Since we began this journey in 2020, I’ve stated that we believe the Keatings to have come from “Tipperary,” as it is one of the few locations specifically mentioned on Keating records. Even so, the definite origins of the Keating family largely remained a mystery. It certainly appears that the Keatings may have been in Tipperary for at least some time prior to leaving Ireland, but this does not answer the question of Edward Keating’s birthplace and longtime familial hometown.  I took a deeper dive into this issue by not only doing additional research of historical documentation related specifically to the Keating family, but also by studying the cultural significance of the Irish community in St. Louis – the town in which Keatings first appeared to settle, and through the use of my own DNA records and genetic matches. 

Keatings in Tipperary – Pre-Immigration

On the April,1850 ship passenger list, the Keating family includes a son, James, age 3. This means he would have been born around 1846 or 1847, depending on the month.  I have a baptism record for a James Keating, son of Edward and Honora, in May, 1846, Parish in Killaloe, Cloghjordan (Tipperary). 

The confusing thing about Ireland and its records (well, one of the many confusing things), is that Ireland has “civil” parishes and “Catholic” parishes, but the geographic boundaries of these two districting schemes do not align with one another. The Killaloe/Cloghjordan Catholic Parish overlaps with the following civil parishes: Ardcrony, Ballygibbon, Kilruane, and Modreeny. This means that if the James in the Killaloe/Cloghjordan Catholic parish records is our James Keating, we should at least expect that this particular Catholic parish has some geographic overlap with a civil parish that also has Keating records.

Edward Keating is James’ father.  Fortunately, “Edward” is not a particularly common male name in Ireland in the 1840’s.  This is extremely helpful when so many Irish names match one another. Edmond was a more common name.  James’ mother’s name – Honora – while not extremely uncommon, is luckily not as common as “Mary” or “Julia” or some of the other female names we see rampantly.  One of the few Ireland Property Valuation books that includes an Edward Keating in all of Ireland are those from 1845 for the civil parish of Modreeny:

            Given that (1) James was baptized in the Killaloe/CloughJordan Catholic Parish to parents Edward and Honora; (2) the catholic parish overlaps with the Modreeny civil parish; (3) Edward is an extremely uncommon Irish name and Honora isn’t terribly common, either; (4) an Edward lived in and owned property in Modreeny; and (5) did so in 1845, a period in which we might expect him to live there prior to his 1850’s departure from Ireland, there is a good chance that the James Keating baptism record is for our James Keating. But, this only provides us evidence of what we already suspected – which is that the Keatings’ last place of residence prior to coming to America was in County Tipperary. Given the lack of other background on this area, and the general absence of Keating families, I still had a suspicion that the Keatings moved to Tipperary to work and raise their family, but might have come from another part of Ireland originally.

DNA Data and County Kerry

I believe that the Keating’s actually came from County Kerry.  I have the DNA data for my father and I on both 23andMe and MyHeritage.  I know that my father’s mother’s mother’ side (Donovans) were from Kilcrohane, Cork.  I know the only Irish on my mom’s side was also from the same area in West Cork as my maternal grandmother’s Donovan’s side (Cork). 

Me >>> My dad >>> Margaret Keating >>> Albert Keating >>> parents Michael Keating and Elizabeth Guilfoyle

That narrows the Irish DNA for my father and me to two lines – the Keatings and the Guilfoyles. The Guilfoyle line is a mystery – it appears Albert’s wife’s parents came from Ireland and moved to Cincinnati, but that’s all we know. But at least we can narrow the Irish DNA links down to Donovans from Cork, Guilfoyles from unknown, and Keatings from unknown. As far as the DNA data is concerned, Both 23andMe and MyHeritage link my father and me first to Cork, and then second to Kerry, noting specific “DNA communities” in Cork and Kerry.  There is also much more of a cluster of DNA matches in Cork and Kerry, and it is more sparse in the Tipperary area. Based on the clusters of DNA matches we have in County Kerry alone, I suspected that Kerry may be the original birthplace of the Keatings, but that alone was not enough to be sure.

The Irish in St. Louis

The Keatings came from Ireland to America in 1850, but they did not go directly to Cincinnati.  Instead, they first went to St. Louis, Missouri.  Immigrants routinely ended up in parts of the country where their other relatives and/or people from their hometowns settled. They helped get each other jobs and housing, and collectively may have a common trade or skill that happens to be of use both in their town of origin, and in the American town in which they settled. 

Because of this, I thought it would be worthwhile to get a better understanding of the Irish immigrant population in St. Louis in the 1840’s and 1850’s.  Doing so might shed some light on why the Keatings ended up there.  I first looked up where the Keatings lived in St. Louis and found the following directory information:

1859 directory:

Keating Edward, stonecutter,r.residence Franklin avenue between 24^th and 25th

Keating John, stonecutter, rear Carr between 22d and 23d 

1860 directory:

Keating Edward, stonecutter, residencer. south sides. Wash between. 22d and 23d

Keating Edward E., stonecutter, boardsbds. 21 Morgan 

The Keating’s lived in the north/northwest side of St. Louis which apparently was called the, “Kerry Patch” due to the overwhelming amount of Irish from County Kerry who came to that area.  That area also had a stone quarry owned by the Sheehan family during the period that Keatings lived there.  Given that Edward was a stonecutter, perhaps that is what drew them there.

Compton and Dry’s Pictorial St. Louis (1876) shows the Sheehan quarries on the south side of St. Louis Avenue. This view is looking slightly northwest. After renumbering, 18th Street became 22nd Street. SOURCE: http://preservationresearch.com/north-st-louis/early-irish-influence-in-st-louis-place/

The Keatings and County Kerry, Revisited

As I stated earlier, I had a feeling that the Keatings may have come from County Kery, rather than County Tipperary, simply due to the number of DNA connections my father and I had to County Kerry.  Between that and the information on the Irish innSt. Louis, I thought it worthwhile to dig a little more into this theory.  When I started to look around at the distribution of the name “Keating” in Ireland generally, I found that there is a huge Keating cluster in the area of Cahersiveen, Kerry. 

I messaged one 23andMe DNA match of mine, John Murphy, who is Irish and who lives in Ireland.  I know I am linked to him on the Keating side based on our mutual matches and my family tree.  When I messed him, I didn’t mention County Kerry or Cahersiveen, but I did explain that we are linked by DNA on the Keating side.  I asked him if he knew how he was linked to Keating’s and what he knew about them. (I messed a number of Ireland DNA matches this same information, and this is the one that responded).

John Murphy responded and said that he is not sure how he is linked to the Keatings exactly, but:

I believe the Keatings are from Cahersiveen, related to the O’Neil’s of Sneem to the macElligotts of stack mountain, and Nora McElligott was my mother…

One of our only indications that the Keatings came from Tipperary, aside from the 1845 land records for Edward Keating, was a death record for his son John Keating that says he is from Tipperary.  I am guessing that John’s death record mentions Tipperary because perhaps he and his siblings were born there.  Maybe Edward and Honora went to Tipperary in search of work and to raise children, and that was the last place they lives before immigrating, though likely not their birthplace.  All things considered, it appears thus far that the Keating’s long-term origins are more likely in County Kerry, perhaps in Cahersiveen.

Edward M. Keating is the father of Michael and John Keating. Edward brought his children to the United States from Tipperary, Ireland, with his wife Honora in 1850. They settled in St. Louis, and then Honora passed away in 1862. Edward took his children to Cincinnati after his wife passed away. Their oldest daughter Mary stayed behind in St. Louis, and married into the McGahan family. This family is still in St. Louis today and some also follow this page.

Edward got remarried to Julia Green. Julia was a widow who had four of her own children, Cornelius, William, Jeremiah, and Maggie. Edward’s Last Will and Testament leaves to his second wife, whatever he is legally obligated to be left to a second wife with whom no issue (children) were had. He leaves the rest jointly to John and Michael. Edward wrote this will in 1884, and passed away in 1885. By that time, his oldest son Nicholas, also a stone carver like his father and brothers, had already passed away. The witnesses for the will are Krato F. Topp and Thomas F. Shay. A Cincinnati Directory from 1880 shows Krato to be a “law student” and Thomas to be a lawyer – so by the time this will was drafted, Edward likely hired a firm at which Krato and Thomas worked to draft the will.

Excerpts from 1880 Cincinnati Directory, witnesses to Keating will:

TRANSCRIPTION OF WILL:

Pleas at the courthouse in Cincinnati in the County of Hamilton and State of Ohio, of the Hamilton County Probate Court at a session thereof held at the place aforesaid on the Sixteenth day of March in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and eighty five before the Honorable Herman P. Goebel sole Judge of said Court.

Hamilton Probate Court.  Be it remembered that on the sixteenth day of March in the year of our Lord on thousand eighteen hundred and eighty five the last will and testament of Edward M Keating late of this County deceased was this day presented to the Court for Probate and Record clothed in the words and figures, to wit:

In the name of the benevolent Father of all; I Edward M. Keating of the City of Cincinnati County of Hamilton and State of Ohio do make and publish this my last will and testament. Item First  Realizing as I do the respective relations of my wife and children and wishing to do that which in my judgment is just and thereby give only to those that are worthy and deserving among them I have therefore after due deliberation concluded to devise my property herein after stipulated.

Item second, to my wife I give only that which the law provides a second wife where no issue has been born shall have. Item second to my beloved sons John and Michael Keating I give and bequeath all and singular my estate both real and personal and mixed absolutely and in fee simple.  Item 3^rd I do having revoked all former wills by me made. Item 4^th I do hereby nominate my son John and Michael Keating as my Executors and it is my request that they be required to give no bond. I do further request that no inventory or appraisement of my estate shall be made or required. In testimony whereof I have hereinto set my hand this 31^st day of January 1884. Edward M. Keating. Signed and acknowledged by said Edward M. Keating as his last will and testament in our presence and signed by us in his presence. Krato F. Topp, Thomas F. Shay, thereupon on the same day, Thomas F. Shay and Krato F. Topp the subscribing witnesses of the last will and testament of Edward M. Keating late of this County deceased appeared in our court and were duly sworn and examined according to law and their testimony therein was reduced to writing and filed in manner and form following to wit.

Restoration work on the Keating Dollhouse began in 2020. Mark Smith of Gravestone Transformations has been hard at work the past three years making the incremental changes that are necessary to keep the Keating Dollhouse standing for another 150 years. 

 The first step was to clean the exterior of the dollhouse with D2 solution and to stabilize and tuckpoint the limestone and marble foundation. He then cleaned out the loose sandstone debris within the inside of the dollhouse, and realized the extent of deterioration – “spalling” of the interior walls of the house.  This deterioration placed the monument in danger of caving in on itself after having grown very thin over the past 150 years. Unfortunately, he could not simply apply the necessary masonry materials to stabilize it – the crumbling sandstone first needed moisture removed.

Signs were placed outside of the dollhouse asking people to not place items inside of it. Items that retain moisture are particularly troublesome in that they create a haven for moisture and condensation to linger for extended periods within the house, thus exacerbating the interior deterioration that has occurred over time. It took many, many months, with numerous applications, but Mark was eventually able to draw enough moisture out of the interior of the walls to apply the materials needed to stabilize the dollhouse. This occurred around fall, 2022.

After a long rainy spring, Mark return these past couple weeks to add some additional materials inside a couple of the windows and to add the new wooden floors.  The wooden floors placed in the little house by its creators, Michael and John Keating, were badly deteriorated and had unseated from the track that held them long ago. The little house has regained significant structural stability and is starting to look a bit like it would have when the Keating brothers installed it so long ago.

Additional work remains, including a repair of the corner of the roof that was likely broken some time in the 1980s or 1990’s by heavy equipment or a fallen tree.  Thank you to everyone who has donated and followed the “little house” in its restoration these past three and a half years!

If you would like to contribute to the Keating Dollhouse restoration, you can contribute directly to the restorationist’s company, Gravestone Transformations (Mark Smith) via the link below. Scroll down to the donation form and click on the checkbox next to “I would like to designate this donation to a specific fund.”

A dropdown menu will pop up. Keating Dollhouse is one of the options. If you would prefer to make a contribution via paper check, please send us a message here on this website, on Facebook, or email us at keatingdollhouse@gmail.com and you will be provided the proper mailing instructions. Thank you!

https://gravestonetransformations.com/donate/

Our cemetery memorial expert Mark Smith of Gravestone Transformations has been hard at work restoring the little house.  In early 2021 he discovered that the “spalling” occurring on the inside walls of the house was increasing – likely due to the moisture held on the interior of the house, particularly when softer object are placed inside. 

