Finding Our Brennan Ancestors In Kerry, Ireland

My Irish ancestors from the west and south-west of Ireland

This blog post is the first of several that I hope will assist me in locating the townlands and parishes of my ancestors in Ireland.

My 3rd great-grandparents John and Catherine (Bowler) Brennan emigrated from Kerry, Ireland to Essex, Ontario in 1853 with their only child Mary (my 2nd great-grandmother born in 1841) who was only twelve years old at the time.

County Kerry, Ireland 

1841 to 1851

The living conditions in county Kerry Ireland during the ten-year period between 1841 (when my 2nd great-grandmother Mary Brennan was born) to 1851 were horrific.

In 1846 "there was nothing but distress and destitution" (Source: The Land and the People of Famine Kerry 1845-1851, Emma Catharina Linzel, 12004378 )
 

A pencil drawing entitled 'The house of Pat Brennan', a small farmer on Daniel O'Connell's estate at Derrynane, Co. Kerry. 'The Pictorial Times', Feb. 7 1846. Held in the National Library of Scotland. Published in 'The Irish Famine- A Documentary History' by Noel Kissane ISBN 0-907328-24-5  (Source: The Pictorial Times")

The above graphic came to my attention after I read the Brennan Blog: Breaking your brick wall with newspapers by Martine Brennan. Martine added,  

"A quick search of Griffith's Valuation online finds one Patrick Brennan, tenant of Maurice O'Connell, in the townland of Darrynane Beg, Civil Parish of Kilcrohane, Poor Law Union of Cahersiveen six years later in 1852."

My Brennan ancestors were preparing to leave County Kerry, Ireland for Canada in the Americas around the very same time period that this pencil sketch was made. My Brennan ancestor eventually settled on land in Sandwich, Essex county, Ontario right next to the O'Connells who had emigrated as well. When you are researching, ALL facts and coincidences are noteworthy!

I hope to discover more about the story of my 2nd great-grandmother Mary (Brennan) Moynahan (pictured below with her daughter Nellie) who emigrated from Co. Kerry, Ireland at twelve years of age in 1853.

 

My 2nd great-grandmother Mary (Brennan) Moynahan with her daughter Nellie

Mary Brennan: Born in Ireland 1841

Mary was born  in 1841 in Ireland. All of the Ontario censuses records (1861-1921) say that Mary was born in Ireland. None of the census records say that Mary was born in Kerry, Ireland but the headstone of her parents at St. Mary's cemetery in Maidstone, Ontario does specify county Kerry.

Mary's father John Brennan headstone states that he is a "Native of County Kerry, Ireland" and her mother Catherine (Bowler) Brennan's headstone states that she was "Born in 1819 in Kerry, Ireland"

It is clear that "Kerry" was an important distinction that the Brennan family wanted carved into their headstones.

On Mary's death certificate of 1926, her age is recorded as 85 years making her birth date 1841. The Ontario census records of 1861, 1881, 1891 and 1921 concur.There is a small variance on some of the census years in ONtario:

• On the 1861 census: Mary's age is 20 and her birth date is estimated to be 1841
• On the 1871 census: Mary's age is 28 and her birth date is estimated to be 1843
• On the 1881 census: Mary's age is 40 and her birth date is estimated to be 1841
• On the 1891 census: Mary's age is 50 and her birth date is estimated to be 1841
• On the 1901 census: Mary's birth date is March 20, 1842
• On the 1911 census: Mary's birth date is August 1840
• On the 1921 census: Mary's age is 80 and her birth date is estimated to be 1841

This helps narrow down my searching from 1840 to 1843 in the online Irish registers that were put online in July 2015 by the National Library of Ireland (NLI): https://registers.nli.ie/

  
Mary Brennan's 1853 Emigration

Based on Ontario census records (1861-1921), we know that Mary Brennan was born in Ireland between 1841 and 1843 and we also know from the census that she emigrated from Ireland in 1853.

Mary's emigration from Ireland to Canada is also mentioned in her June 25 1926  Essex Free Press  Obituary:

"An old resident of Maidstone Cross section passed away on Monday moring at her home 432 Hall Ave. Windsor in the person of Mary Moynahan, relict of the late Jerry Moynahan. Mrs Moynahan, whose maiden name was Mary Brennan, daughter of John Brennan was born in Ireland 85 years ago. When 12 years of age she came with her parents to Canada and they settled in the township of Sandwich South......."

