Hi there,
Do you know what religion he was? There are Roman Catholic church records available for the diocese of Desertmartin and Kilcronaghan (Derry), but the start date only begins in 1848, so too late for you. If you think thy may have been Church of Ireland, please let me know as there may be other documents you could check.
Civil registration records are available from the General Register Office (GRO). These start from 1864 however, so again too late for you. You can access the website here: http://www.groireland.ie/research.htm
Do you have any other information about the Kearneys? Are there any family bibles or letters in your family? Do you know when the Kearneys or relatives emigrated from Ireland? And where did they land?
Did Francis and Bridget get married in Ireland?
You should try checkin the 1796: Spinning Wheel Premium Entitlement Lists This was part of a government scheme to encourage the linen trade, free spinning wheels or looms were granted to individuals planting a certain area of land with flax.
The lists of those entitled to the awards, covering almost 60,000 individuals, were published in 1796, and record only the names of the individuals and the civil parish in which they lived. The majority, were in Ulster, but some names appear from every county except Dublin and Wicklow. A microfiche index to the lists is available in the National Archives, and in PRONI. There are 4,900 names for Co. Derry/Londonderry. This and other very useful sources are available here: www.failteromhat.com
There is a Freeholders list dated 1813 for Derry. This can be accessed at the Publ;ic Records of Northern Ireland (PRONI), ref. no. T2123. Found here: http://www.proni.gov.uk/
Please make sure you link anyone else in your family who is interested in their Irish heritage to our site - and indeed anyone else you know of Irish heritage.
Kind regards,
Sinead Cooney
Genealogist (Ireland XO)