Terence O'Rorke and Sarah Egan O'Rorke arrived from Liverpool in New York City on board the Richard Cobden, 18 September 1848. They are in Albany, N.Y. by 4 November 1848 when Sarah gives birth to a son, Michael Rourke. They have two more children in Albany, Elizabeth Ann and George. By 1853 the family is moves to Irishtown, Brooklyn with another couple Richard and Charlotte Despart. Richard Despart is Elizabeth Ann's godfather. Both Richard and Terence are malsters. I have tracked several Albany "Roukes" [various spelling] and Egans on the assumption that for the family F to move to Albany so quickly meant that there was family already living in Albany. Of the children, I know that two marry: Elizabeth Ann to Thomas O'Brien and Michael to Sarah Ann, unknown maiden name. Both Michael and Thomas work as glassblowers.
James O'Brien and Catherine Smith O'Brien arrive in the U.S. about 1850. They have two children born in the middle of the Great Hunger in Ireland: Catherine b. 1847 and Thomas b. 1849. They have three known children in Brooklyn: John b. 1854, Mary Ann b. 1856 and Rose b. 1858. They had a total of eight children, though only five are known. The only occupation for James is laborer. His son Thomas works as a glassblower. Rose marries a Riley; and Mary Ann marries a Gilgullin. Thomas marries Elizabeth Ann O'Rorke.
I have yet to uncover where the O'Brien family lives before coming to Brooklyn. Catherine Smith O'Brien has three sisters also in Brooklyn: Bridget, Anne, and Rose. Rose Smith marries John Lye. In the 1865 NYS Census, the O'Brien family is living in the same building as a Ann O'Brien and her mother, Jane Dargan. According to the census Jane Dargan was married twice and Ann was never married; this implies that Jane Dargan is a sister in law to James O'Brien.