit%3DSearch

• 1840 Valuations and Cancellations for Ballyoughtra - photo of original from Skibbereen Heritage Center.

• February 16, 1852 Index of House Book Valuations for Ballyoughtera townland, Creagh Civil Parish, County Cork, Ireland for Burke family - http://census.nationalarchives.ie/search/vob/results.jsp?surname=Burke&firstname=&year_from=&year_to=&dd_dd=&dd_mm=&dd_yyyy=&book=&county=Cork&barony=&parish=&townland=Ballyoughtera&last_name_other_or_lessor=&first_name_other_or_lessor=&search=Search

• Original February 16, 1852 House Book Valuations

1. for Daniel, Timothy and Patrick Burke of Ballyoughtera townland, Parish of Creagh - http://census.nationalarchives.ie/reels/vob/IRE_CENSUS_1821-51_007246788_00628.pdf
2. for Timothy, Catherine and Michael Burke of Ballyoughtera townland, Parish of Creagh - http://census.nationalarchives.ie/reels/vob/IRE_CENSUS_1821-51_007246788_00629.pdf