Updated January 24, 2023 confirming John Whalen immigrated to Canada with his family.
John Whalen was born in 1790 in Clonmore, Carlow, Ireland, the son of Patrick.
He married Bridget Doyle before 1812.
Bridget Doyle was born in 1790 in Clonmore, Carlow, Ireland, the daughter of Thomas and Mary Doyle.
They had eight children in 21 years.
- Patrick Whalen (1812-1896) married Catherine Madden (1818-1893)
- Thomas Whalen (1815-1900) married Margaret Coughlin (1818-1888)
- Daniel Whalen (1817-?) married Elizabeth Corcoran (1825-?)
- Anne Whalen (1819?-?)
- Bridgette Whalen (1821-?)
- John Whalen (1827-1892) married Teresa Corcoran (1829-1911)
- Peter Whalen (1829-1897) married Mary Quinn (1833-?)
- James Whalen (1833-1911) married Bridget Corcoran (1835-1904)
*Three Whalen brothers (Daniel, John and James) married three sisters (Elizabeth, Teresa and Bridget). This would have made their children double first cousins as they would have had the same genetic makeup on both sides and their children would share both sets of grandparents (whereas the usual cousin relationship only sees cousins sharing one set of grandparents).
No records of the family together exist on any known census, nor have I been able to identify birth or baptismal information or emigration paperwork online.
A newspaper article about the erection of a family monument suggests that John and Bridget immigrated with six of their sons to Canada during the Irish Potato Famine (the article doesn’t mention their daughters, nor does it clarify why John’s death date on the monument precedes the famine.)
There is a mention of a man named John Whalen from Carlow, Ireland (where it is believed our John is from) on the British Regimental Register of Service for Canada in the war of 1812, but it seems unlikely to be the same individual given the timing of the births of the first several of his children in Ireland.
Bridget died on February 22, 1860, in Stoco, Ontario, at the age of 70.
Main image: Gravestone, John and Bridget Whalen, Erinsville, Assumption Catholic Cemetery, Erinsville
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