 1857 - The Brennans Settle In Essex, Ontario

In 1857, John Brennan got the deed for 298 South Talbot Road and the family is shown on the 1861 census in Sandwich West as mother, father and daughter and all from Ireland.

Daniel Sullivan is the person who sold John Brennan the land and I have learned that Daniel Sullivan was born May 1818 in Tralee, County Kerry. (NB He was the same age as John Brennan)

Source: Onland: Historical Books: Abstratct Indexes: Essex County

1859 - Godparents 

Every clue that could possibly help in tracing the Brennan/Bowlers back to their townland in Kerry Ireland must be examined.

In the record below, John and Catherine (Bowler) Brennan are the godparents of Mary McAuliffe, daughter of Michael McAuliffe and Anna Maria Houlihan. I am still trying to locate records on the Essex county McAuliffes.

 

Was Mary Brennan An Only Child?

It is common for Irish Catholic families of this time period to have large families with many, many children but this time period in Kerry was difficult

It is unusual to see Irish Catholic families with only one child. I wonder if the Brennan family met with severe hardship during the famine in Ireland in the 1840s or if they suffered losses on the voyage across the Atlantic.

It seems clear that Mary (Brennan) Moynahan did not receive an education in Ireland. Both her mother Catherine (Bowler) Brennan and Mary were recorded on the 1861 Ontario census as unable to read or write but John Brennan could read and write.

I thought I would look for more clues by looking back on my correspondence from the 1980s when I began to ask questions about my Irish ancestors of cousins like Brother Bernard Broderick (1916-1992), Evelyn Janice (1916-2009) and the Finn and Lennon families.

Looking For Clues From My Cousin
Evelyn (Lennon) Janice (1916-2009)

In the 1980's I wrote to my 1st cousin 2x removed Evelyn (Lennon) Janice (1916-2009). Evelyn had to prove that her grandmother was born in Ireland in order to get citizenship so I wrote hoping to learn more about our shared family history

Evelyn (Lennon) Janice attended De La Salle school and was often told to stop over and visit with her grandmother Mary (Brennan) Moynahan after school. It was these visits with her grandmother that inspired Evelyn to do more research on her Irish roots.

Pictured (left to right): Marie Lennon, Evelyn (Lennon) Janice, Caitlin Clyne, and Clarice Lennon (circa 1983) (Photo: Courtesy of Caitlin Clyne)

Evelyn's parents Edward and Kate (Moynahan) Lennon lived at 15 Moy Avenue in Windsor, Ontario (according to the 1921 census) and 432 Hall Avenue where Mary lived with her daughter Nellie Moynahan ran parallel and was the next street over from Moy. (Read more about this Lennon family at 52 Ancestors No.16 - The Lennon Sisters )

Here are some of Evelyn's remembrances from her visits with her grandmother:

I love the details that Evelyn shared with me in her letter (dated April 18, 1988) about the starched apron, sharing ice cream and tossing a coin in the Atlantic and I am so grateful to have these images of my 2nd great grandmother Mary (Brennan) Moynahan (1841-1926)

And Evelyn also shared what she learned from her trip to Ireland on October 1986:

Looking For More Clues From

My Jobin Cousins of Maidstone

I found the following article that was written about my Great Aunt Nellie Moynahan who was a school teacher in Essex County.

Nellie was the daughter of Jeremiah and Mary (Brennan) Moynahan and she was born in Maidstone Ontario on March 31, 1865.

Her mother Mary Brennan was born in Ireland and I think the following sentence may yield helpful clues: She "came to Maidstone with her parents from Ireland to reside in the McGuire home." 

Could the McGuires be a clue to the townland that the Brennans came from in Ireland? Were they related in some way or perhaps friends in county Kerry?

Name distribution in 1659

I have located all of the Canadian BMD records (almost) for my Brennan/Bowler ancestors from County Kerry. 

The one exception is that I have been unsuccessful in locating a death record/burial record/obituary for Catherine (Bowler) Brennan online. I plan to write to St. Mary's church in Maidstone, Ontario to see if they can locate a record.

