My great-great grandfather, John Kearney, was born in Kilcummin, Co. Kerry, on December 26 1830. This information was discovered when unearthing his employment record with the London police force, in which he served from 9th December 1861 until 10th Nov 1877 in the West Ham Division. According to the 1851 British census, his father's name was Mark Kearney, who at that time was deceased. I'd be very interesting in find out more about the family, and whether any records survive which can 'flesh' out ancestor.
Thursday 19th Jun 2014, 03:55AM
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Kilcummin is the name of a Civil parish in east Co. Kerry, and also the name of a Catholic parish. The parish records are included on the free IrishGeneaology website, and include an RC baptism for a John Kearney in the parish of Kilcummin with father's name Mark, residence in Dunrine (probably townland Doonryan), but it's in 1824, might still fit your John if he underestimated, or didn't know, his age for some reason when joining up.. ... see : John Kearney baptism 1824
There's also a baptism listed for an older sister to this John Kearney in the same parish - Bridget bapt 1821
There are baptisms for the parish listed for December 1830, but dont see any sign of possible matches for John among them.
Shane Wilson, IrelandXO Volunteer ☘
Thursday 19th Jun 2014, 07:25AM -
Thank you so much for this most valuable information. The date of birth is a slight problem, but his police record notes that their date -- Dec. 26 1830 -- is taken from "his pension card" and therefore might not be accurate. I imagine that John was literate to some degree; to be a carpenter and a policeman would I think require it. But his wife wasn't. Her name was Margaret Looney [or Loony; it's spelled both ways in the records] also came from Kerry, but I'm not sure where. The pair married in London in 1853 and had 10 children. John died in 1888 in Wandsworth, and Margaret died in Croydon in 1910. John's police record is attached, in case you are interested.
Thank you again.
Thursday 19th Jun 2014, 05:07PM