Proof JFK’s granny ‘not from Cavan’

County Cavan is set to lose its little known linkage with one of the most famous of the 45 Presidents in American history - John Fitzgerald Kennedy.

The legend until now, that JFK's great-grandmother hailed from near Ballyconnell has been quashed by Fr Ultan McGoohan.
The cleric’s interest in the subject was piqued after the Director of Pastoral Services at the Kilmore Diocesan Centre in Cavan Town was appointed to take up the role of part time curate in Teemore back in 2016. The keen historian seized upon the opportunity to examine the lineage that connects JFK to the area, Rose Anna Cox, born circa 1835 and initially believed to be from Tomregan in the parish of Ballyconnell.
However, not content and sensing some historical inaccuracy afoot, Fr McGoohan’s research in conjunction with the Cavan Genealogy Centre found a Philip Cox, believed to have been Rose Anna's brother, connected to the parish of Knockninny. A double check of the Griffith's Land Valuations for 1862 also placed the Cox family in neighbouring Fermanagh, and more accurately as living in Tonymore West in the Parish of Teemore.
“The pieces all then began to fall into place after that,” Fr McGoohan told The Anglo-Celt this week.
The Carrigallen native most recently presented his findings to an historical society at the Aughakillymaude Centre, where he stated his case for records to be changed to reflect the latest findings. Among the first to be contacted by Fr McGoohan will be the Kennedy Visitor Centre at Dunganstown in Wexford.
The confusion over where Rose Anna descended from arises out of the change instigated by the Catholic Church in the late 18th century when it re-ordered some parishes with the result that a number of townlands were taken from Tomregan to form the new parish of Knockninny. Combining the areas of Derrylin and Teemore, among the townlands transferred were Tonymore West and Tonymore West where it’s now believed Rose Anna Cox was raised prior emigrating to Boston with husband John Francis Fitzgerald in 1863.
The ruins of the Cox family cottage in Toneymore are still to be seen on Hubert McCaffrey's farm, where Philip Cox was listed as a tenant farmer, leasing a substantial plot in association with a number of other tenants.
“That was obviously very exciting, a terrific find, that in itself created a great deal of interest locally with the family who owned the land, and who would have been directly connected with the Cox family,” says Fr McGoohan.
He is furthermore aghast that more was not done in Co Cavan to lay claim to the lineage with JFK in the past. “I think it’s incredible not more had been made of Rose Anna and the link between Cavan and JFK. This story is significant because it corrects that mistaken belief that Rose Anna Cox was a Cavan woman.
“She was now, we find, in fact, a Fermanagh woman. The discovery of the ruins of the Cox family homestead in Tonymore West in Teemore is also a great development,” said Fr McGoohan who now hopes too that the Kennedy family will be made aware of this new information in their family story.
“At some future date, it is hoped that members of the family will visit Fermanagh to appropriately honour Rosanna Cox and their Fermanagh roots. The attendant publicity will be a wonderful way to highlight the beauty of Fermanagh and attract more tourists to this scenic county,” continued Fr McGoohan.
If Co Cavan is to retain any claim whatsoever, it could still lie in a connection with Rose Anna’s mum, Mary Magauran/McGovern, who could hail from West Cavan.
“I don't think this story ends here. There is a lot more research to be done and now, thankfully, the interest has been revived in the subject.”