Connell or O'Connell

Dear Maggie

Welcome to Ireland Reaching Out and apologies for the delay in replying to your message. 

I imagine that given the information you have gathered so far about your family, that you have already checked the sites suggested below for further information?

www.familysearch.org has a huge database of genealogical records including some church records for Ireland

http://churchrecords.irishgenealogy.ie/churchrecords/ have begun a project to upload Irish church records to their site free of charge. However, so far only Counties Dublin, Kerry, Carlow and parts of Cork have been covered

You could check Slater?s Directory for further details, given the occupations you list above:

http://www.failteromhat.com/slater.htm

The family may have owned of held land at some stage so it is important to check the Tithe Applotment Books and Griffith?s Valuation. Even though these sources only list the heads of household, the information is still useful: 

Tithe Applotment Books (1823-1837): http://titheapplotmentbooks.nationalarchives.ie/search/tab/index.jsp

Griffith?s Valuation (1847-1864): http://www.askaboutireland.ie/griffith-valuation/

Remember to post any new information that you find here. The more information you post, the more likely it is that one of our volunteers will be able to advise or assist you. Also include information concerning which sources you may have already used so others may further your search.

Best of luck with your search

Clare Doyle

Genealogy Support  

I am also a descendant of the O'Connell/ Connell branch. John O'Connell/Connell (1840) left Ireland for the US in 1852 with his father (not identified). His brother Michael (1843) came to the US in 1863. They lived in Marshal County Indiana. I would like to get connected with Maggie O'Connell. I have been working on my family for several years and I'm stuck. As Maggie said in her letter, my relatives also used O'Connell and Connell in records. I wonder if this was their accent or the clerk not familiar with the spelling? Kevin O'Connell

Hello Kevin

I don't have any answers for that question, though it is often discussed.  Some of the Irish records show both and in the case of my particular branch in New Zealand the children born here had their birth's registered as Connell.  By around 1905 my grandfather and his brothers were consistantly using O'Connell.  They all died long before I began my research.  My grandfather (Jeremiah) and three of his brothers (William, John and Joseph) were jockeys in NZ and William (in 1909), John (also in1909) and Joseph in (1917) were all tragically killed accidently in falls from horses in the course of their work. Jeremiah died in 1930, he had poor health as a result of the tough life in his occupation.

John Connell was able to read and write as he was an engineer, so someone elses spelling seems unlikely cause. All I can conclude is that the 'O' was fluid. If you have any ideas please let me know.

Were your O'Connells from Valentia too, as I have had no success finding any information about my ancestors.  Which seems odd when the population of the island was quite small.  Oh well, I keep coming back to them and as there is more and more information online I live in hope.  Kind regards, Maggie O'Connell

Maggie,

We were back to Valentia several times and on one trip we visited the archives in Tralee. We were given access to a census by the Knight of Kerry from 1850 which showed were numerous O’Connell’s lived. I have pictures of maps and census info. I can share them with you if you are interested.

Kevin O’Connell

Kjo36@hotmail.com