As a result, we placed signs at the memorial asking for objects to not be placed in the house.  Mark visited many times over many months to undertake the slow process of removing moisture from the sandstone interior, to prep it for the work necessary to stabilize the walls.  This is a process that works slowly over time and took many steps.  The walls on the two engraved sides had become very thin and likely wouldn’t have lasted too much longer without the steps taken to remove the moisture from the stone and apply the materials needed to thicken the walls and make the house more structurally sound.

After many trips, Mark was able to stabilize the interior of the dollhouse walls – the photos are included.  At this point, there is still much to be done on the little house, and additional work will continue in the spring! Thank you to everyone who has generously contributed to the roughly $4000 + cost of this restoration.  As you can see in past posts, the house first received a cleaning with D2 solution and the foundation of the house was stabilized and re-tuckpointed.  This began in 2020.  It has been a long road, and we appreciate the amazing and special skill is has taken on part of our restorationist to execute this difficult task.

Once the restoration is completed, we hope to possibly replace the cross that sat atop the roof of the house that was lost somewhere along the way, and we also hope to place a bronze plaque on the dollhouse base that marks the estimated date of origin of the house, the restoration date, and the names and birth/death dates of the nine family members whose graves at the Keating Dollhouse site remained unmarked.

If you would like to contribute to the Keating Dollhouse restoration, you can contribute directly to the restorationist’s company, Gravestone Transformations (Mark Smith) via the link below. Scroll down to the donation form and click on the checkbox next to “I would like to designate this donation to a specific fund.”

A dropdown menu will pop up. Keating Dollhouse is one of the options. If you would prefer to make a contribution via paper check, please send us a message here on this website, on Facebook, or email us at keatingdollhouse@gmail.com and you will be provided the proper mailing instructions. Thank you!

https://gravestonetransformations.com/donate/

Contributed by Patrick Gerbus, descendant of John Keating and grandson of Ethel Keathing Gerbus

Ethel Keating Gerbus is John Keating’s granddaughter through his son Nicholas E. Keating, Sr. She was born in 1909 in Cincinnati, Ohio, and passed away in 2011 in Los Angeles, California. She typed this history of what she called the “Little House” around 1993.

If you would like to contribute to the Keating Dollhouse restoration, you can contribute directly to the restorationist’s company, Gravestone Transformations (Mark Smith) via the link below. Scroll down to the donation form and click on the checkbox next to “I would like to designate this donation to a specific fund.”

A dropdown menu will pop up. Keating Dollhouse is one of the options. If you would prefer to make a contribution via paper check, please send us a message here on this website, on Facebook, or email us at keatingdollhouse@gmail.com and you will be provided the proper mailing instructions. Thank you!

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Contributed by: Patrick Gerbus, descendant of John Keating

The poem inscribed on the side of the Keating Dollhouse is as heartwrenching as the monument itself. It appears to be the shortened version of an elegy for infants published around same time. A page of elegies that might be used for a variety of people, including the Dollhouse poem, was mistakenly left in an edition of a May 1877 edition of the New England Journal of Education which was then fortuitously digitized by Google. The original reads:

One more lamb now sweetly sleeping,

One dear one has left earth’s shore;

Sadly now still watch we’re keeping

Where we’ll greet it never more.

One by one the leaves are falling,

Fading, falling, day by day.

And in silence heaven is calling

One by one, our lambs away.

              As previously noted, several children are buried at the Keating plot but are not memorialized on the dollhouse itself.  This included John’s son, William Keating.  An October 13, 1880 obituary for William (“Willie”) Keating published in the Cincinnati Enquirer includes an additional passage that is not found on the dollhouse.

If you would like to contribute to the Keating Dollhouse restoration, you can contribute directly to the restorationist’s company, Gravestone Transformations (Mark Smith) via the link below. Scroll down to the donation form and click on the checkbox next to “I would like to designate this donation to a specific fund.”