The list of outstanding records needed:

• 1890 death record/burial record/obituary for Catherine (Bowler) Brennan (1819-1890)
• Kerry, Ireland: birth record for John Brennan (1819-1881)
• Kerry, Ireland: birth record for Catherine (Bowler) Brennan (1819-1890)
• Kerry, Ireland: birth record for Mary Brennan  (1841-1926)
• Kerry, Ireland: marriage record for John Brennan and Catherine Bowler
• 1853 Emigration Record for family John, Catherine and Mary Brennan
• Research Essex Sullivans, McGuires and McAuliffes for clues

We are planning a trip to Ireland in 2019. I am hopeful that I will locate the needed records by then.

Some Kerry, Ireland Research Links

County Kerry (Irish: Contae Chiarraí) is a county in Ireland. It is located in the province of Munster. The county town is Tralee, Kerry. The name Kerry is derived from Ciarraighe, or "people of Ciar" the name of the pre-Gaelic tribe who lived in part of the present county. (Source: Family Search: County Kerry)

 Searchable Databases

• Kerry Local Authorities - Graveyard Records A searchable index
• Landed Estates Database: a searchable, online database of all Landed Estates in Connacht and Munster, maintained by the Moore Institute for Research in the Humanities and Social Studies, National University of Ireland, Galway. http://www.landedestates.ie/
• Irish Newspaper Archives https://www.irishnewsarchive.com/

Browse-able Databases 

• National Library of Ireland (NLI): July 2015 released 300 years of records by the  There are 370,000 digital images from 1,086 parishes https://registers.nli.ie/
• Flaxgrowers of Ireland 1796 - County Kerry The Irish Linen Board published a list of nearly 60,000 individuals in 1796  
• Heads of Household of Ballyferriter Catholic Parish, Barony of Corkaguiny, County Kerry, Ireland 1827-1852

Geography Links

• For a free guide to Sneem Catholic Parish, County Kerry Genealogy parish records available online, see: Irish Ancestors. 

History Links

• The Kerry Archaeological and Historical Society. http://www.kerryhistory.ie/
• The Irish Genealogical Society: The Septs: http://www.irishgenealogical.org/page/septs-1 http://www.irishgenealogical.org/page/septs-contents
• DIPPAM is an online virtual archive of documents relating the history of Ireland and the migration experience from the 18th to the late 20th centuries  http://www.dippam.ac.uk/ 
• Claire Santry's free Irish genealogy resources should be a first stop when researching Irish genealogy http://www.irish-genealogy-toolkit.com/ & http://www.irish-genealogy-toolkit.com/ 
• BOOK (692 pages) Ancestors in Co. Kerry, Ireland Selections from Old Kerry records : historical and genealogical : with introductory memoir, notes and appendix by Hickson, Mary Agnes 

Irish Famine & Emigration Links

• Immigrants to Canada in Nineteenth Century - Ships - Emigration Reports - Emigration Handbooks https://personal.uwaterloo.ca/marj/genealogy/thevoyage.html 
•  Emigration Information of the Nineteenth Century http://jubilation.uwaterloo.ca/~marj/genealogy/thevoyage.html
• Black Potatoes: The Story of the Great Irish Famine, 1845-1850 By Susan Campbell Bartoletti
• Views of the Famine https://viewsofthefamine.wordpress.com/
• Realities of Irish Life By William Steuart Trench 
• Kerry Irish Famine Mapping Tool 
• The Land and the People of Famine Kerry 1845-1851, Emma Catharina Linzel, 12004378 ) https://www.slideshare.net/EmmaLinzel/dissertation-the-land-and-the-people-of-famine-kerry-18451851-emma-catharina-linzel-12004378
• The Godfrey Estate During the Great Famine http://www.kerryhistory.ie/documents/5.%20Godfrey.pdf

 Miscellaneous Links

• Atlas of Family Names in Ireland http://research.ucc.ie/doi/atlas Compares Brennan 1659 ‘Census’ to the Griffith's Valuation
• Free Genealogy Search http://mykerryancestors.com/services/free-genealogy-search/ 
• If you are planning a trip to Ireland, and wish to meet an Ireland Reaching Out volunteer from the local area, simply post a message on the Ireland XO message board  

My 2nd great grandparents
Jeremiah and Mary (Brennan) Moynahan

John Brennan
(1819-1881)

Source: Amherstburg Echo: Reports of John Brennans illness and death

John Brennan's Death Certificate

Thanks Amy Crow for 31 Days of Genealogy

Jeremiah and Mary (Brennan) Moynahan (based on of photograph circa 1922)
Mixed media sketch on monoprint by Cindi Moynahan-Foreman

It's Day 31 of Amy Crow's "31 Days of Genealogy" and I am incredibly grateful that Amy's emails have appeared every day for last thirty-one days in my inbox! And for FREE!!

