Ellen Kearney, born 1832-1838

Hello flol0003,

I found a baptism transcription as well as a copy of an original baptism record for an Ellenam (Ellen) Kearney that may pertain to your Ellen, though I can’t be sure, as the maiden name of your Ellen’s mother is not known at this time.

The Ellen Kearney I  found was baptized in the Templetenny Civil Parish, Catholic Parish of Ballyporeen, County Tipperary, on 23 March 1835. The names of her parents in the transcription are Michaelis (Michael) Kearney and Maria (Mary) Brien. The baptism is in Latin, which was common with Catholic baptisms during this time period. As you’ll see a little later however, Maria’s maiden name of Brien was not transcribed properly, due to the difficulty with handwriting in the baptism register.

Ellen’s baptism was originally discovered as a transcription at the Find My Past website. The Find My Past (FMP) website is mainly a subscription-based or Pay-As-You-Go website, but this company has forgone charging for Catholic baptisms, marriages, and available church burial transcriptions for all of Ireland for much of the 19th century. Some church baptisms, marriages, and burials go back to the 18th century, as well.

What’s unique about transcriptions at the FMP website is that they are linked to copies of original baptism, marriage, and burial records held by the National Library of Ireland (NLI) located on Kildare Street in Dublin City. I have not included the FMP baptism transcription for Ellenam Kearney in tis reply as transcriptions are under copyright. Instead, I’ve provided a link of the baptism record held by the NLI.

The link for Ellenam’s baptism can be found at: https://registers.nli.ie//registers/vtls000632127#page/113/mode/1up

Once you access the register, you’ll see two facing pages. Ellenam’s baptism is on the left-hand page, 4th entry up from the bottom of the page. You can enlarge the page by means of round icons in the upper center/ right of the screen. The icons are white with green backgrounds. You can also access the full-screen function by clicking on the last icon on the right with the two arrows pointing northeast and southwest.

If you enlarge the baptism register page to its maximum, you’ll see that the maiden name of Ellenam’s mother Maria, is Burn not Brien. One of the sponsors or godparents is Davidus (David), whose last name I can’t make out. The other sponsor is also named Maria Burn, who may have been a cousin of Ellen's mother. Just before David’s name, if you’ll look closely enough, you’ll see the name Glenacunna. This is the name of the townland in County Tipperary where Ellenam and her parents were living at the time of the baptism. The full name of this townland is Glenacunna North.

A Google Map shows that modern day Glennacunna North is actually a part of the townland of Ballyporeen. See the map at: https://tinyurl.com/ybr7pkre

The Catholic Church in Ballyporeen is called the Church of the Assumption, though Ellenam Kearney would not have been baptized in this church structure, as it was built circa 1870, according to the National Inventory of Architectural Heritage website link at: http://www.buildingsofireland.ie/niah/search.jsp?type=record&county=TS&regno=22124004

At the website above you’ll also see a photo of the Church of the Assumption. The present day church likely built on the site of a former Catholic Chapel in Ballyporeen. More on this a little later.

Another Google Map shows that the Church of the Assumption is only 2/10ths of a mile from Glenacunna North:  https://tinyurl.com/y8ylmtf3

For a Google Street View of the Church of the Assumption, see: https://tinyurl.com/ybrsytt6

For a Google Street View of Glenacunna North, go to: https://tinyurl.com/y8rqt2pe

I found an Ordnance Survey Map produced between 1829 and 1841 of the Catholic Chapel in Ballyporeen. If you compare this old map with the Google Map of the location of the church, you’ll see that the present church structure was built on the same site, or close to the same site as the former church structure. The Ordnance Survey Map, from the Ordnance Survey Ireland website, can be viewed at:  http://maps.osi.ie/publicviewer/#V2,593005,613165,10,7

Please keep in mind that I don’t know if the above baptism record pertains to your Ellen Kearney. You will need to find the maiden name of her mother to confirm that it is. Do you know if Ellen had any siblings that immigrated to the U.S? If so, see if you can find the marriage and or death records for her siblings if possible, as these may tell what their mother’s maiden name was. Also, have you come across the surname Burn/Burns/Byrne/Byrnes in your research concerning Ellen Kearney?

Best Wishes,

Dave Boylan

Thank you for your excellent information. When I went back to my mother's DNA matches, I found matches in several parishes around Mitchelstown, including Ballyporeen. The ones surrounding Mitchelstown, including Glanworth / Ballindangan, Kilworth, and Fermoy but could be possibly connected to Ellen's husband, Edward O'Brien who we know was born in County Cork in about 1837. They did marry after emigrating, but they might have been from the same area originally. It is hard to know which of the couple they actually match. 

Unfortunately, I have not found any other records of Ellen's family. Her parents first names were on the marriage certificate, but not last names. Her last name has also been written in different ways, assumingly phonetic spellings. Carney, Kerney, Kerny, etc. That makes it even more difficult. 

Dear flo10003:

You might also take a look at the Clare Library website which has a number of parish register transcriptions online as well as other sources that may assist you. 

Their website is:

http://www.clarelibrary.ie/eolas/coclare/genealogy/genealog.htm

The very best of luck with your research!

Kind regards,

Jane