A dropdown menu will pop up. Keating Dollhouse is one of the options. If you would prefer to make a contribution via paper check, please send us a message here on this website, on Facebook, or email us at keatingdollhouse@gmail.com and you will be provided the proper mailing instructions. Thank you!

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            There are three children commemorated on the Keating Dollhouse itself, but there are eight children buried there.  Many people have asked about the cause of death of the children.  A recent search of the University of Cincinnati Library’s Cincinnati birth and death records collection, 1865-1912, yielded some useful information. The records are accessible here. This database includes the death records for six of the eight children buried at the Keating Dollhouse.

If you would like to contribute to the Keating Dollhouse restoration, you can contribute directly to the restorationist’s company, Gravestone Transformations (Mark Smith) via the link below. Scroll down to the donation form and click on the checkbox next to “I would like to designate this donation to a specific fund.”

A dropdown menu will pop up. Keating Dollhouse is one of the options. If you would prefer to make a contribution via paper check, please send us a message here on this website, on Facebook, or email us at keatingdollhouse@gmail.com and you will be provided the proper mailing instructions. Thank you!

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Contributor: Patrick Gerbus, descendant of John Keating

My grandmother was John Keating’s granddaughter and took special interest in what she called the “Little House”. She notes that it originally had real windows, tiny furniture, and front steps that were all gone by 40-50 years ago. Her pictures from the 1970s or 80s also showed a cross atop the house. I look forward to the restoration of John and Michael Keatings’ loving work.

If you would like to contribute to the Keating Dollhouse restoration, you can contribute directly to the restorationist’s company, Gravestone Transformations (Mark Smith) via the link below. Scroll down to the donation form and click on the checkbox next to “I would like to designate this donation to a specific fund.”

A dropdown menu will pop up. Keating Dollhouse is one of the options. If you would prefer to make a contribution via paper check, please send us a message here on this website, on Facebook, or email us at keatingdollhouse@gmail.com and you will be provided the proper mailing instructions. Thank you!

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              One of the most notable characteristics of the Keating Dollhouse is its warm color.  Amidst a sea of mid to late-1800’s monuments made primarily out of the cool-toned white Vermont marble, the Dollhouse’s warm sandstone stands out. Due to the limitations on transportability of stone in the early 1800’s, monuments were most often made out of locally-sourced materials. The construction of railroads connecting freight routes to Cincinnati in the 1850s and 1860s allowed for the importing of marble from the eastern part of the country.  Marble quickly became a more popular material for use on gravestones at that time, as is evident when you look around the section of late 1800’s gravestones in which the Dollhouse is located.

While sandstone fell out of favor for use on gravestone monuments during the second half of the 19^th century, it continued to be a popular material for use on Cincinnati buildings and decorative wrought-iron fence pillars.  Cincinnati buildings of the era were often constructed with “Buena Vista” sandstone from northern Ohio.  This stone was also referred to as, “freestone”.   Nobody can say for certain why John Keating chose to use sandstone for the Dollhouse, but it is likely because of his familiarity with this material in his line of work.  Around the time of the construction of the dollhouse, John worked for the J. Humble and Company stonecutters. J. Humble and Company was specifically in the “freestone business.”  J. Humble (and presumably, those who worked for him such as John Keating) are responsible for the artistic stone carvings found on the since-demolished Covington City Building and the Cincinnati Post office.

The roof of the Dollhouse is also made of sandstone, dyed black with an unknown substance.  Mark Smith, the gravestone conservator that has been reviewing the monument for restoration, mentioned that it is likely some kind of black vegetable dye.

The base is constructed of two rows of limestone on the bottom, and a slab of carved marble upon which the dollhouse sits.  Limestone was commonly used in the Cincinnati area at that time – it can be found on the Roebling Suspension bridge and many of the City’s older retaining walls. 

The interior floor of the dollhouse is made of wood.  The wood dividing the first and second floors of the house is falling apart.  There is a carved channel within which the wood floor sits.  The first floor of the house is missing, but there is also an identical carved channel along that floor – suggesting that both levels originally had a wood floor.

It is evident that John Keating worked extensively with freestone/sandstone stone carving for buildings built throughout the Cincinnati area in the 1860’s and 1870’s. Hopefully further research will reveal some buildings or fences that are still standing that are the work of John Keating or his brothers.

