Myles CUNNINGHAM [Parents] was born abt 1780s in Kilbaha, or poss Abbeydorney area, Co. Kerry. He married Johanna LYNES / LYONS.

Myles and his wife, Johanna Lynes (or Lyons), 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 abt 1790s in possibly Newtownsandes (Moyvane) area, Co. Kerry. She died in probably Kilbaha, Moyvane, Co. Kerry. Johanna married Myles CUNNINGHAM.

Unfortunately nothing is known of Johanna or the Lynes/Lyons family. Given that Johanna's husband, Myles Cunningham, was from Newtownsandes (now called Moyvane), it's possible Johanna may also have come from this parish. In case Johanna's family came from the same townland in Newtownsandes as Myles, i.e., Kilbaha, here are details from marriage and baptismal records located on the Irish Genealogy website, www.irishgenealogy.ie, for a number of people with Lynes connections who lived in Kilbaha. Note that the Lynes surname is interchangeable with Lyons.

Children of Cornelius Lindon and Bridget Lyne:
Patrick Lindon, baptised on 6 June 1813

Children of Dermot Lynes and Mary Sullivan:
Catherine Lynes, baptised on 30 October 1839

Children of Daniel Lynes and Honora Shine who were married in Moyvane on 10 February 1834 (Honora was from Kilbaha but Daniel's address wasn't recorded on the marriage record):
Margaret Lynes, baptised on 26 September 1844
Patrick Lynes, baptised on 20 January 1853

Children of Michael Hanrahan and Bridget Lyons:
Michael Hanrahan, baptised on 24 May 1866
Daniel Hanrahan, baptised on 28 July 1867
John Hanrahan, baptised on 26 November 1868
Patrick, baptised on 18 November 1869   
Denis Hanrahan, baptised on 19 January 1871

Children of Patrick Lyons and Julia Lyons:
Daniel Lyons, baptised on 15 December 1871
Mary Lyons, baptised on 29 May 1873
Honora Lyons, baptised on 25 April 1875

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 2 Jun 1852 in Kilbaha, Moyvane, Co. Kerry and was christened 4 Jun 1852 in Moyvane, Co. Kerry. He died 24 Dec 1926. Richard married Brigid (Brigie) DORE on 27 Feb 1892 in Moyvane, Co. Kerry.

The sponsor at Richie's baptism was Daniel Kearney.

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

The writer of a handwritten family tree on the 'Moyvane and District' page of Jer Kennelly's online album collection (see Links page on this website) tells us that "A son of this marriage [i.e., the marriage of Richie and Brigie], Myles or Sean Cunningham, settled in Killeedy, Co. Limerick and on 19th Jan. 1851 married Eliz. Dore of [what looks like] Dorriry whose grandfather, Maurice Dower, had come down to Killeedy from Gortnagloss about the same time as James Dower moved to Newtownsandes. Maurice and James may have been brothers". However, because Richie and Brigie married in 1892, no son of that marriage could have married in 1851 and because Elizabeth Dore's husband was Oliver Cunningham, it's possible Richie had a relative named Oliver Cunningham. Unfortunately I have been unsuccessful in finding out any other information on Oliver.

Brigid (Brigie) DORE [Parents] was born about 17 Dec 1857 in Moyvane South (Shronagraga), Co. Kerry and was christened 19 Dec 1857 in Moyvane, Co. Kerry. She died 1916. Brigid married Richard (Richie) CUNNINGHAM on 27 Feb 1892 in Moyvane, Co. Kerry.

Richard HUDSON [Parents] was born abt 1780s in north Kerry. He died about 1850 in probably Kilbaha, Moyvane, Co. Kerry and was buried in probably Murhur Cemetery, Moyvane, Co. Kerry. Richard married Margaret FINUCANE about 1815 in north Kerry.

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 owing 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 [Parents] was born about 1793 in possibly Ardmore, Carhoonakineely, Tarbert, Co. Kerry. She died 20 May 1877 in Kilbaha, Moyvane, Co. Kerry and was buried in probably Murhur Cemetery, Moyvane, Co. Kerry. Margaret married Richard HUDSON about 1815 in north Kerry.

