Elusive Kennedys

Hi I am from Canada and I have two main Irish lines of ancestors. I have solved one in that I know where my great-great grandfather Connick came from, where he was born, where his father was buried and I plan one of these days to go and visit Kilbraney, Wexford (place of birth), Adamstown (Newban, Wexford) (place of baptism) and Ballyanne, Wexford (cemetery of burial of his father). But my other line is very much a mystery to me. My Kennedys (my mother was a Kennedy) came from the United States as Loyalists in 1782 and moved to Douglastown on the Gaspé Coast of Quebec in 1784 where there is still some descendants. They were married (William Kennedy and Mary Butler in 1762 in Boston, Suffolk, Mass, United States) without any indication of parents except a relative by the name of John Butler. At the end of the 19th Century a Catholic Rector who did their genealogy said that William Kennedy was from County Kerry but that is the only indication that I have to the origin of my Kennedys and I am wondering how I could find anymore in Ireland about that family. Any ideas, leads etc. are welcome ...

Hi John,

It's wonderful to hear that you have had so much luck tracing your paternal side of the family!

Before 1864 records were kept in the form of church and parish records; while some of these have regrettably been lost over the years, all the surviving records have been sorted into county-based genealogical centres. If William Kennedy was for the County Kerry area then I would suggest trying to contact the Irish Genealogy website who hold church records for the Roman Catholic Diocese of Kerry and some Church of Ireland parishes in Kerry.

You may also wish to contact Ireland XO who have a lot of useful information available to help with searches.

I hope this gives you some more inspiration, and I'm hopeful that your fellow members and some industry partners will be able to help further. 

If you need any more help, just let me know!

Martin

Hi Martin, it was not the paternal branch of the family but another branch of the maternal side (Kennedy who had married in the Connick family).  I have already tried all of your suggestions.Namely Genealogical Centres, Irish Genealogy and Ireland X0  with no success. Thus the reason I had published here searching for other resources. Thanks for your reply. John Le Garignon