At this stage, I don't know if there is a connection. I don't know my Thomas O'BRIEN's parents names. All that I know is he was born in Claremorris, County Mayo, Ireland around December 24, 1850 (he may have been born a few years earlier, in the late 1840s). He married Mary Ann COONEY in England and emigrated to Fall River MA around 1885. The ship he came over on docked in Boston. Thomas was naturalized in Fall River in October of 1890. This is about all I know about Thomas O'Brien -- sorry I couldn't be of more help.