Myles CUNNINGHAM [Parents] was born abt 1790s in Kilbaha, or poss Abbeydorney area, Co. Kerry. He married Johanna LYNES / LYONS.

Myles and his wife, Johanna, had a son and seven daughters, all of whom married and remained in the parish of Newtownsandes (now Moyvane). Everyone in the area knew of the seven daughters because it so unusual to have seven sisters all married and living in the parish at the same time.

Johanna LYNES / LYONS was born in poss Newtownsandes (Moyvane) area, Co. Kerry. She married Myles CUNNINGHAM.

Unfortunately nothing is known of Johanna or the Lynes/Lyons family. They may have come from the Newtownsandes (Moynane) area or, given Johanna's husband's possible connection with Abbeydorney, they may have come from the Abbeydorney area.

The Lynes surname, which is most numerous in counties Kerry, Cork, Limerick and Tipperary, is an anlicisation of the Irish surname "Ó Laighin" from the word "laighean" meaning lance or spear. Another form of Lynes is Lyons, one of the commonest surnames in Ireland, particularly in the three southern provinces. In Ulster it's usually a variant of the English and Scottish surname "Lyon", but elsewhere it's virtually always the anglicised version of one of two Irish names, Ó Laighin, or Ó Liathain which possibly derives from the Irish word "liath" meaning grey. The Ó Laighin name originated in two areas, Co. Kerry and east Co. Galway. In Kerry the name was almost invariably anglicised as "Lyne". The Ó Liathain family is reputed to have originated in Co. Limerick but the Ó Liathain name is now more common in Co. Cork, particularly in the north of the county.

Richard (Richie) CUNNINGHAM [Parents] was born about 1858 in Kilbaha, Moyvane, Co. Kerry. He died 24 Dec 1926. Richard married Brigid (Brigie) DORE on 27 Feb 1892.

Richie was also known as "Richie Bryan". He and his wife, Brigie, lived in Kilbaha.

Brigid (Brigie) DORE [Parents] was born 1857 in Moyvane South (Shronagraga), Co. Kerry. She died 1916. Brigid married Richard (Richie) CUNNINGHAM on 27 Feb 1892.

Richard HUDSON [Parents] was born prob abt 1790 in prob Co. Kerry. He died about 1850 and was buried in prob. Murher Cemetery, Moyvane, Co. Kerry. Richard married Margaret FINUCANE about 1817.

We don't know where exactly Richard was born but we're presuming it was in north Kerry. We do know he was baptised into the Protestant faith although his children were raised as Catholics (due to his marriage to a Catholic). We also know Richard was related to Edward Hudson of Strand St. in Tralee, Co. Kerry who owned over 400 acres of land in Kilbaha, Newtownsandes (now called Moyvane), Co. Kerry. Richard and his wife, Catherine, would eventually settle in Kilbaha where descendants of theirs still live.

Margaret FINUCANE was born about 1793 in poss. Ardmore, Carhoonakineely, Tarbert, Co. Kerry. She died 20 May 1877 in Kilbaha, Moyvane, Co. Kerry and was buried in prob. Murher Cemetery, Moyvane, Co. Kerry. Margaret married Richard HUDSON about 1817.

The only information available on our Finucane family is that they may have come from an area called Ardmore in the townland of Carhoonakineely (not to be confused with the nearby townlands of Carhoona and Carhoonakilla) near Tarbert, Co. Kerry. Research has been done on a Finucane family from Carhoonakinella (presumably a variant of Carhoonakineely), to which Margaret was probably connected, by Brian Sheehan from Dublin, whose great-great-grandfather was a John Finucane, born about 1754 in Carhoonakinella. Although no definite link can be established between Brian's family and ours, it's likely they were related given the Carhoonakineely connection and the fact that we know that Margaret was somehow related to the Finucanes of Kilcolgan, near Tarbert, to whom Brian's Finucanes are also related (John Finucane's grandson Patsy having bought the farm in Kilcolgan). Information on Brian's Finucane family is available on his family tree website www.sheehanfamilytree.ie. The site also provided information on the O'Connor family of Gortdromasillihy in Moyvane and the Hill, also in Moyvane (Jackie O'Connor having divided his farm in the late 19th century between two sons, Cornelius receiving land in Gortfromasillihy and Jackie getting the farm at the Hill).