Amy Johnson Crow is a Certified Genealogist with more than 20 years of experience helping people discover their family's history. She is also the creator of the #52Ancestors challenge which has, for the past two years, taken me to new levels with my genealogical research, led me to new relatives and made me dig deeper into my own family history. Amy has inspired so may of us to do more research, better research and tell our family stories!

Before Amy sends her final email to my inbox tomorrow, I wanted to thank her and Amy has assigned her readers a final task:

"Pick one of your favorite ancestors. Get out all of your notes about that person. Sit down and write at least 3 paragraphs about that person. (I'm not even asking for a full page!) I bet you'll see that this exercise not only ties everything together, but sparks your imagination for more research."

I had just finished the mixed media sketch (above) of my great great grandparents Jeremiah and Mary (Brennan) Moynahan just hours before I received Amy's email. Recognizing the synchronicity of those two things I chose to write about my second great grandparents Jeremiah and Mary Moynahan.

I feel a connection to these two ancestors that I can't explain. I loved hearing the stories about them that have been passed through the years.

With thanks to Amy Crow, here are a few paragraphs on Jeremiah and Mary (Brennan) Moynahan.

At the beginning of my genealogy journey back in the early 1980s, the first time that I saw the image below of Jeremiah and Mary with my great grandfather John Moynahan, I cannot even describe how I felt. Their eyes. The way they were dressed. Imagining their lives. The photo inspired me to dig even deeper into the archives.

Jeremiah (1841-1922) and Mary (Brennan) (1841-1926)Moynahan with Ellen ("Nellie") (1865-1940)
and son John (seated) (1866-1933)

The picture above would have been taken in the late 1860's. Jeremiah and Mary would have been in their late twenties and just starting what would become a family that would include nine children (Mary would be pregnant into her forties, the last baby born Maud Agnes (Moynahan) Flannery in 1884.)

298 North Talbot Rd., Maidstone, Ontario

After their marriage in 1863, Jeremiah and Mary lived at 298 South Talbot Road in Maidstone (Township of Sandwich East in 1867) until 1922. Pictured above on google maps, it remains farmland to this very day.

Mary's mother and father, John and Catherine Brennan, lived in Sandwich East 1871. (Source: Year: 1871; Census Place: Sandwich East, Essex, Ontario; Roll: C-9889; Page: 24; Family No: 79 )

Mary was born in Ireland in 1841. In 1853, when Mary was twelve years old, she came with her parents John Brennan (1819-1881) and Catherine (Bowler) Brennan (1819 -1891) to Canada and the family settled in Sandwich South.

The Upper Canada Rebellion

Jeremiah was born on his parent's Denis and Catherine (Roach) Moynahan's farm at 6 South Middle Road, Maidstone on March 22, 1837, in Maidstone Ontario," in the year of the Rebellion of Upper Canada" (Source: The Border Cities Star - Jun 21, 1922 ) .

6 South Middle Rd., Maidstone, Ontario

Jeremiah's parents, Denis and Catherine, were born in County Kerry Ireland and migrated to Canada in the early 1830s (They were married at Ste Anne's Church Detroit in 1833).

A Chronology:

• In 1865, daughter Nellie Moynahan was born
• In 1866, son John Moynahan was born
• In 1871, daughter Margaret May (Moynahan) Lauzon was born (she moved to Detroit after marriage)
• In 1871 Jeremiah's mother Catherine (Roach) Moynahan died. I haven't located her death records or burial place. She was sent to an asylum (being of "unsound mind" on the 1871 census)
• In 1873, daughter Mary (Moynahan) Russette was born
• In 1875, daughter Kate (Moynahan) Lennon was born
• In 1877, daughter Ann (Moynahan)  Jobin was born
• In 1879, son James Joseph Moynahan was born  (after marriage, he moved to Detroit)
• On 1881, Mary's father John Brennan died and he is buried in St. Mary's cemetery in Maidstone
• In 1882, daughter Clara (Moynahan) Broderick
• In 1884, daughter Maud Agnes (Moynahan) Flannery was born
• In 1885, Jeremiah's father Denis died in Detroit and is buried in the Mt Elliott cemetery
• In 1891, Mary's mother Catherine (Bowler) Brennan died and she is buried in St. Mary's cemetery in Maidstone

