Lookup request; Keenan family; Ards Peninsula, Co Down

[charlesmkeenan1]

Hi all:
The farthest back I have traced is my gr gr grandfather, John Keenan; b. 1835;IRL; baptized in Kircubbin RC chapel, Co Down the same year. Census info from known relatives places family in and around Greyabbey, Co Down. John's parents were Felix and Sarah McQuoid Keenan. They left for Dearham, Cumberland, ENG about 1845 and Felix siblings; John, Peter/Dionysius, and Mary have been found in Cumberland as well.
Any help finding Felix' parents, other potential siblings or relatives in County Down would be greatly appreciated.
Best regards,
Chuck

[aghadowey]

See also-
https://www.rootschat.com/forum/index.php?topic=887985.msg7612580#msg7612580

[Elwyn Soutter]

The baptism & marriage registers for Kirkcubbin are in the RC parish of Ardkeen. They only start in 1828 and there are no baptisms or marriages recorded between 1835 and 1852. (Luckily John’s baptism on 12th April 1835 was the last before records paused.

Tracing back earlier will be difficult due to lack of records and of course some of John’s siblings may have been baptised in the missing years.

In that area (civil parishes of Ballyhalbert and Grey Abbey), Griffiths Valuation (c 1860) list 6 Keenan households. John & Samuel lived beside each other in Greyabbey village; Hugh & William beside each other in Ballyesborough; Daniel in Ballyhalbert village & John in Glastry.  All lived in labourers cottages. Labourers can be hard to trace as they often moved around to follow available work. But you could try researching those households to see if there is any connection to yours.

https://www.askaboutireland.ie/griffith-valuation/index.xml?action=nameSearch

[Jon_ni]

Lookups could prove problematical.
https://www.findmypast.co.uk/articles/ireland-roman-catholic-parish-baptisms-parish-list

Kircubbin = Ardkeen https://registers.nli.ie/parishes/0385 registers 1828-38, 1852-89.

Ballygalget https://registers.nli.ie/parishes/0391 NLI images 1828-35 then re-commence 1852 (as name indexed on Ancestry, Findmypast and Familysearch).
Same span for RootsIrelandland transcriptions https://rootsireland.ie/down/online-sources.php

PRONI: https://www.nidirect.gov.uk/publications/guide-church-records

ARDKEEN civil parish:
R.C. Ardkeen and Innishargy (Kircubbin).
The Roman Catholic parish of Ardkeen includes most of Ardkeen parish, Inishargy parish, St Andrew’s parish and Greyabbey parish. Baptisms, 1828-38 and 1852-82; marriages, 1828-39 and 1852-89.

R.C. Ballygalget.
The Roman Catholic parish of Ballygalget contains part of Ardkeen parish – see under ARDQUIN.

ARDQUIN civil parish: The Roman Catholic parish of Ballygalget contains part of Ardquin parish, part of Ardkeen parish, and the parishes of Castleboy and Slanes. Baptisms, 1828-35, 1852-64 and 1866-81; marriages, 1852-82.

R.C. Portaferry and Ballyphilip. Most of Ardquin is in the Roman Catholic parish of Portaferry and
Ballyphilip – see under BALLYPHILIP. R.C. Ballyphilip and Portaferry. Contains most of the civil parishes of Ardquin, Ballyphilip and Ballytrustan. Baptisms, marriages and some funerals, 1843-81

[charlesmkeenan1]

Thank you Elwyn and Jon
Chuck

[charlesmkeenan1]

Elwyn:
I have not seen Samuel or Hugh in any naming patterns, so I wonder if they are related to my line.
John and Daniel, recur with a high frequency.
Chuck

[Elwyn Soutter]

You could try researching the ones you feel might be family. For example here;s a Daniel death in Ballyhalbert in 1895, aged 85. His wife was still alive and his sister in law is named as Mary Moore. So there’s a few things you might get from that.

https://civilrecords.irishgenealogy.ie/churchrecords/images/deaths_returns/deaths_1895/05926/4682876.pdf

Here’s another Daniel marrying in 1900. He lived in Glastry, son of John. He married in the Presbyterian church. Research them and see if you get any connections.

https://civilrecords.irishgenealogy.ie/churchrecords/images/marriage_returns/marriages_1900/10362/5772244.pdf