I'M INDEBTED TO TOM STACK IN ENNIS, CO. CLARE, A GREAT-GREAT-GREAT-GRANDSON OF 'UNKNOWN' ABOVE, FOR ALL HIS HELP WITH MY CUNNINGHAM RESEARCH. TOM HAS BEEN RESEARCHING HIS FAMILY HISTORY SINCE THE MID-1980S.
It's thought our Cunningham family may have come to Kilbaha in the parish of Newtownsandes (now called Moyvane) in Co. Kerry from either the Abbeydorney area of Co. Kerry or the Templeglantine area of Co. Limerick. It's not known when exactly they settled in Kilbaha. We also know of a Cunningham family (of which Bishop John Cunningham of Concordia, Kansas was a member) connected to ours who were evicted from their farm in Mountcoal near Listowel in the 1850s, so it's possible our Cunningham family may have had origins in the Mountcoal area which is closer to Abbeydorney than Kilbaha. We do know of a Brian Cunningham who was married to a Mary or Margaret Scanlon and who was living in Mountcoal in 1858 (their daughter Catherine was baptised in Lixnaw - the parish where Mountcoal is located - on 16 January 1858). The family appears to have been living in Abbeydorney in 1859 (their son John was baptised in Abbeydorney on 9 July 1859).
Parish records have been located (on www.irishgenealogy.ie) for several Cunninghams with Kilbaha connections who may be related to 'unknown' above:
A Mary Cunningham of Kilbaha married a Daniel Mangan in Moyvane on 29 July 1843. Witnesses were Thomas Mulvihill and George Mahony. Baptismal records have been located (on www.irishgenealogy.ie) for an Elizabeth and Daniel Cunningham, children of a James Cunningham and a Hanora Thornton of Kilbaha. Elizabeth was baptised on 7 December 1841 (sponsors were Michael Thornton and Mary Thornton) and Daniel on 18 May 1844 (with sponsors Daniel Cunningham and Honora Cunningham). Could James have been a son of 'unknown' above? Or could he have been a son of 'unknown's son Daniel? However we have no evidence to show that 'unknown' had a son or grandson named James.
The Cunningham surname is common in all areas of Ireland, especially Ulster and Connaught. In east Ulster the name is mainly of Scottish origin, and in other areas it's mainly the anglicised form of native Irish names, such as MacCuinneagáin.
According to family lore, our Cunningham family is connected to Philip Cunningham, the Moyvane-born rebel who was transported to Australia following the 1798 Rising and became the leader of the failed Castle Hill convict rebellion of March 1804. However I haven't been able to prove there's a definite connection between Philip and our Cunninghams or a link between him and the townland of Kilbaha. While Philip Cunningham's birthplace is shown as "Moyvane, Co. Kerry" on transportation documents, I've been told that from 1690 until 1939 the parish now called Moyvane was known as Newtownsandes, so it's a possibility that the Moyvane that's documented might actually relate to one of the TOWNLANDS of Moyvane North or Moyvane South located in the PARISH then called Newtownsandes. I've also read that Philip Cunningaham was born in a place called Gleann Liath (or Gleanlea or Glownlee) in the parish of Newtownsandes/Moyvane. Gleann Liath forms part of the townland of Murher which is located directly to the west of both Moyvane North and Moyvane South (with Kilbaha being directly east of Moyvane South), so it does seem likely that Philip Cunningham came from this general area. I'm wondering if Gleann Liath might be located on the eastern side of Murher, close to the border with Moyvane North/South, which might explain why Moyvane was specified on the transportation papers.
Whether or not there's a connection, Philip Cunningham's story is worth telling: he was born probably in the 1760s and, according to 'Home Thoughts from Abroad – the Australian Letters of Thomas F. Culhane' published by the Glin Historical Society in 1998, was involved in nationalist activities with the United Irishman in north Kerry as a young man having been appointed leader in his parish by Gerald FitzGerald, who was a prominent member of the United Irishmen in west Limerick, and by Nicholas Sandes of Listowel.
Other sources tell us that Philip Cunningham was related in some way to a Cunningham family in Co. Tipperary, and probably sometime in 1790s he moved to Clonmel in that county where he ran a public house and worked as a stonemason. In February 1798 he married a local woman whose surname was Black. In Clonmel he became a leader locally of the 1798 Rising which led to his deportation to Australia on board the 'Anne I', which docked in Port Jackson in NSW in February 1801.
The Castle Hill Rising was the first rebellion in Australian history. Involving Irish convicts (mostly political offenders arrested in the aftermath of the 1798 Rising), the revolt began with the rebels' seizure of their convict station and culminated in a clash between the rebels and government troops. After the troops opened fire, the convicts fled and the rebellion was broken. Philip Cunningham, who had been wounded in the melée, was captured and immediately hanged.
The following relates, not to Philip Cunningham, but to 'unknown' Cunningham above:
