1. Mary HANLEY was born in poss. Soloheadbeg, Co. Tipperary.

Unfortunately not much is known of Mary's family. Given that Mary was married in the parish of Solohead (formerly spelled Solloghod) at a time when marriages typically took place in the bride's parish, it's possible the Hanleys came from that parish. Another possibility is that, given that the neighbouring parish of Soloheadbeg (formerly Solloghodbeg) used the Solohead church, and given that Mary's husband probably came from Soloheadbeg, the Hanley family may well have come from Soloheadbeg.

According to records from Tipperary Family History Research, the marriage of Mary and Edmond was witnessed by Thomas Carey and William Carew.

Besides the surnmames Hanley and Carew, names that occur more than once amongst the godparents of the children of Mary and Edmond are Godfrey and Ryan, so it's possible the Hanleys and the Carews were related somehow to these families.

There's a possibility that our Hanleys might be connected to the Hanley family of Margaret Lloyd from New Zealand. Margaret's great-grandmother, Ellen Hanley, was born in Solohead in 1818 to Michael Hanley and Ellen Lonergan (her baptismal sponsors were William Meighan and Mary Ryan). Sometime afterwards, possibly between 1830 and 1843, Ellen's family  was evicted from their farm in Solohead and they subsequently moved to Cooga in the parish of Doon, Co. Limerick. Family lore has it that the Hanley farm was on Lord Stanley's estate and could be seen from the the big house, as a result of which the residents wanted to be rid of the tenants, hence the eviction. It's possible they were offered alternative land in Cooga by Lord Stanley because in Griffith's Valuation (1850s), Lord Stanley is shown to be their landlord in Cooga. Descendants of this Hanley family still live in Cooga.

I've been unable to make a connection between Margaret's Hanley family and mine but just in case they are related, here are some more details about her great-grandmother's family:

Ellen had a sister named Julia who was born in 1815 (baptismal sponsor was William Lonergan). According to Julia's baptismal certificate, the family lived in Kilmurry (there are Kilmurrys near Carrick-on-Suir and Clonmel in Co. Tipperary but it seems more likely the Hanleys lived in Kilmurry, Co. Limerick, which is closer to Solohead). Ellen also had two brothers, Michael who was born in 1821 (baptismal sponsors were John Lonergan and Honora Lonergan) and John, born 1824 (sponsors were William Cranitch and Margaret Godfrey). It seems that Ellen (mother of Julia, Ellen, Michael and John) died shortly after John's birth because it appears her husband Michael married Johanna O'Doherty in 1826. They had a son, Cornelius, in 1827 (sponsors were were Edmond Hanley and Catherine Leamy), who must have died in infancy because a second son named Cornelius was born in 1828 (sponsors were John Doherty and Johanna Doherty). Cornelius married Hanora Carew in 1856 in Galbally and their children, born in Doon, were Bridget, born 1859 (baptismal sponsors were Julia Hanley and John Hickey); Eliza, born 1859 (sponsors Bridget Madden and Michael Tobin); Richard, born 1865 (William Coffey and Catherine Coffey); Mary, born 1867( Daniel Tuohy and Margaret Hickey); Patrick, born 1869 (John Hanley and Julia Hanley); Julia, born 1872 (Richard Lloyd, Catherine Hickey); and Hanora, born 1878 (James Carew and Bridget Hickey).

Ellen married Patrick Tobin in Doon in 1843 and following his death she married John Lloyd in Doon in 1853. Witnesses to Ellen's marriage to John were Conor (Cornelius) Hanley and Bridget Hanley, and among the sponsors at their children's baptisms were T. (Thomas?), Con, Julia, Patrick, Kitty and Bridget Hanley. Richard Lloyd, a son of John and Ellen and grandfather of Margaret, emigrated to Christchurch, New Zealand around 1877.

I have also been in contact with Michael H. Ryan who is a descendant of Thomas Ryan (believed to have been from Soloheadbeg) and Julia Hanley who married in Solohead/Oola on 21 January 1854. Could Julia have been related to our Hanleys? In case there is a connection, here are some details on the children of Thomas and Julia:

Thomas, born 1855, probably in Soloheadbeg
Thady (aka Timothy), baptised 30 July 1856 in Tipperary (ancestor of Michael H. Ryan)
Bridget, baptised 8 December 1857 (although Michael halso has a baptismal date of 18 February 1857 for possibly the same person - could the first Bridget have died?)
Richard (although no documentation has been located for him)

Note: The Hanley surname is numerous throughout Ireland, especially in north Munster and in Connacht. The Hanleys were originally a sept of Co. Roscommon. The Irish form of the name is "Ó h-Áinle" from the Irish word "áinle" meaning "beauty".

Mary married Edmond CAREW on 20 Feb 1849 in Solohead, Co. Tipperary. Edmond was born poss. 1820 in prob. Soloheadbeg area, Co. Tipperary and was christened poss. 18 Feb 1820 in Solohead, Co. Tipperary. He died 17 Nov 1897 in Soloheadbeg, Co. Tipperary.

This family now goes by the surname 'Carey', although most 19th century documents relating to the family show the surname as 'Carew'. 'Carew' is the name of an Anglo-Norman family which settled in Tipperary in the 13th century, whereas 'Carey', besides being a synonym for 'Carew', is also an anglicised form of several Irish names including 'Kerin(s)' and 'Keary'. By the early 20th century our Carew family seems to have switched to 'Carey'. Both surnames are very numerous in Co. Tipperary.

It's believed our Carew/Carey family came from Soloheadbeg, Co. Tipperary. In older documents, Soloheadbeg is spelled Solloghodbeg.

It's being presumed that Edmond's father was also named Edmond because (i) the custom at the time was to name one's first-born son after the child's paternal grandfather - Edmond's eldest son was named Edmond, (ii) the only record of a Carew or Carey in Soloheadbeg in the Tithe Applotment Books (1826) relates to an Edmond Carew (who leased seven acres), and (iii) Tipperary Family History Research (TFHR) has found a baptismal record for an Edmond Carew whose father's name is also Edmond (the mother's name is Mary Gavin). It's the only baptismal record found for an Edmond Carew in Solohead between 1809, when TFHR records begin, and 1831, when they end; the baptism took place in 1820, a likely date for a man who had children born between 1849 and 1869.  

This baptismal record could well be that of Edmond above, but there isn't sufficient proof. For this reason I'm not applying all the other information I've gathered on the family of Edmond Carew (senior) and Mary Gavin to our Edmond. Instead I've put it in the Other Families page (click on Carew) on this website and maybe some day a definite link might be established. There is much to suggest that Edmond Carew and Mary Gavin were the parents of our Edmond: for instance, one of the witnesses to our Edmond's marriage in 1849 was Thomas Carey (Edmond, son of Edmond Carew and Mary Gavin, had a brother named Thomas). In addition, sponsors at the baptisms of our Edmond's two eldest children in 1849 and 1851 included William Carey, Mary Carey and Michael Carey (Edmond, son of Edmond Carew and Mary Gavin, had siblings named William, Mary and Michael). If our Edmond's parents were, in fact, Edmond Carew and Mary Gavin, the absence of Carew/Carey sponsors at the baptisms of his remaining seven children may possibly be explained by the emigration of his siblings. With the exception of Edmond, it's believed they all emigrated, most if not all going to Newfoundland, Canada. Growing up, and in correspondence with Carew/Carey relatives in Ireland during the course of my research, I never heard mention of any Newfoundland link to my family, but this doesn't necessarily mean that our Edmond wasn't connected to the family of Edmond Carew and Mary Gavin. However, proof is required.   

Notes:

1. If Edmond was in fact a son of Edmond Carew and Mary Gavin, then he had a twin named Patrick and his baptismal sponsor was Catherine Flinn (no other sponsor listed).

2. According to his death certificate, Edmond was aged 80 when he died (ties in roughly with the date of baptism of Edmond Carew, son of Edmond Carew and Mary Gavin) . The cause of death was "probably decline of life".