The newly married Rev Burke needed a new position in the church. In March 1862 the Incumbency of Castlejordan, Co. Meath became vacant, he either applied or was recommended for the job. He got the position. The Incumbency paid £250 (€15,000) per annum, not very much for a family to live on but it was a new beginning for the Rev Burke.
The Rev. Thomas Marshal, A. M., has been appointed to the Union of Tryvett, in the Diocese of Meath (net value, £250), in the room of the late Rev. T. H. Barton. Patron the Crown. Mr Marshal vacates Incumbency of Castlejordan, in the same diocese.
By mid 1862 he was attending to the parishioners of Castlejordan. His first ceremony in the parish was the burial of Mr Michael Gill aged 70 years on 17th September 1862. His wife Emily, son William and their new baby joined him a year later. It seemed that he had left his past and the persecution, suffered by religious converts, behind in the West of Ireland, but it did not take too long for it to follow him in his new life.
The ruin of the Church at Castlejordan, Co. Kildare where Emily’s father was Incumbent