When Jeremiah died in 1922, he had "lived 84 years within five miles of the place where he is born (on the Middle Road)" (Source: Essex Free Press June 23, 1922, Page 1 of 8)

In 1913, Jeremiah and Mary celebrated their golden wedding anniversary by holding a family reunion where the family attended mass then had a party on their Maidstone farm. "The old couple were the recipients of many appropriate presents and congratulations on this occasion" (Source: The Essex Free Press: November 21, 1913, Page 1 of 8)

In June 1922, Jeremiah and Mary "decided to spend a few weeks with their daughters in the country. Mrs. Moynahan going to Mrs. Flannery's in Colchester North and Mr Moynahan to Mrs. Alex Jobin's Con. 9, Sandwich South. It was at Mrs Jobin's that his passing away took place on Tuesday night. Deceased was about as usual during the day and did not complain of any ailment and retired at 8 o'clock that night. About 10, when Mr and Mrs Jobin retired, they looked into his room and were surprised that he slept away without making a struggle. Death was due to heart disease." (Source: Essex Free Press June 23, 1922, Page 1 of 8)

In June 1926, Mary passed away at 432 Hall Ave., Windsor Ontario the home of her daughter, retired school teacher Nellie Moynahan. (Source Essex Free Press June 25, 1926)

There is still so much more to learn about the lives of my ancestors. Thanks to Amy Crow, I have learned a great deal so far.

• 52 Ancestors #3 John Moynahan
• 52 Ancestors #10: "Nellie" Moynahan: Teacher
• 52 Ancestors #38: Mary Brennan: Maidstone Midwife
• Moynahan-Brennan

Sources:

• Marriage: Ancestry.com. Ontario, Canada, Catholic Church Records (Drouin Collection), 1747-1967 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2007. Original data: Gabriel Drouin, comp. Drouin Collection. Montreal, Quebec, Canada: Institut Généalogique Drouin.
• Residence 1867: Essex County Directory and Gazetteer, 1866-1867; Ancestry.com. Canada, City and Area Directories, 1819-1906 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2013.
• BMD Jeremiah Moynahan: Birth; Marriage; Death: Archives of Ontario; Series: MS935; Reel: 288

http://geneofun.on.ca/names/photo/1339353

52 Ancestors No.32: My 32 3rd-Great-Grandparents

Did you know you have 32 3rd-great-grandparents? Did you know that "By the time you hit those seventh great grandparents, you have a whopping 1,022 slots on your family tree to try to fill."? (Source: The Legal Genealogist)

Professional Genealogist Christ Cowans says, "at roughly 25 years per generation — your seventh great grandparents lived only about 300 years ago." That's not really that long ago but I am far away from knowing all 1022 of my grandparents!

Fan Chart

This fan chart has 30 spaces for your 2 Parents, 4 Grandparents, 8 Great-Grandparents and 16 2nd Great Grandparents. How many spaces can you fill in?

Free Genealogy Fan Chart

I have been doing genealogical research since 1981. That's over thirty years and I still have huge gaps in my research. This is common among genealogists!

My filled fan chart (excluding all living family members)

My Paternal Grandparents

My Maternal Grandparents

My 32 3rd Great Grandparents

I inherited this photograph from my grandmother Rhea (Coughlin) Moynahan and on the envelope was written "Great Grandmother". This means that this is a photo of one of my 3rd Great Grandparents.

The problem was that on my paternal side of my family tree, this photo could have been one of eight women. Luckily, I had help from my distant cousin Vicky Hess who identified this enchanting woman as Mary *Steinbraun* (*see notes at bottom on spelling).

Mary Ann Hess' mother: Mary *Steinbraun*

26/32  3rd-Great-Grandparents  

At the end of the day, I know some information about 26 of my 32 3rd-Great-Grandparents and I have a picture of only one - Mary Steinbrun (1829-1873). I love genealogy because I love discovering new ancestors and the research NEVER ends!

More on Mary Steinbraun

* From Kim Simpson: "I really think Mary Ann Hess’ mother’s name was Mary Steinbraun....... On Gabriel Hess’ marriage record it reads as Mary Steinborn; on Joseph Hess’ death it reads Mary Steinbrum;" 
* From Vicky Hess: Oral family history has her being born in " Alsace Lorraine.  French and German both claimed Alsace, so searching has been a problem. The relatives also said they came to Canada from/thru Pennsylvania."