Getting back to Margaret, she and her husband, Richard, seemed to have moved around quite a bit after their marriage. It's probable they lived in Duagh around 1830 because their daughter, Johanna, was baptised there in that year. It's also believed they lived for a time in Ballyeagh, near Ballybunion, and at another point they seem to have moved to Tralee where it's thought their youngest child, Patrick Robert, was born in 1838 (although there's no documentation to support this) and where it's known their daughter, Johanna, was married in 1847. By 1850 it seems they had left Tralee and settled in Kilbaha where thry had connections through Edward Hudson, a relative of Richard's from Tralee who owned more than 400 acres in Kilbaha at the time. Information on the Hudson family of Tralee is available in William Hudson's volume "The Hudsons of Tralee", a copy of which may be studied in Tralee and Listowel libraries. Unfortunately, when I visited Tralee library in 2005, I ran out of time before I had a chance to take a look at this particular book.

An indication of what life was like for Margaret and Richard back then comes from stories told by family members. For example, Richard and Margaret's son, William, once told a relative that he remembered that while a mass was being said at the house when he was a child, people were put on guard duty outside to see to it that no British police would bother those inside. He also remembered there being firearms in the house at the time. And William's brother, Patrick, told his own son, William, that his (Patrick's) mother, Margaret Hudson, was often "beaten up" by local Whiteboys, agrarian agitators who operated in Ireland at the time.

It's thought Richard and Margaret may have had a second daughter, but no further information is available.

The Finucane surname is numerous in counties Limerick, Kerry and Clare. An Irish form is Mac Fionnmhacáin meaning "fair son".

John DORE was born in Moyvane South (Shronagraga), Co. Kerry. He died 1897 in prob Moyvane South (Shronagraga), Co. Kerry. John married Nora LYNDON on 1850.

The Dore surname is numerous throughout Ireland, especially in Co. Limerick. It's a name derived usuallly from the Irish "Ó Doghair" from the word "doghra" meaning "sorrow".

Note from Helen: Although neither my husband nor I are descended from John Dore above, John's daughter Brigie married my great-granduncle Richie Cunningham. In the course of my research into the Cunninghams, I came across valuable information on the Dore family, hence its inclusion on the website.

Nora LYNDON was born in Kilnaughton, Tarbert, Co. Kerry. She married John DORE on 1850.

Six relatives of Nora's: Patrick Lyndon and his sister Mary along with Michael Scanlon and his three sisters, Mary, Katie and Bridget Scanlon, were among 17 people drowned on 15 August 1893 in a boating accident on the Shannon near Tarbert.

Fifteen young people from the area had hired two boats to take them the three miles from Tarbert to Co. Clare on an excursion. It was the Feast of the Assumption, traditionally a day of celebration at the end of the year's harvest. One of the boatmen didn't turn up on the morning of the 15th, so all the passengers crowded onto the other boat with the second boatman and his son. On the way across, the boat began to take in water through some loose laths, but the passengers bailed it out with their boots and they made it across.

They weren't so lucky on the way back that evening. There was a strong tide and when the boat was within a few hundred yards of the shore, it was seen to drift downriver. Cries and shouting were heard on shore, but they were taken to be cries of excitement rather than cries for help, and the alarm wasn't raised until the next day. It was too late - there were no survivors. The tragedy was a devastating blow for the Tarbert area, and for many years afterwards, people refused to go boating on the Shannon on 15 August. A plaque in memory of the victims was erected on the coast road near Tarbert about 1993.

Daniel MADDEN.

John MOLONEY [Parents] was born about 1848 in Islandanny, Duagh, Co. Kerry. He died 14 Feb 1936 in prob Ballymacjordan, Abbeyfeale, Co. Limerick and was buried in Abbeyfeale Old Churchyard, Co. Limerick. John married Margaret HUDSON on 15 Feb 1876 in Newtownsandes (Moyvane), Co. Kerry.

John and Margaret lived in Ballymacjordan, Abbeyfeale, Co. Limerick.

