Hello, my name is Pat O'Brien and l live in Ireland
My family are decendents of David Carden born in Ballina Co. Mayo. You can research the Cardens in the 1901 and 1911 Census's which is free if you log into National Archives Ireland. You will see that the Cardens all originate on the Border lands of Mayo and Sligo. There are no other Cardens in Ireland except for the wealthy landowners of Tipperary which are not relations of the Sligo/Mayo Cardens as far as l know.

John Carden 26 embarked at Limerick to New York on 21 April 1851 on the Ship E Dennison.

The story our family tell is that David Carden (my father-in-laws grandfather) is either a son or grandson of a French soldier, a groom. We don't know if this is true but given that there are very few Cardens in Ireland and all are clustered around the Mayo/Sligo region of Killala Bay it seems reasonable to believe it as on August 22nd 1798 a small French invasion force commanded by General Humbnert beached at Kilcummin Head on the west shore of Killala Bay in Co. Mayo. It can easily be found on internet sites....hope this helps, best regards, Pat.