Rooney and Brosnan

Dear Kathleen:

Thank you for your message to the Ireland Reaching Out message board.

The civil parish where Currow is located is Killeentierna.  The Roman Catholic parish registers are located in the parish of Killeentierna or Currens.  These registers are available to view for free online at the National Library of Ireland.  The link for the parish registers is below:

https://registers.nli.ie/parishes/0664

You will note that the baptisms begin in 1801 and the marriages in 1803. 

The best of luck with your research.  If you have any further questions, please do not hesitate to contact us.

Kind regards,

Jane.

Hello Kathleen,

To add to Jane Halloran Ryan’s reply, a Google Map shows that Currow, Couty Kerry, by the shortest modern-day route, is 9.3 miles north of Killarney. See the map at: https://is.gd/neHU3M

To view Currow and the location of the Catholic Church of the Immaculate Conception on another Google Map, see: https://is.gd/MosgKh

For a Google Street View of the Church of the Immaculate Conception, go to: https://is.gd/UOPJ8q

This church is not the church structure your ancestors would have been familiar with. According to the National Inventory of Architectural Heritage website, the Church of the Immaculate Conception was built about 1960. See: http://www.buildingsofireland.ie/niah/search.jsp?type=record&county=KE&…

The heritage site above places the church in Ranalough, which would be a section of Currow.

There is also a modern map from the National Inventory of Architectural Heritage, but produced by Ordnance Survey Ireland, showing the location of the church in the Currow/Ranalough area, just north of the Brown Flesk River. See: http://webgis.buildingsofireland.ie/HistoricEnvironment/?REG_NO=21304804

An Ordnance Survey Map from the 1829-1841 time period shows that the “R.C. Chapel” in Currow was situated just to the west of the current structure, where the church parking lot is now. See the old map at: http://maps.osi.ie/publicviewer/#V2,497815,604711,10,7

In the 19th century, when your Rooney and Brosnans lived in the area, Currow was situated in the Civil Parish of Killeentierna, as well as the Catholic Parish of Kileentierna, also known as Killeentierna and Currans, as Jane Halloran Ryan had kindly mentioned in her reply to you.

Speaking of the Rooney and Brosnan family, I found the baptism transcription for John Rooney, son of John Rooney and Margaret Brosnan. John was baptized in the Killeentierna Catholic Parish, County Kerry, on 29 December 1843. The Currow R.C. Chapel mentioned above was in the Killeentierna Catholic Parish. John would have been baptized in the older church in Currow which stood where the current church parking lot is.

The transcription of John’s baptism was found at the Find My Past (FMP) website. The FMP website is basically a subscription and pay-as-you-go site, but it has allowed family historians to access at no charge, Catholic baptism, marriage, and burial transcriptions. I haven’t included the baptism transcription for John Rooney in this reply as the transcriptions are under copyright. But, accompanying the transcription is a link to the National Library of Ireland (NLI) website for the Kilteentierna Catholic Parish registers where John’s baptism is recorded. Accessing the parish registers is free as well. To access the baptism for John, go to the NLI link at: https://registers.nli.ie//registers/vtls000634281#page/55/mode/1up

You’ll see two facing pages to the register. John’s baptism is on the left-hand page, to the right of the date Dec. 29. John’s parents are John Rooney and Margt Brosnan. The sponsors, or godparents are John and Ellen Brosnan. John Brosnan may have been Margaret’s brother. The baptism record also shows that the Rooney family were residing in the townland of Currigalina. I couldn’t find Currigalina on any map. This may have been a section of Currow or an area near Currow. There is a Carrigaline in County Cork, but this town is about 70 miles from Currow and just south of Cork City.

I looked for but didn’t find the baptism for an Edward John Rooney, but did locate the baptism for Julia Rooney, who was baptized in the Killeentierna Catholic Church on March 1, 1856. Her parents are listed as John Rooney and Margt Brosnan. The sponsors or godparents are James Fitzgerald and Maria. I couldn’t make out Maria’s last name. Julia’s baptism can be found on the right-hand baptism register page at:
https://registers.nli.ie//registers/vtls000634281#page/64/mode/1up

The clergyman who baptized Julia was the Rev. C. Moynihan.

The address of the Rooney family appears to be Currowbane. This may be a reference to Currabanefield. A Google Map shows that Currabanefield, by the shortest route, is 4.4 miles southeast of Currow. See the map at: https://is.gd/ThQBSO

For a Google Street View of Currabanefield, see: https://is.gd/ibkAtC

You can also view Currabanefield on an Ordnance Survey Map from the 1829 to 1841 time period at:
http://maps.osi.ie/publicviewer/#V2,498567,602619,10,7

To read a very informative Wikipedia article about Currow and the names of the surrounding townlands, go to: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Currow

I next looked for the FMP baptism transcription for John Rooney in the Killeentierna Catholic Parish, but didn’t find it. John and Margaret married in 1831, as your records show, and so I figured that John may have been born any time before 1810 up to 1813 or 1814. As Jane Halloran Ryan mentioned, the Killeentierna baptisms go back to 1803, while marriages begin in 1801.

I then looked for Margaret Brosnan’s baptism transcription at the FMP website, but like the search for John Rooney, I didn’t uncover her baptism in the Killeentierna Catholic Church either. John and Margaret may have been baptized in another Catholic parish, but I would need to know the names of their parents, including the maiden names of their mothers, to see if there are baptism transcriptions for them at the FMP website, and in the Catholic parish registers held by the National Library of Ireland.

Kind Regards,

Dave Boylan

Thank you Dave!

I had found some of this and some others have connected me to some. But I had nothing on locations/maps from 19th C.  Someone else pointed me to the 1852 Griffiths Evaluation which shows John Rooney in Crag townland: http://www.failteromhat.com/griffiths/kerry/currans.htm. Is there anywhere there is more information than the name?

I am just started sifting through all the new info on this part of my family. I had Ancesry DNA done which confirmed the correct area of the country. This made me rethink some things, especially spellings. My Gr-grandfather, Edward, always claimed that Rooney should be Runey. I seem to remember my father saying that the brother Michael used Rooney. This made me wonder if Bresnahan had other spellings. As you well know, it does and that is how I found the marriage of John and Margaret.

I am fortunate that back in the 70's my father sat with me and wrote down everyone on both sides of his family that he could remember. The list is considerable and has been of immense help confirming connections. I did not however have Julia.

I believe I have found Margaret's birth June 18, 1804 parents Ml. (Michael?) Rooney and Mary Galvin: https://registers.nli.ie/registers/vtls000634281#page/8/mode/1up

The only information I had previously pointing me to Kerry is a note that my grandmother wrote. It was on the edge of a newspaper column with my grandfather's obituary. All it said was "Pa's father Kerry and Cork, Pa's mother West Meath." This may explain the Carrigaline in County Cork. Possibly the Brosnan family was from Currens and the Rooney family from Carrigaline? I will continue to search in both areas.

The other issue I wonder is why ther is no record of Edward. His birth year is consistantly given as 1833. I also wonder how there are no other children showing up when the first child is born in 1833 and the last in 1856. I suppose it would not have been unusual to lose several. But no other record does seem odd. Is it unusual for no birth/baptism record? Also, are the dates given in parish records date of birth or baptism?

Thanks again. This has been and incredible find for me as I said above, I have been working on this for a very ong time!

Kathleen