Searching for ancestors

Hi Kathy,

More then likely Johns birth registration will just give his name as John Kelly,  a second name was often not recorded . John Kelly is a very common name in Ireland.

The Corrigan name could be the name of his mother or other ancestors, there was often a reason like that to give a child a second surname. It also makes me wonder if his mothers name Kenigan should be Corrigan

www.rootsireland.ie has two matching results when searching for a John Kelly with mother Corrigan

John Kelly born 1842 county Westmeath

John Kelly born 1842 county Offaly

Where in the USA did they settle?

Annemarie

An nemarie,                                                                                                                                                                        Thank you so much for your response. I think I may have had some wrong information on John C. Kelly's    arrival in the USA. He may have arrived in 1852 (around age 8) in NY from Liverpool on the ship "Constitution". He settled in Philadelphia, marrying Sarah J. Mooney (b.Jun 1846 in Ireland) in 1886. He was a carriage builder and owned a carriage shop on Germantown Ave. in Philadelphia. They had 7 children...John J. (born 1869), Walter James (b.1871, d. 1899), Mary Elizabeth (b.1874), Thomas Vincent (b.1878, d.1937), Francis D. (b. 1880, d.1912), Sarah Jane (b.1882) and Agnes  R. (b. 1886)                         Sarah J. Mooney emmigrated from Ireland via Liverpool, arriving NY on 27 Mar 1848 on the ship "Columbia", along with parents John Mooney, Mary  and brother Daniel. John and Mary were listed as 40 yrs. old (b.1880) Also, John C. Kelly's middle name may have been Carrigan...very close to Corrigan and possibly Kenigan, as you said. We found the Eliza Kenigan name on the Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Death Certificate Index, 1803-1915 information for John C., who died on 24 Dec 1913 at age 70.                                                                  Don't know if any of this new information will help narrow things down. Thanks for your help!                           Kathy