Is this Patrick Malone 'ours'?

I knew ages ago that a Patrick Malone was buried in Darfield Catholic Cemetery, where my great-grandfather Patrick Riordan is also buried. But I never tried to find out any more about him, as I had no evidence he was related. Courtesy of electoral rolls, I know that my Malone grandmother Margaret, and two of her siblings, Bridget and Patrick, were at one stage all living on Patrick Riordan's farm in Charing Cross. But as far as I knew, they weren't related to the Patrick Malone resident in Darfield with his wife Ellen. 

However, I have recently discovered that the 'other' Malone family in Ballinadrideen had a child Patrick who was baptised in 1855 in Ballyhea Parish. And I haven't managed to find out any more about this Patrick in Ireland. So I decided it was worth trying to find out if he might be  related. It wouldn't be the first time I have found an unknown Irish relative living in 'proximity' in New Zealand. 

So what have I done so far? First I rechecked the cemetery listing for Darfield Catholic Cemetery, where there is a  headstone for "Ellen Malone 1863-1895,  Patrick Malone 1855-1949 RIP." 1855 is the right birth year for my 'lost' Patrick from Ballinadrideen.

I have had a bit of a poke around for more information about Patrick and Ellen. From Luke Howison's website I have found their 'intentions to marry' certificate in 1894 for the Roman Catholic Church in Darfield, with Ellen's maiden name given as Kearin.

By checking Archives via Family Search, I found there was a will for Ellen, written when she was close to death in 1895, where she left everything in trust for her children John, Margaret, May, Kate, Patrick and Timothy. The youngest, Timothy, was born in 1895, the year of her death. It would be interesting to follow up on the baptisms for these children, to see if any of them have a Riordan sponsor.

Just as an aside here, Ellen's name is not mentioned in her funeral notice: she is simply listed as Patrick's 'late wife'. When Patrick was buried with her many years later in 1948, when he was aged 93, he had a private interment.

So all this has been very interesting, but I am still no closer to working out whether this Patrick Malone who lived in Darfield was related to my Ballinadrideen Malones. I don't splash out the cash very often on a death registration printout, especially when there is doubt someone is even related, but I decided to order the death registration printout for Patrick. Chances are probably quite high when he is 93 at death that his parents will simply be recorded as 'unknown'- but if they are John and Mary, and his birthplace is somewhere close to Ballyhea Parish, then chances are higher that he is related. Time will tell. 

The other thing I have ordered, via NSZG certificates collection, is Ellen's death certificate- not that I really think I will learn much about Patrick from it, but it might fill out the picture. I'll keep you posted.