Mary Ann McIlroy was from the Toomebridge Area of Lough Neagh. Cargin Chapel, which is located to the east of Toomebridge, was the location of her parish church. Mary moved to Springwell Street in Ballymena in the 1880's where she worked until she emigrated to Philadelphia, PA USA in 1884. There she married James O'Kane of either Derry or Antrim, Northern Ireland, They may have known one another in Ballymena.
The surnames "Rea" and "McLernon" seem to have a relation to Mary McIlroy. She stayed with two aunts in Ballymena named Rea, two of the godparents of her children were daughters of Sarah Rea (married to Felix McLernon of Millquarter), and a "step-brother" or cousin named "Nathaniel Marks" had a mother named "Mary Rea".
Mary and James had nine children in the Kensington section of Philadelphia (Mary, Lizzie, James, Ellen, Edward, Jane, Walter, Isabella and William). Most of her daughters worked in the textile mills in Kensington, so we presume Mary McIlroy did the same at the Braid mill in Ballymena.
My wife and I visited Our Lady of Lourdes Church in Moneyglass to glance at the baptismal records only to find that the page of Mary's birth/baptism was missing from the book. It was interesting, however, that on the previous page, in April of 1865, Jane Rea received adult baptism into the Catholic Church at Duneane. The death certificate of Mary McIlroy states that her father's name was William McIlroy. There are however no other documents available to confirm that connection.
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| Date of Birth | 1st Mar 1866 | |
| Date of Death | 22nd Dec 1941 | |
