Kellehers of Manning Townland, and possibly Glanworth Town

Dear Patrick

My apologies for the very late response. I hope someone researching the family name will be in touch. I too am hunting a Kellagher but one from Co. Monaghan but should I spy any further information relating to your search I will think of you and pass it along.

Best wishes

Clare Doyle

Genealogy Support

Ireland XO

Hi Patrick,

I have just come across your message and hope I am not too late to compare notes with you on the Kellehers of Glanworth. 

I have am researching my paternal line, Kaylor, and through the results of my father’s Y-DNA test we have found a close match with the family of Paul Keleher whose earliest known ancestor is Michael Keleher/Kelleher of Glanworth/Manning. 

Our earliest ancestor in the Kaylor line is Cornelius Kaylor born approx. 1799 in Ireland. He married Julia Kelly and they appear on the England 1841 census in Manchester (which is where I live). I am not sure if Cornelius and Julia met in Ireland or in Manchester but by 1841 they had 5 children all born in Manchester, the eldest, another Cornelius, born in 1827. We have had no idea of Cornelius’s family in Ireland.

As a result of the DNA match and given the similarity of the Kaylor/Kelleher surnames I feel there is a high probability that my family interconnects with Paul's in Glanworth. 

According to Paul Keleher’s research,  Michael Kelleher was born abt. 1820. His  father was named John and he also had a son named John (born 1839) - who is Paul’s great grandfather - he emigrated to Australia in 1866 and started a family in Southern Queensland.

So far I have not been able to identify my Cornelius Kelleher in the records. I haven’t yet found any records for his likely date range in Ireland, 1799-1827. Paul has referred me to the Griffith’s Valuation for Manning in 1852 and that lists a Cornelius, 2 Michaels and a John Kelleher.

I would be delighted to hear back from you Patrick. It would be great if you can suggest some data sources that might help me.

Ann (nee Kaylor)

Ann, thanks for posting.  It’s never too late!  I think we can help each other.  I know, for example that there were branches of the Kelleher family of Manning that ended up in Australia and it would make total sense that some would end up in England, so why not Manchester?  The Kaylor variation is also a logical connection.  I have seen many variations on the family name.  I have been DNA tested as well as several of my Kelleher cousins and I have also found DNA matches to at least two lines that branched off earlier - so a lot of different DNA matches for comparison.  Are you on Ancestry.UK?  I am on Ancestry.com.  I will take a look for Kaylor matches.  Let me know whatever additional information you have on Paul and his Australia branch.

Here is my direct e-mail:  padraig_murphy@hotmail.com

Looking forward to working on this with you!

Patrick Murphy 

Chicago, IL

Ann,

Here's an update:  If Paul is descended from John Kelleher (1839-1924), son of Michael Kelleher and Mary Keeffe/O'Keefe, and spouse of Susan Campbell, then we are in business.  I actually have this John Kelleher in my tree.  I am not 100% certain how that particular line of Kellehers are connected to me but I have very strong circumstantial evidence:

As I mentioned in my earlier post back in 2016, I have been working to tie various lines of Kellehers from the Glanworth family into some larger tree.  I have been working at this for roughly 20 years and gradually I have had good success.  One line that I had taken particular interest in was a certain Cornelius "The Carpenter" Kelleher (1852-1929) who was a rough contemporary for my great-grandfather Cornelius Kelleher who emigrated to Massachusetts by way of New York City.  I felt strongly that this Cornelius "The Carpenter" Kelleher was a relation but could not demonstrate this. 

Last summer, just almost exactly a year ago, I was in Glanworth and actually walking the Kelleher farm in Manning, with a gentleman named Christy Roche who is a local geographer and historian and has over the years been invaluable to me in terms of understanding the Kellehers, the area surrounding Glanworth and, probably most importantly, Irish history in general and especially various sources of records. Later that day we went up to the old cemetery at Saint Dominic's which overlooks the town of Glanworth.  For the first time, with Christy's help and the sharp eyes of my wife and children all working together, we found the grave of my ggg-grandfather James Kelleher (1774-1846) who was born (probably) and died (definitely) in the townland of Manning. His grave was immediately adjacent to the graves of Cornelius "The Carpenter" Kelleher and some of his family.  Essentially as if in the same plot.

