Cookes of Kilmacow

My Grandmother on my mothers side was Bridget Cooke, she was born in Narrabane, Kilmacow, county Kilkenny. She was the third eldest of eleven children born to John Cooke and Joanna Kelter. She is seen as a toddler in the 1901 census in Narabane, but is seen as a servant in a house in nearby Aglish in the 1911 census. She met my grandfather who was a civil servant at the time, around 1924. They married and lived in Waterford city. They had three daughters, but in 1929, Michael, her husband died, leaving her alone with the kids, Bridget moved back to Narrabane, but things just didn’t work out, and as with alot of single mothers at the time, the children were taken and put into convents, and bridget moved away to Britain, she ended up in Bournemouth, where she married again. After she left the children she did not see them until the late forties, when she became ill and wanted to see them before she passed away, for a short period she caught up with her daughters, who all lived in London by this time, shortly after she died.

Bridget had eleven siblings:

Name	DOB	DOD
Bridget	Abt 1896	November 1948, Bournemouth,
Patrick	Abt 1898	1967 Thomastown
Ellen	Abt 1899
James	Abt 1900
John	Abt 1902
Thomas	Abt 1904
Andrew	Abt 1905
Margarette	Abt 1906
Josephine	Abt 1906
Mary	Abt 1893
Catherine	Abt 1895

I know a little bit about this group, but could definitely know more. Firstly I have an obituary for Patrick, or paddy:

“Mr Patrick Cooke of Narabane died at St Colomas hospital, Thomastown age 68, in his youth started his career in kilmacow cooperative creamery where his late father john Cooke had the contract of transporting butter to Waterford city, prior to the advent of the lorry. In 1918 he joined the great southern and western railway with service at Rosslare. When things got slack, during the Anglo Irish war, he left and entered the Free State army after the treaty. in an engagement with republican forces at the time of the civil war, he was severely wounded in an ambush in county Wexford and spent a considerable time in hospital being subsequently partially incapacitated and unable to assume employment due to his disability however, paddy as he was more popularly known, never lost his smile and always had a keen sense of humour up to the end, though he had been in hospital in Thomastown for some years, the end nevertheless came unexpectedly.  as he was confined to bed for only a few weeks, his demise was unexpected by his many friends he was husband to Winifred who was a native of Gowran and fathers of Messrs john Cooke of Foxrock Dublin accountant of the staff of first city bank Dublin, James Cooke, Rathmines attached to the county staff of the irish times, Senan Cooke of the staff of Waterford glass, and former all Ireland minor hurler Canice Cooke Narabane, Mrs Phyllis Cooke, Cabra, Joan Pugh, Middlesex, internment took place at Kilmacow cemetery, Waterford good Friday morning with prayer in the church and at the graveside being recited by the reverend cannon Dunne.

Flowers placed at grave by wife and family, with deepest sympathy from John, Avril and family, his loving daughter Joan, David and family from Mark and Eva with deepest regrets from the edge cutting department of Waterford crystal.”

I was told by my mother that he lost his leg in an incident during the civil war. The thing about alot of the information I have on these people is what my mother and her sisters have told me in the past. It was only in the late 80’s that they decided to go back to Ireland and start tracing their uncles and aunts and cousins, they were successful, and so the information I have is got from online information, a small amount of contact with the cookes, and information from my mum and aunts.

It says in the obit that joan pugh lived in Middlesex but she did in fact move back to Narrabane. Andrew Cooke is another one that I have heard a little about. He was in the Royal Navy for a long time, he served in the second world war, and I have been told that he received an OBE for his services, i was also told that he lost an arm in an attack in the north atlantic. Another brother, Thomas, was killed in the second world war. As for the rest of the siblings, I know little. I have a picture below, which i published of Pierce Cooke, who was also killed in WW2. I will gather more info in the future.

One thing I do have though is plenty of pictures, so maybe people can fill me in on information, and as I always say on every blog, please feel free to offer any advice on how I can improve this blog, as the information I put down may be a little skewed, and I like to get it right.

Bridget Cooke

Thomas Cooke

Pierce Cooke

Andrew Cooke

Andrew Cooke

Andrew and John Cooke

andrew and paddy cooke

lady lane, waterford in the 1970's

bridget, ellen, mary and josephine cooke c1908

bridget cooke shortly before she died