John McKeown
John Mc Keown was the third child and second son of Michael Mc Keown and Rose Rourke of Castletowncooley. He was baptised on Thursday the 6th of June 1833 in the parish of Carlingford South, presumably in the Church of St James at Grange, which is the parish church and dates from around 1760. John’s family had lived in the area for over a century before the time of his birth. A family headstone in Newtown Cemetery, Mountbagnall, was erected by a Michael Mc Keown in memory of his mother Mary Hanlon (1714-1785) and his father John (17111794). This couple may well have been John’s great-great-grandparents, though it has not been possible to trace the line back to them. John’s father Michael is listed in Griffith’s Valuation (1854) as the occupier of a house and lands in Castletowncooley which are still owned by the Mc Keown family today. Rose took over the lease on the lands when her husband Michael died and was succeeded in turn by her eldest son Patrick when she died in 1874. When John married in 1867 his occupation was recorded as farmer. It 97
