Kearney Family of Brackaghlislea, County Derry

Hi there,

Do you know what religion he was? There are Roman Catholic church records available for the diocese of Desertmartin and Kilcronaghan (Derry), but the start date only begins in 1848, so too late for you. If you think thy may have been Church of Ireland, please let me know as there may be other documents you could check.

Civil registration records are available from the General Register Office (GRO). These start from 1864 however, so again too late for you. You can access the website here: http://www.groireland.ie/research.htm

Do you have any other information about the Kearneys? Are there any family bibles or letters in your family? Do you know when the Kearneys or relatives emigrated from Ireland? And where did they land?

Did Francis and Bridget get married in Ireland?

You should try checkin the 1796: Spinning Wheel Premium Entitlement Lists This was part of a government scheme to encourage the linen trade, free spinning wheels or looms were granted to individuals planting a certain area of land with flax.

The lists of those entitled to the awards, covering almost 60,000 individuals, were published in 1796, and record only the names of the individuals and the civil parish in which they lived. The majority, were in Ulster, but some names appear from every county except Dublin and Wicklow. A microfiche index to the lists is available in the National Archives, and in PRONI. There are 4,900 names for Co. Derry/Londonderry. This and other very useful sources are available here: www.failteromhat.com

There is a Freeholders list dated 1813 for Derry. This can be accessed at the Publ;ic Records of Northern Ireland (PRONI), ref. no. T2123. Found here: http://www.proni.gov.uk/

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)

Sinead,

Thank you so much for the information  you have provided in response to my post.  Francis Kearney and Bridget Bradley were married in Ireland and I would assume somewhere in the area of Maghera.  If I were to guess at the year they were married I would likely say it was somewhere between 1808 and 1818.  They left Ireland in April of 1847 and sailed into Philadelphia aboard the ship SUSAN E. HOWELL.  With Francis and Bridget were their sons Francis Bradley Kearney and John Kearney.  Another son, Patrick, arrived in Philadelphia in July of 1847 with his sister Bridget aboard the ship ST. LAWRENCE.  The youngest son of which I am aware was Andrew Kearney who was born around 1818 and arrived in the U.S. in 1837 aboard the ship BARQUE CAROLINE. 

I was able to find baptismal records for sons Francis Bradley and John from the Catholic Church of Dungiven.  Francis B. was baptized in May of 1831 and John in July of 1833.

That is about the extent of what I know about my Kearney family in Ireland.  I will check out the websites you listed and again I thank you very much for you assistance.  It is greatly appreciated and hopefully will lead me to additional information on my family in Ireland.

Please let me know if there is anything additional I can provide that might help.

Sincerely,

Mike Kearney

Hello! I am the G* G* granddaughter of Francis Kearney and Bridget Bradley.  Their daughter, Mary Matilda Kearney married Michael Kelly (G* grandparents) Their son Andrew P Kelly ( born 25 Feb 1867) married Mary Becker ( my grandparents) They had my father Andrew V Kelly in 1917.  

I am Mary Kathleen Kelly Born 1962 Yes  that’s right my grandfather was 95 years older than me. He didn’t have my father until he was 55 and my father was 45 when I was born. I have a photo of him holding me in before he died in 1963.

I also have 2 photos of the White House farm where the Kearney and Kelly family’s lived. I remember being in the White House when I was a toddler before the home was sold. I grew up with many peices from the old home and still have a couple. 

I hope to hear from you soon to exchange more information. 

Hello. Francis and Bridget were my GG grandparents. Are you still seeking information on them? 
Katie Kelly