I'm researching Kearneys from Kilmurry. My US born grandfather was descended from 3 James Kearneys from Kilmurry.
- James, b. 1880 at Kilmurry, baptized at Castleisland, m. Mary O'Connor 1902 in New York, d.1962 in Boston
- James, b. ca. 1845 at Kilmurry, m. Catherine Prendeville 1876 at Killeentiernia, believe he d. 1892 in Kilmurry
- James, b. ca. 1798, of Kilquane, m. Mary Keeffe 1823 at Castleisland, d. 1878 at Kilmurry
My immigrant James' family had a cattle farm. Family lore is that he & his brothers were confronted by Brits, who were trying to take their land. One of the Brits shot one of the brothers, & James fatally shot the Brit. James, feeling his own life was now in danger, fled on a horse & went on to leave the country. I believe he left in 1897.
By the 1901 census, it seems James' mother & some siblings had moved to Ballinknock. http://www.census.nationalarchives.ie/pages/1901/Kerry/O_Brennan/Ballinknock/1429662/
I have been able to fill out a lot about the Kearney family from information found online. I have much of that information in a tree online at http://wc.rootsweb.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/igm.cgi?db=amich
I would like to know what happened to James' siblings. Summary of what I do know: Mary (b. 1877) never married, lived in NY, d. in Ireland; Margaret (b. 1882); John (b. 1884), believe he d. 1921 while in the Irish Constabulary; Catherine (b. est. 1886); Patrick (b. 1888); & Bridget (b. 1891), m. 1922 Thomas McSweeney in NY. I think ther may have been at least 1 more sibling, & 1 of the daughters married a brother of James' wife Mary O'Connor. Rumor was 1 son ended up in Australia, & 1 son in South Africa.
Also interested to hear from anyone who is related to the Kilmurry Kearneys. I'm posting this under both the Ballincuslane & Castleisland, as the Kearneys were living in Ballincuslane, but went to the church at Castleisland, & would often say they were from Castleisland, rather than Kilmurry.
Saturday 27th Oct 2012, 09:57PM
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Years ago, when my uncles visited Ireland, they ran into an old man (not related) who knew the story of the shooting. Since it was at one time verified by a resident of the area, I assume there is at least some truth in the story. Possibly some details are incorrect. I also know at the time of the visit (around 1990?), my uncles met I a Leonard Kearney (I think that was his name), who was not closely related, but his family had been left my Kearney family's home. There were some of my family's papers left there, which my uncles had looked at, but regretably didn't take when offered to them. I know one of my mom's cousins went to visit Ireland this year, but I haven't heard if he found anything.
I suspected that 1798 James' parents were Patrick & Catherine, as those were the names of his oldest son & daughter. I had copied Kearney records for Old Kilbannivane cemetery from the Index of O'Kief books, so I must have that somewhere.
I have since last contact verified that the wife of James Kearney & Mary Keefe's son Patrick was my ancestor Margaret (bapt. 1834 at Killeentierna), daughter of Daniel Lyne/Lyons & Margaret Sullivan, & widow of John Prendeville. (So my immigrant James Kearney's parents were cousins by marriage, as Margaret was his maternal grandmother & his father's brother's wife).
Tuesday 30th Oct 2012, 01:49AM