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Margaret Kennedy

LimerickDoon (Limerick)

In joining ftDNA I came up with one person that I am an exact maternal lineage match. My family is from Newfoundland. The person that my match is with hasas last known ancestor, Margaret Kennedy and that she was from Doon Limerick (could also be the surrounding area for all I know). Guessing born 1810 give or take 5-10 years. We are unclear if she was raised Church of Ireland or Catholic. Not even sure if any records or copies of records exist for this time period; nor what the common religion was for this time period or where the parish would be located.Any thoughts/information would be appreciated. Some of this woman's family ended up in New York. Not clear where in Margaret's ancestry that there is the common maternal grandmother either as a woman's surname changes with marriage. I thought that it could not hurt to put this out there. Not alot of people in the ftDNA system so I do not know who else with generational family from theDoon area could be an exact match. Thanks much for any information/leads. Would love to know where my mother's mother's line in Ireland comes from. So far the obvious is Newfoundland (possibly into the 1740s; maybe even earlier) and somewhere, someone along the line someone comes fromthis area of Ireland. Just Baffled. Anyone there who loves a mystery in Doon, this may be right up your alley. Thought it could not hurt to ask. Thanks much.

IrelandXO member

6 replies

Karen:

Welcome to Ireland Reaching Out!

Doon is a civil parish and RC parish in the northeast corner of Co. Limerick on the border with Co. Tipperary. Records for Doon RC parish start in 1824, a little too late for your interests. The Church of Ireland records go back to 1804 but my guess is that this Margaret Kennedy was RC.

I did search Roots Ireland and there were no Margaret Kennedy baptismal records in either Doon RC or C of I around 1800-1820.

I assume you contacted your macth to see what she knows about her family?

Roger McDonnell

Castlemore RoscommonIrelandXO Volunteer

Thank you Roger.  Yes the match is baffled too!  Where did Margaret go for goodness sake??  Maybe it's a surrounding area?? The Newfoundland side was mainly Church of England then Methodist which in that day was the reformation of the Church of England and so far are showing as roots in England.  So frustrating.  We are soooo stuck.  Not sure how far back we will have to go to find a connection or if we will find a connection.

Are there other communities with "Doon" as the name that maybe the family down the line just left as Doon not realizing thru the generations that there is a difference?

Thank you again.  So very much appreciated.

Karen

IrelandXO member

Karen:

There are many, many Doons all over the country but the only two parishes called Doon are the ones which border each other in Limerick and Tipperary.

Roger

Castlemore RoscommonIrelandXO Volunteer

I have a Margaret Kennedy in my family tree (not yours) and she was from that area.  I remembered that her sister Mary Kennedy (b. abt 1834) emigrated to NSW Australia and that the Assisted Immigrants Passenger Lists (which are excellent) showed her parents's names, and location. (James Kennedy and Margaret Carney, Cappamore, Limerick and both died before 1855.  Cappamore Village is abt 4 miles from Doon Village, and Cappamore parish actually took in some of the townlands that were officially in Doon parish. This area is in the Tipperary Union and the center of the Kennedys was actually more in Tipperary North.   

My Margaret Kennedy emigrated to America and eventually settled in Belle Creek township, Goodhue County MN.  She married Timothy Maher who was the brother of my 2nd greatgrandmother, Ann Maher Rowles, who settled in the same place.  In fact a very large number of Cappamore/Doon families migrated there, an island of Irish in a sea of Scandinativians and Germans,  where they built a church and cemetery called St. Columbkills. Mary Kennedy married Robert Becket in NSW, Aus. I am giving you these extra names in case they turn up in your matches. If you have access to Ancestry.com, you might look up some of those names as they are in my tree there (Moloney). Some of my cousins on this line have also tested and might turn up as matches if your connection is a bit further back.

Ann Lamb 

Ann Lamb

Hi Karen,  I checked the Tithes  at  www.titheapplotmentbooks.nationalarchives.ie for Kennedy's in Co Limerick. Lots of them in Doon and Castletown    There has been a lot of research done  on Kennedy's in the area.

A lot of groups of Irish people went to Canada and Newfoundland in the early 1800s  the best known being The Peter Robinson Settlers 1823.  A lot of material has been documented here in Ireland and in your country.

I presume you contacted the matches you have in Common with the other lady you mention on GEDmatch.

Best of luck with your research, let me know if you have any questions.

Christina, Vol  Irelandxo.

ChristinaIrelandXO Volunteer

Hello Karen,

My grandmother (Margaret Kennedy) was from New York, and her father (William Kennedy - born 1864), grandfather (Matthew Kennedy-b. 1836) and great grandfather (Michael Kennedy) were all from Doon. I tried the Ancestry.com dna test and got linked to a number of Kennedys descended from the same Doon branch, but I haven’t seen any links to New Foundland yet. There quite a few Margarets in my tree from that area, but I can’t tell if any are the same as yours given how common the name is  

 

IrelandXO member

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