Brenan

Here are five markers with the name “Brenan” and, below each marker, the 1936 WPA documentation of the words inscribed. Note the WPA spelling error on the last two.

Brenan 1

Brenan2

Ellen Brenan Dovilliers

The markers of Charles, Daniel, and Ellen are close together.

Here are a couple of markers, close but not too close, male and female, with the same last name, Brenan. They are on the right, just inside the gate, and east of the Ursuline Nuns in the fenced area. Both markers were difficult to read but with some cleaning and with catching the sun at just the right angle, they have been deciphered.

Here are the WPA epitaphs, both of which have Brenan misspelled.

Mary S. Brenan, on the left, was a daughter of James and Mary Creyon (more later in a separate post on the Creyons), and died in 1877 at age 70. Thomas J. Brenan, on the right, was a son of Roger and Mary Brenan, and died in 1875, at age 43.

Given those dates, Thomas J. was about 25 years younger than Mary S. and they both died within a couple of years of each other, she about 70 and he in his early forties. Searches for information on parents James and Mary  Creyon and Roger and Mary Brenan led to dead ends. So, the exact family relationship between Mary S. and Thomas J., if any, remains an opportunity for research. Maybe they were in-laws, or maybe husband and wife, or maybe just friends.

Or, later thought, maybe Mary Creyon had married Roger Brenan and was the mother of Thomas J. Brenan.