A son of John and Margaret (we don't know if it was John or James) had a son named Tom (born in Kilmorna, Co. Kerry, died 16 April 1986) who became a priest and worked in San Diego, California for nine years prior to 1955 when he was asked by his bishop to set up a new parish in Riverside, east of Los Angeles. In Riverside Tom established Our Lady Of Perpetual Help church and supervised the construction of a new school.

Margaret HUDSON [Parents] was born about 1850 in Kilbaha, Newtownsandes (Moyvane), Co. Kerry. She died 14 May 1910 in prob Ballymacjordan, Abbeyfeale, Co. Limerick and was buried in Abbeyfeale Old Churchyard, Co. Limerick. Margaret married John MOLONEY on 15 Feb 1876 in Newtownsandes (Moyvane), Co. Kerry.

Edmond HUDSON [Parents] was born about 1818 in poss. Ballyeagh, near Ballybunion, Co. Kerry. He died 10 Oct 1883 in Kilbaha, Moyvane, Co. Kerry and was buried in Murhur Cemetery, Moyvane, Co. Kerry. Edmond married Hanora (Nora) O'CONNOR / CONNOR on 1841 in Duagh, Co. Kerry.

Edmond and his sister, Johanna, were the only members of Richard and Margaret Hudson's family who didn't emigrate. In 1999 everyone living in Kilbaha with a Hudson surname was descended from Edmond; this may still be the case.

In the 1850s Edmond was renting about 80 acres in the townland of Kilbaha North from his Protestant relative Edward Hudson (who owned all the land - about 440 acres - in Kilbaha North). In 1915, a number of these descendants bought out Edward's Kilbaha lands at a low price. Further details on the purchase are available in William Hudson's volume 'The Hudsons of Kilbaha North' which may be studied in the library in Tralee, Co. Kerry.

It's felt Edmond must have been quite well off seeing that he was able to afford to have a headstone erected for his wife, Nora (who died in 1876), which most of his neighbours would not have been able to do at the time.

Hanora (Nora) O'CONNOR / CONNOR "Nora" was born about 1819. She died 20 Sep 1876 in Kilbaha, Moyvane, Co. Kerry and was buried in Murhur Cemetery, Moyvane, Co. Kerry. Nora married Edmond HUDSON on 1841 in Duagh, Co. Kerry.

From correspondence with Kathy Gati from Arkansas, it seems there's a possibility that Edmond Hudson and Nora O'Connor may have had another daughter, named Mary: Kathy tells us that her grandmother, Hannah McEnery, whose mother was a Mary Hudson, emigrated to the United States from Newtownsandes in May 1901 aged 21. While there's no evidence that Mary Hudson was from the parish of Newtownsandes - or from its townland of Kilbaha - it's a possibility given that rural people at that time in Ireland, unless they emigrated, didn't generally move too far from their townlands or parishes.

For those researching O'Connor and McEnery families in Co. Limerick, the following information from Kathy might be useful:
Kathy's father, Jeremiah Jerome O'Connor was born in the Bronx, New York on 6 October 1913. He had a brother named James who was born in 1907, and another brother, Thomas, who died in infancy.  Jeremiah's parents were James O'Connor (born 12 May 1875 or 1879 in Co. Limerick) and Hannah McEnery. James and Hannah met in the US and married in Manhattan on 15 April 1906. Family lore has it that they had lived 17 miles apart in Ireland, which makes sense given that Hannah was from Newtownsandes and James was from Co. Limerick. Kathy has however been told that Hannah was born in Kilkenny which doesn't tie in her having lived in Newtownsandes prior to emigration. Hannah's parents were Michael McEnery from probably the Abbeyfeale area of Co. Limerick and Mary Hudson, and James's parents were James O'Connor and Margaret Hartnett or Hartwell (probably the former).

Jerry KENNELLY [Parents] was born about 1883 in prob Gortdromagowna, Knockanure, Co. Kerry. He died date unknown. Jerry married Mary MOLONEY.

Jerry and Mary lived with their family in Gortdromagowna, Knockanure, Co. Kerry.

Mary MOLONEY [Parents] was born about 1888 in Islandanny, Duagh, Co. Kerry. She died 22 May 1922. Mary married Jerry KENNELLY.

Mary was only 33 years of age when she died.