It's possible Margaret was a daughter of John Finucane and Kate Lynch of Ardmore, Carhoonakineely, Tarbert. One source tells us she was but another says she was a daughter of a John Finucane of Ardmore who had sons named John - who emigrated to the United States - and possibly Frank. Because the John who married Kate Lynch had a son named John who didn't emigrate, it seems there may have been two John Finucanes living in Ardmore around the same time resulting in the uncertainty regarding Margaret's parents.    

Margaret and her husband, Richard Hudson, 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 (sometimes spelled Ballyeigh), 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.

John DORE [Parents] was born in Moyvane South (Shronagraga), Co. Kerry. He died 1897 in probably Moyvane South (Shronagraga), Co. Kerry. John married Honora (Nora) LYNDON on 1850.

Although his family's surname was originally Dower, John went by the name of Dore. I'm also told that the Dowers who emigrated to the United States tended to use the Dore surname. A possible reason for this could be that Dower may have been pronounced as Dore and it may have been easier to spell it as such. The Dowers who emigrated to New Zealand retained their surname.

Honora (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 married Margaret MULVIHILL on 7 Feb 1837 in Ballylongford, Co. Kerry.

Margaret MULVIHILL was born in probably Ballyline, Ballylongford, Co. Kerry. She married Daniel MADDEN on 7 Feb 1837 in Ballylongford, Co. Kerry.

John MOLONEY [Parents] was born about 1848 in Islandanny, Duagh, Co. Kerry. He died 14 Feb 1936 in probably Ballymacjordan, Abbeyfeale, Co. Limerick and was buried in Abbeyfeale Old Churchyard, Co. Limerick. John married Margaret HUDSON on 15 Feb 1875 in Newtownsandes (Moyvane), Co. Kerry.

John and Margaret lived in Islandanny, Duagh, Co. Kerry after their marriage, later moving to Ballymacjordan, Abbeyfeale, Co. Limerick.

A son of John and Margaret (we don't which one) had a son named Tom (born in Kilmorna, Co. Kerry, died 16 April 1986) who became a priest. He 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 3 Jun 1852 in Kilbaha, Newtownsandes (Moyvane), Co. Kerry and was christened 4 Jun 1852 in Moyvane, Co. Kerry. She died 14 May 1910 in probably Ballymacjordan, Abbeyfeale, Co. Limerick and was buried in Abbeyfeale Old Churchyard, Co. Limerick. Margaret married John MOLONEY on 15 Feb 1875 in Newtownsandes (Moyvane), Co. Kerry.

The sponsor at Margaret's baptism was Mary Collins.

Edward (Edmond) HUDSON [Parents] was born about 9 Mar 1816 in Bunagara, Listowel, Co. Kerry and was christened 9 Mar 1816 in Listowel, Co. Kerry. He died 10 Oct 1883 in Kilbaha, Moyvane, Co. Kerry and was buried in Murhur Cemetery, Moyvane, Co. Kerry. Edward married Hanora (Nora) O'CONNOR / CONNOR on 1841 in Duagh, Co. Kerry.

Sponsors at Edmond's baptism were Dermot Finucane and Mary Halpin.

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 was born about 1819 in probably Duagh, Co. Kerry. She died 20 Sep 1876 in Kilbaha, Moyvane, Co. Kerry and was buried in Murhur Cemetery, Moyvane, Co. Kerry. Hanora married Edward (Edmond) HUDSON on 1841 in Duagh, Co. Kerry.

Edmond and Nora's daughter Mary below is an addition to the original list of children given to me thanks to correspondence with Kathy Gati from Arkansas, a great-granddaughter of 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, Kathy's information ties in with information from Bill Hudson's work 'The Hudsons of County Kerry and their Descendants' (1960) which mentions a daughter named Mary who married a Mr. McEnery from Tubbertureen.

Jeremiah (Jerry) KENNELLY [Parents] was born about 1883 in probably Gortdromagowna, Knockanure, Co. Kerry. He died 25 Jul 1950. Jeremiah married Mary Ann MOLONEY about 1914.

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

Mary Ann MOLONEY [Parents] was born about 9 Nov 1886 in Islandanny, Duagh, Co. Kerry and was christened 11 Nov 1886 in Duagh, Co. Kerry. She died 22 May 1922. Mary married Jeremiah (Jerry) KENNELLY about 1914.

Mary was only 35 years of age when she died.