We're assuming 'unknown' above was born in Co. Kerry because his two sons (that we know of) were born in Kerry, although we don't know exactly where. There's a possibility the Devines may have come from the Dingle area, due to a connection with the Husseys, another family being researched. Family lore has it that our Hussey family, a member of which married a granddaughter of 'unknown', emigrated to London from Dingle in the 19th century, but all the evidence points to them having come from Casteisland, Co. Kerry. The Devines and Husseys are the only branches of my husband's family tree, that we know of, that originate in Co. Kerry, so could the Dingle connection, if one exists, have come from the Devine rather than the Hussey family?
The Devine surname is most common in Ulster, North Leinster and Connaught. The name is derived from the Irish "Ó Daimhín" which was the name of a sept in Co. Fermanagh. Some Devines in the southern part of the country have their origins in the Irish "Ó Dubháin" family whose name comes from the Irish word "dubh" meaning dark or black. Other surnames derived from Ó Dubháin include Devane, Dwane, Duane and Downes. From my own research, the Devine surname doesn't appear to have been too common in Kerry in the 19th century, with only two occupiers by the name of Devine listed for the whole of the county in Griffiths Valuation (1847-1864); one was a James Devine from Killarney and the other was an Owen Devine from the townland of Balynorig East in the parish of Kilmoyley (north of Tralee). However a search for Devines in Co. Kerry on the message boards of www.Ancestry.co.uk in October 2006 yielded 52 postings, one quarter of which had a reference to the Dingle peninsula.
