Magherafelt O'Kane links

[mdpchilterns]

John O'Kane (1840-99) was my gt grandfather. He came to Magherafelt from Keady, Maghera but can anyone help provide links for those O'Kanes with other branches in Co. Derry, e.g. Garvagh, Glenullin?

[hallmark]

registers.nli.ie  IF they were RC

[mdpchilterns]

registers.nli.ie  IF they were RC

Thanks, but the Registers online don't go back before c.1840. I have names of a previous generation of siblings, and their parents' and grandparents' names but, sadly, not any obvious crosslinks. I hoped that someone might be able to help with those - presuming there any. It's not a large area and one that seems to be full of O'Kanes!

[familyroutes]

I have a few hundred O'Kanes  in my tree, mostly from the Garvagh area. Was there anyone in particular you were trying to find?

[Elwyn Soutter]

[/quote]
 It's not a large area and one that seems to be full of O'Kanes!
[/quote]

O’Kane is the Anglicized version of O’Cahan. They had land in Donegal and later Co Derry for hundreds of years up to the 16th century. Consequently the surname is extremely common across Co Derry/Londonderry.  There are about 2400 O’Kane & Kanes in the 1901 census for the county.

[mdpchilterns]

Thanks for those comments. Yes, there are a lot of O'Kanes in the county: after all, it was "O Cahan's country"! I was just wondering if John O'Kane's father (Peter, 1760-1829) or any of his siblings (Mary, Patrick, Francis, Sarah, and John who went to USA) cropped up in any other family trees. They were all born in Keady, Maghera but might have had links with O'Kanes in Garvagh, Glenullin, Dungiven. The Mark Gatiss WDYTYA programme mentioned O'Kanes marrying O'Kanes. My O'Kane line also had O'Neills, Henrys, McQuillans in it. Thanks for help.

[familyroutes]

I have some O'Kanes married to O'Kanes but none, that I know of, are from Maghera or Magherafelt. Peter and Francis aren't names I've come across in my O'Kane tree...no McQuillans,O'Neills or Henrys either. Have you heard that your O'Kanes had links to Garvagh, Glenullin and Dungiven?

[mdpchilterns]

Thanks for your message FamilyRoutes. Yes, there are definite 'family favourites' with Christian names: as I've indicated, the main ones for my O'Kanes were John, Peter and Elizabeth, and  strange ones immediately make you aware that you are probably amongst an unlikely group. (That is until the middle of the 20th cent.!) I was wondering if there was a link with Garvagh having read the O'Kane/Higgins messages on this website, and with Glenullin because of the WDYTYA programme. It looks as through it's a pointless search trying to discover any possible connections because the clan has spread so widely. Thanks anyway.

[familyroutes]

I was wondering if there was a link with Garvagh having read the O'Kane/Higgins messages on this website, and with Glenullin because of the WDYTYA programme.

I had a look back at this post...did I miss something?? I have posted the marriage of
Date of Marriage 21 Aug 1883
 Henry OKANE
Margaret COLLINS
 Maghera Roman Catholic Church

Henry wasn't from Maghera...he was from Errigal parish but married in his wife's parish.

I could have missed some connection to the Maghera O'Kanes...it's difficult to keep track of so many O'Kanes.

The O'Kanes featured in the WDYTYA programme were my family and they were all from the general Garvagh area.

Sorry I can't be of more help.