I call Cornelius "The Carpenter" by that name not because he necessarily carried that nickname in life, but that was his trade - carpentry/building - and I have so many Cornelius Kellehers to keep track of I have to do something.  In any case, I had previously narrowed him down amongst the many possible Cornelii to be the son of Michael Kelleher and Mary O'Keeffe/Keefe.  This makes him a sibling of John Kelleher (1839-1924) of Patten, Australia, ancestor of Paul Kelleher.  So, this makes me very eager to compare my DNA to Paul Kelleher - but I feel we will be a match.  If you are a match to Paul, then again, we have an excellent chance of matching and this triangle would be a good proof of multiple theories.

Back to Christy Roche:  I know that he has met with Kelleher descendants from Manning now living in Australia.  He actually mentioned this last year as we were walking the farm.  I suppose this could be Paul's family or relations.  It seems that a number of members of the Michael Kelleher/Mary O'Keeffe family emigrated to Australia.  If this does not ring a bell for Paul, then I can ask Christy.  He and I have been in touch recently when I had referred some people to him for advice and I would be checking in on that soon.

I mentioned in my post earlier today that I am on Ancestry.com - and that is one way we could check a match of our DNA.  However, an even better way, probably, is through GEDmatch.  If you and/or Paul are already on GEDmatch we should exchange our "kit numbers" and see whether/how we match.  If you are not already on GEDmatch we can discuss that as an option or other methods.

This is all very exciting.  I am so glad that replied to my post.

Patrick

Ann,

A further update:  I have been looking at the various children of Michael Kelleher and Mary O'Keefe who emigrated to Australia.  I was just reviewing the marriage record for Patrick Keleher (one of the elder sons) and Ann Quinn, 10 May 1877, Warwick, Queensland, Australia.  Patrick's birthplace is listed as Glanworth, Co. Cork.  His parents are listed as Michael Keleher and Mary O'Keeffe and Michael's occupation is listed as carpenter. That was great to see.  I do not have much data on Michael and Mary, but to find that his trade was carpenter weighs heavily to confirm that they are correctly the parents of my Cornelius "The Carpenter."  So, all of the pieces are falling together.

Patrick

Hi Patrick & Ann,

I hope it is alright with you guys if I jump in here and say hello...

My name is Andrew Keleher and the above mentioned Michael Kelleher/Mary O’Keeffe are my 3rd Great Grandparents and I am the descendant of John Keleher who immigrated to Australia and settled in Pratten with his wife Susan Campbell on his property which he named Mount Manning.  While their farm is no longer owned by the family many of their descendants still live around this area between Warwick and Toowoomba.

Coincidentally when John first moved to Australia he also worked as a carpenter before settling down on his farm. At different points in his life he was also a publican of a pub, the owner of a sawmill and a long serving councillor.

I have struggled to find any further details of our ancestors once I got as far back as John’s birth and Michael and Mary’s names is the most information that I can find from Ireland and have hit a information wall. If you have any insights or tips for me I would be very grateful.

I have not done any DNA research at this point in time. I have been considering a AncestryDNA test recently however would appreciate your thoughts regarding if this is the best way to do this or if there is a better option.

Please let me know if there is anything that I can help you guys out with from here in Australia.

Cheers,

Andrew

Hello Andy and Patrick,
Sorry not to respond til now but I have been abroad and not able to get to family history matters. I will be able to start again in December.

I opted for the Y-DNA test with FamilyTree DNA in order to trace the direct male line thereby following the pattern of surname inheritance. Also they were doing an offer price around last Xmas ;)
As a result of my father’s test we found a close match with Paul Keleher’s family.

I am struggling to find records around the time of my last known ancestor in Ireland  (Cornelius Keleher) which I think is 1799-1827.

Hi Patrick, have you come across any records that early? I know you (and Paul) have both visited Glanworth. Did you find any records locally? Are there graveyard records for instance?

Great to hear from you Andy and I hope we can help each other out.

Kind regards,
Ann