If you would like to contribute to the Keating Dollhouse restoration, you can contribute directly to the restorationist’s company, Gravestone Transformations (Mark Smith) via the link below. Scroll down to the donation form and click on the checkbox next to “I would like to designate this donation to a specific fund.”

A dropdown menu will pop up. Keating Dollhouse is one of the options. If you would prefer to make a contribution via paper check, please send us a message here on this website, on Facebook, or email us at keatingdollhouse@gmail.com and you will be provided the proper mailing instructions. Thank you!

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People who take interest in the “Little House” have, no doubt, become familiar with the three names on it – Mary Agnes, Mary Julia, and Eddie.  In addition to the inscriptions on the dollhouse, there are five headstones surrounding the dollhouse which mark the graves of Michael Keating, his wife Lizzie (it says “Mother”), Michael’s daughter Blanche, Michael’s grandson Albert Schneider and his wife, Evelyn. 

The entire “Keating Plot” on which the dollhouse is located includes many burials of adults and children from the Keating family. As noted by John Keating’s great great grandson, Patrick Gerbus, the cemetery card for the dollhouse plot shows that it was purchased on June 4, 1869 by “J & M” – John and Michael.  Date of interment for John’s daughter, Mary Julia, is listed as June 4, 1869. 

Interment for Michael’s daughter, Mary Agnes, is shown as February 3, 1876.  Both girls are shown in cemetery records to have been buried at SEP (Southeast Plat), not the house.  Interment of the third child marked on the dollhouse, Eddie, is shown as April 20, 1876 and it is shown as being at the dollhouse plot location. It is not clear exactly what year the Keatings built the house, but it seems apparent that John and Michael – both stonecutters – and joint purchasers of the plot – may have decided together to construct the house for their children and possibly moved the Mary Agnes and Mary Julia there upon its completion. 

As mentioned, these three children are not the only Keating family members buried at the plot. All in all, John and Michael Keating’s dollhouse plot is the burial site of 17 family members – including eight children. Some graves are marked by flat headstones, and many are unmarked.

In addition to losing his daughter Mary Julia in 1869 and Eddie in 1876, John also lost another son – William, who died in 1880 at three years and one month.  Michael’s daughter Mary Agnes who passed in 1876 is commemorated on the dollhouse.  He and Lizzie lost their son James in 1891, at the age of 13.  The Keating brothers had an older brother, Nicholas, who was also a stone cutter.  Nicholas passed away in 1873.  His daughter Maggie died at age 15, in 1881 and she is buried at the dollhouse. 

              John’s sister-in-law, Anna (McCarren) Wagner, lost her daughter Mary in 1900, at the age of three years and one month.  She is also buried at the dollhouse.  And finally, John Keating’s granddaughter Anna – the daughter of his son Nicholas Keating – is buried there.  She died in 1908 at the age of 7 weeks, and is the baby sister referred to in Ethel Gerbus’s account of the Little House in a previous post. 

              In addition to the eight children buried at the site and the five adults whose gravestones are marked, there are an additional four adults buried at the dollhouse who have no grave marker.  They include:

• The family patriarch, Edward Keating, 1818 to 1885
• John Keating, 1845 to 1901
• John’s wife Ellen McCarren, 1849 to 1905
• Bridget Keating, Edward’s daughter (and sister to Michael, John and Nicholas), 1861 to 1909

There is no way to know why some family members’ graves were marked, while others were not.  Part of what we hope to accomplish in restoring the Keating Dollhouse is to include a placard on the site with information about the dollhouse.  One idea is to include the names of the unmarked Keating graves on the placard.  We will fundraise for this addition to the Keating Dollhouse after its restoration is completed.

If you would like to contribute to the Keating Dollhouse restoration, you can contribute directly to the restorationist’s company, Gravestone Transformations (Mark Smith) via the link below. Scroll down to the donation form and click on the checkbox next to “I would like to designate this donation to a specific fund.”

A dropdown menu will pop up. Keating Dollhouse is one of the options. If you would prefer to make a contribution via paper check, please send us a message here on this website, on Facebook, or email us at keatingdollhouse@gmail.com and you will be provided the proper mailing instructions. Thank you!

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