Rathdowney Community in Minnesota

In Researching my family tree, I found something that might be of interest to anyone tracing the migration of people from Rathdowney during the Fammine.  My ancestor Jeremiah Dooley, his children, his brother John, a friend with the last name Campion, and a few others sailed to Canada before 1850, worked a few years in Illinios, and finally settled near Marion, MN, USA.  They came in caravan, driving their livestock, and grain and covered wagons across the wilderness, swimming the rivers.  They planted a field of rye the first year, and claimed squatters rights on their land, since they arrived before a deal was made with the native americans, and before the land was surveyed.  Later, during the Fammine, many Rathdowney families seem to have joined them there.  Many Rathdowney names are found in Olmstead County land records (and some surrounding counties).  Looking at the early census (post 1855) and land records, you'd think that half the town of Rathdowney must have emmigrated.  They continued to intermarry for the first few generations, and then slowly spread out across the U.S., but many of the same family names can still be found in that part of Minnesota.  Those that came over during the fammine must have been able to apply for the early land grants, as they all had large farms.  These records are all available on ancestry.com for anyone looking to trace an American branch of their family. 

With the help of Irish Midlands Ancestry, I was able to find that John and Jeremiah Dooley were the sons of Kyran Dooley and Catherine Delaney who were married in Rathdowney on the 16th of February 1780. That seems to be as far back as parish records go.   Kyran and Catherine also had a son named Kieran who was born in 1783, and a daughter named Mary who was born in 1784.  They also had another daughter who also stayed in Ireland and married a man named Maylay.  Jeremiah's wife died prior to their coming over.  Her name was Mary Phelan and she was born in 1839 in Knockahaw.  If anyone has more information (on the Irish side) about my family I would be happy to hear of it, and would be happy to share my research on the American end!

Karen