McQuirk family genealogy

William McQuirk was born in the county Meath, Ireland, about 1810. He was a carpenter at Conyngham Castle, on the Boyne River, near Slane. He married Miss Anderson, about 1830; and they emigrated to the United States about 1845, settling at Norwich, Connecticut. They brought with them Michael McQuirk, born in county Meath, in 1832; Mary McQuirk, born in 1836; and Elizabeth McQuirk, born in 1840.

Michael McQuirk married Anastasia Princely[1] at Norwich, Conn., in 1851; they have five living children: 1. Ellen-Agnes, born in 1853; 2. William, born in 1861; 3. Mary, born in 1863; 4. Elizabeth, born 1866; and 5. Richard, born in 1871. Ellen-Agnes, married Richard McCloud in 1870; Mary married James Duggan, at Norwich, Conn., in 1879. Duggan was born at Jewett City, Conn., about 10 miles from Norwich; his parents were natives of the county Kerry, Ireland. He is a wealthy druggist at Norwich, Ct., and with his wife has made two visits to Ireland and the Continent. They have one child—a son, Jeremiah, born in 1880. The other children of Michael McQuirk are unmarried.

Michael McQuirk is a carpenter and builder. He has built many of the churches and public buildings of Norwich, Ct., and thereabouts. He was superintendent of construction of the Custom House and Post Office at Little Rock, Arkansas (a United States Government appointment), from 1875 to 1880; and, afterwards, under the same appointment, at Fort Worth, and Galveston, Texas, and Charleston in South Carolina. He also has a record as an “Irish Nationalist.” He was a Whig; and, after the organization of the Republican party, a Republican.

Mary McQuirk married John Deniff, at Norwich, Ct., in 1858; they have (in 1888) two children,—daughters, unmarried. Deniff was a gardener, and is now a merchant at Norwich.

Elizabeth McQuirk married William Burke, at Norwich, in 1857, who is now (in 1888) a merchant at Norwich. They have living: 1. John Burke, born in 1860, a mechanic, unmarried; 2. Edward Burke, born in 1863, a graduate of Holy Cross College, Worcester, Mass., and now an Attorney-at-law at Norwich, Conn.; 3. Aggie Burke, born in 1866, unm.

Notes

[1] Princely: The Princelys went to the United States from the North of Ireland, and settled in New Jersey, about 1830. The oldest daughter, Anastasia, who married Michael McQuirk, was born in New Jersey about 1833. They moved to Leeds, State of Massachusetts, about 1840, with their children—four daughters and one son. The eldest daughter married one Cogan at Leeds, Mass. Next eldest daughter married Michael McQuirk, at Norwich, Conn. The youngest daughter married Charles L. Lyman, now a manufacturer of tables at Charlestown, Mass.; no children. The son, Henry, married a Miss Logue, at Norwich, Conn.; now (in 1888) lives there; and has five children. Logue went from North of Ireland, to Norwich, Conn., about 1848. Two daughters of Cogan—one 18 and the other 20 years old, and their mother, were drowned in the flood at Leeds, Mass., while home on a vacation, from the Northampton, Mass., Normal Seminary, qualifying as teachers. This flood is the subject of one of Boyle O’Reilly’s verses: “Collins’ Ride.” Their father, Cogan, had died previously. One other daughter, then 15 years old, was a student at the same Normal Seminary, but did not go home; she was left the only survivor of the family. She taught school, and in 1884 married a school-teacher of Boston, Mass., named Parker, where they now live. Another sister (Princely) married another Cogan, brother to this Cogan, and they went to Wisconsin (now Montello, Wis.) in 1856, where they now live. A daughter of this issue is now Postmistress of Montello, Wis. A son, John Cogan, is editor of a weekly newspaper at Rees Heights, Territory of Dakotah, and was a member of the Dakotah Legislature, in 1886. The Browns and Folkas of Norwich. Conn., are cousins of the Princelys, and went from Ireland to Norwich, Conn., in 1848 or 1850.