I believe my great grandfather was Abraham Kennedy, born in Connor, Antrim around 1870. I believe he and his family immigrated to Hebburn, England along with perhaps some other brothers. I was wondering if any of the family stayed in Ireland and if relatives are still there.
Barbara,
There’s a birth for an Abraham Kennedy in Ross, Connor on 6th Jan 1870 to Barnett Kennedy & Jane McVey. Do those names ring a bell as parents?
I saw births for 3 siblings to the same parents:
Un-named male 20.5.1865 in Ross
Robert 20.7.1867 Ross
Un-named male 27.4.1873 Carncombe
There may have been other births before 1864 but that’s the year that birth registration started in Ireland and so earlier events are not easily traced on-line. You would need to search church baptism records in PRONI in Belfast for them.
There are some trees on Ancestry that appear to show the family but they have Abraham’s father as William John Kennedy, not Barnett Kennedy. Some information on several trees looks a bit surprising (for example a mixture of children born in the USA and various parts of Ireland which would have involved the parents re-crossing the Atlantic several times) so the trees may not be totally reliable.
The name Jane. McVey looks familiar. I keep seeing that on different search sites. Also when you mention seeing perhaps perhaps coming to the US, recently saw some indication that may have come to places like New Jersey and Pennsylvania. I'm also seeing some connection to relatives perhaps in the Ontario area. Like I said kind of curious if any of the family stayed in Ireland. Thanks for doing some research for me.