John & Mary Pearse O'Leary

It may not be a lot of help, but I can tell you that the surname O'Leary (in Irish, Ó Laoghaire, meaning "descendant of Laoghaire"), originated in the area which now consists of West Cork and neighboring areas of Kerry, and the parish of Iveleary in West Cork (also known as Inchigeelagh) is actually named for the family.   The parish records for Iveleary only go back to 1816, so not far enough back for the people you named, but if any further children were born there, you might find them.  Here's a link to the records for the parish:  https://registers.nli.ie/parishes/0062

There's an interactive map at that site which you can use to check out other parishes, and I just took a look and noticed that the next parish to the north of Iveleary, Kilnamartyra, has records going back to 1803, so you might check there as well.

I notice that you also have Cronin ancestors (it's Ó Cróinín in Irish, meaning "descendant of the swarthy one").  My great-grandmother, Elizabeth Cronin, was born in the parish of Dromtarriff/Dromagh, which is several parishes north of Iveleary.  The Cronin surname also originated in that area.  According to MacLysaght’s “Surnames of Ireland”, the Cronins were a sept of the Corca Laoidhe in what is now County Cork (the county boundaries came much later on), and the leading family were erenaghs of Gougane Barra.

There were Cronin's and Leary's in all of the parishes I just mentoned, and in surroiunding areas as well (including in Kerry and western parts of Limerick).  In fact, the Mahon[e]y surname (Ó Mathghamhana in Irish, from an older Irish word for "bear", mathghamhan) also originated in that general area, so you seem to have extensive Cork roots.

Thank you so much for the information on my family. I had my DNA done several years ago and I was very strongly Irish. I will check out your suggestions and see what I can come up with. I discovered that the internet is a better place to find ancestor information. I've spent hours in the library in Dublin when I've been in country and not found as much.Kindly, MaryAlice Ramsey

 

 

 

I've done DNA testing as well, Mary Alice, and so has the son of one of my first cousins with whom I share my Cronin ancestry.  If you want to compare notes, my kit number at the GEDMATCH site is T780556, and my results are also at the MyHeritage and FTDNA sites.

I suspect that I also have Leary ancestors, by the way, not only because the Cronin's and Leary's have lived in the same area for centuries (possibly thousands of years), but more specifically because there have been several Leary's acting as sponsors in baptismal records which I have found for my family.

-- Kevin Jewell

My DNA test was through Ancestry. I'm not sure I can compare my test with yours in the GEDMATCH site. If you know how to do it please let me know and I will check it out. I agree with the O'Leary - Leary connection. I will be back in touch.

Mary Alice Ramsey 

 

Yes, you can upload your DNA results from Ancestry at the GEDMATCH site.  First go this this link and register (it's free): https://www.gedmatch.com/login1.php

Once you've registered, you'll see the main page, which has lots of links on it.  In the upper right (inside the light blue square), there's a link for doing uploads of your raw DNA results. Once you click on that link you'll see instructions for uploading results from a number of locations, and Ancestry is the first one listed.  You just follow the instructions to download your data at Ancestry and then upload it at GEDMATCH.  Once GEDMATCH has the data, it can take several days for them to generate your list of matches, but then you're good to go.

Once you have your list, there are all sorts of things you can do.  You can check out each person on your list, see who's on their list, and even see which are the chromosomes where you match.  If the person has uploaded a family tree at GEDMATCH (or at the Wikitree site), you can check that out as well (I have mine loaded at both sites).  There are also forums where you can discuss topics.  Some are oriented towards particular family names, and there's one for Cronin's and some other families from County Cork.

Yes we are cousins!  The brothers settled in the southern US. I have done tons of research on them.  My two uncles were named John Pearse O'Leary and Cornelius William O'Leary, after these relatives!  My mother was Connie O'Leary.  

Good to know!   I assume that means you did the GEDMATCH comparison.  What were the actual results?

I mentioned above that there was a Cronin discussion group at GEDMATCH.  Unfortunately, the old discussion groups were all deleted when they "upgraded" GEDMATCH a year or so ago.  There are new groups, but not much there the last time I looked..