Brennan in Tralee

Dear Kathleen

Welcome to Ireland Reaching Out!

I have forwarded your query to our Tralee Volunteer who will be in touch shortly

Best wishes

Clare Doyle

Genealogy Support 

Dear Kathleen, although my surname is Brennan, sadly my Brennans are from Longford and Roscommon. In order for me to help can you tell me where you found this birthdate and where the family settled in the U.S. Also do you know Frank's mother's name and his date of birth? As you probably know Civil (State) Registration of BMD's did not occurr in Ireland until 1864 so we may need to dig around a little. Did Patrick marry a Kerrywoman...this might give us a lead as she might have been from his homeplace in Kerry. Did Patrick travel alone or with family? All these details could make the difference between success and failure in our search.

Griffith's Valuation (c.1850) gives 288 returns for Brennan in Kerry of whom 66 are named John!

I look forward to hearing from you.

Warm wishes

Martine

Thank you ,Martine, for getting back to me. the information I have on Patrick is from a short family history written up by Elizabeth Brennan McDonald, Patrick's grandaughter and my 2nd cousin. She said her information was from the family bible, it's where abouts unknown at this time, and the stories of her father James Amdrew Brennan. the family supposedly consisted of 4 boys, half brother Louis Brennan, Frank, John, and Patrick was the youngest. I have no name for Louis' mother and as I re-read this account I am not certain if Frank was a half brother or not. I have no birth dates for any of the other boys. Louis and Frank immigrated to the US about 1848 and worked on the rail road that ran parallel to the Erie Canal. Louis sent for Patrick and he came by way of Montreal, Canada in 1851. Louis died before Patrick got to Indiana. Patrick got to Indiana in 1858 and married Honora Brennan, Brennan was her maiden name, on May 23,1859. To my knowledge she was born in Ireland but I do not have a location.I know he fought in the Civil War for Tennessee and in Oct. 1879 the family left Tennessee for O'Neill, Nebraska for the General John O'Neill Irish Colony at O'Neill City, Nebraska.in Holt county. As far as I know he never returned to Ireland.

I was afraid Griffiths Valuation may not be helpful as I assumed there would be many John Brennans but 66! My goodness! I don't know if any of the above will be helpful or not.

Thank You so much,

Kathy

Hi Kathleen, is this Patrick's grave

 http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GSln=Brennan&GSfn=Patrick&GSbyrel=all&GSdyrel=all&GSst=31&GScntry=4&GSob=n&GRid=105593776&df=all&

I searched for the marriage but no luck as yet.

1880 Nebraska  https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:M8Y6-YYQ 

The reason I am searching as many records I can find is in hopes that at least one would give further information about the homeplace in Ireland.

have you seen Patrick's army records and any application for a pension he might have made? as these sometimes give more information than one might imagine...

I know you will probably hate what I am about to say but an extensive search of American records is needed here not just for Patrick but also for Louis and the other brothers. Any one of them could give you the information you seek.

I forgot to ask you which record listed Kerry as the home county? That would be worth checking out again if it is an historical document.

I'll try a few more options but this is a tricky search.

Warm wishes

M

.

Yes that is Patrick's grave in O'Neill Nebraska. I have had no luck in finding a marriage record for them. They were married May23, 1859 in Indianapolis, Indiana but for some reason I haven't found a record. that date is from my cousin's family history. I know he was in the Confederate Army during the Civil War , and I assume he fought with Tennessee as that was where they were living at the time. I have not found a pension application and I found 3 records for a Patrick Brennan in different Tennessee companies so I have to try to determine if he just moved between companies or if there were 3 different Patrick Brennans.

I didn't even think to try to track down Louis or Frank. I am adding that to my to do list, which sems to get longer by the day. I have his homestead certificates and his naturalization papers but neither have any new information about his origins in Ireland.

County Kerry was listed on his death certificate as place of birth and that has been handed down in family history. I have no information on his spouse, Honora, but we have been told that she was also born in Ireland. No other information on that so I fear that is a dead end.

Thank you so much for all your effort and help. I will get started on Louis and Frank and see what I can do about the marriage record again over here

Have a blessed day,

Kathy