Descendents of James, Mary Ann, Catherine, Margaret, Rose Kelly

Hi there,

Could you please tell me where the clues 'Donegal' and 'Drumwawilly' come from? Where did you find the information about their arrival into Australia?

You could check the shipping records in Australia to find out the name of the ship. You might be able to find out more information about the family, such a more precise loaction of where they were from. Generally, information was gievn at the post of arrival rather than the port of departure.

Please make sure you link anyone else in your family who is interested in their Irish heritage to our site - and indeed anyone else you know of Irish heritage.

Kind regards,

Sinead Cooney

Genealogist (Ireland XO)

I have researched for 10 years the Kelly fmaily. I have collected passnger lists for the ship Utopia which they travelled on. No other detail of place of birth was ever given except Donegal until I was able to obtain the death cert. of Rose Kelly and the name Drumwawilly appeared. That was the first time another name appeared.  I have met Kelly people in southern Donegal where there is a graveyard in Ballintra with Brodbins married beside them. I think Drumwawilly may be someone's interpretation of what they thought they heard with the Irish accent.
James Kelly had married Sarah Kearney before he left Ireland in 1862 and they broght two children with them. The other sisters were unmarried and their parents were Francis and Ann Kelly. Kelly is not a common name in Donegal, and Brodbin (Broadbent?) is not common in Ireland.
Thanks for your response. We will keep searching.

Maree Ganley

Hi Maree,

I just did a check on Google maps and typed in Drumawilly. What came up was "Drumaville, Co. Donegal", so perhaps this is it? I did not put in a County when I typed in Drumawilly (without the extra "w"). Could be a coincidence but maybe not! So, we can take a chance and check that as a lead. This is in north Donegal.

Could you please post your message here: http://www.irelandxo.com/group/clonca-donegal

If they were Roman Catholic, there are church records available for the diocese of Clonca (Derry). These date from 1856 for baptismal records and 1870 for marriage records. These can be accessed at the National Library of Ireland, Pos. 5765, or the Public Records of Northern Ireland MIC.1D/54. If you have any difficulty, you could try writing to the parish priest for more assistance.

You could also try checking the land records called the Tithe Applotment Books (1823-38) or the later Griffth's Valuation (1848-64). Griffith's is freely available here: www.askaboutireland.com or here: www.failteromhat.com Failte Romhat has lots of other useful links you could try looking at.

Griffith's Valuation also reveals that there was no Brodbin in the country during that time, but there were a few variants: Broadben, Broadbenet, Brodben. So check the variants when you are carrying out your reseach.

Kind regards,

Sinead Cooney

Genealogist (Ireland XO)

Hello, O'Donnell last name...my great grandmother was Amelia Cecelia O'Donnell, does this relate?... I have barely any clues...when they came to the US on the boat they lived in Michigan I think.... idk...so lost. My last name is Perrigo but idk if that's relevant...