James KeefFe – King’s Shropshire Light Infantry, 1st Battalion

Serjeant James Keeffe – King’s Shropshire Light Infantry, 1st Battalion

James Keeffe was born in 1875 in County Cork, Ireland, the son of Cornelius Keefe and Jane Keefe. His early life in rural Cork remains largely unrecorded, but by adulthood he had entered military service, beginning a career that would span more than two decades and take him across Ireland and Wales.

Family Life in Ireland

The 1901 Census for Ireland records James living at Barrack Street, Templemore, County Tipperary, where he appears as a Lance Corporal serving with the Shropshire Regiment. He had already married Ellen Hussey, aged 27, and the couple were raising their young family. Their children — Ernest, 5; Edwin, 5; and Arthur, just one month old — reflect a household firmly rooted in the military community of Templemore.

A decade later, the 1911 Census for Ireland shows the Keeffe family residing at New Barracks, Fermoy Urban, another major military centre. James, now 36, was serving as a Corporal, while Ellen, aged 40, managed a large and growing family. Their children — Ernest, 15; Edwin, 12; Arthur, 11; Cecil, 7; George, 6; Gertrude, 8; Florence, 4; and Alice, 2 — present a vivid picture of a bustling barracks household, typical of long‑serving soldiers whose families moved with them from post to post.

Service Papers

Re‑enlistment and War Service

By September 1914, at the outbreak of the First World War, James re‑enlisted and returned to duty as a Serjeant with the King’s Shropshire Light Infantry, 1st Battalion. At this time, the family were living at Neath Road, placing them within the Swansea district as James resumed military service during the early mobilisation period.

Discharge and Death

In September 1915, James was discharged from the army as unfit for war service, his health having deteriorated during the first year of the conflict. Only weeks later, on 7 November 1915, he died. His death brought an end to a long military career that had begun in Ireland and concluded in Wales.

James Keeffe
Cwmgelli Cemetery, Swansea credit - findagrave

Burial

James Keeffe was laid to rest at Cwmgelli Cemetery, where he is commemorated among the early wartime burials of the First World War.