MANY THANKS GO JER KENNELLY FROM KNOCKANURE, CO. KERRY AND DENIS COLLINS FROM MALLOW, CO. CORK FOR THEIR HELP IN TRACING THE CO. LIMERICK ORIGINS OF MY O'CONNOR FAMILY.
It's thought Patrick may have been born in the townland of Dirreen Lower in Athea, Co. Limerick and later moved just over the county border to farm in Kilbaha South, Newtownsandes, Co. Kerry. Note that Newtownsandes is now called Moyvane and that Dirreen is sometimes spelled Derreen, Direen or Dereen.
There are two entries in Griffith's Valuation (with a printing date of 1 July 1852) for a Patrick Connors occupying land in Dirreen. One or both of these could refer to our Patrick above. One entry shows that a Patrick Connors was renting a house from a Timothy Sullivan and the other shows a Patrick Connors renting a house and land from a John Connors. There's also an entry for a Johanna Connors in Dirreen who was renting a house and garden from a Daniel Liston.
However there's an entry in Griffith's Valuation (with a printing date of 15 December 1851) for a Patrick Connors in Kilbaha South. There are no other entries for Connors or Connor or O'Connor for the entire parish of Murher (name of civil parish, equivalent to Catholic parish name of Newtownsandes), so it's also a possibility that this Patrick Connors is our Patrick. It's also a possibility that our Patrick may have farmed in both Dirreen and Kilbaha. The Patrick listed in Griffith's for Kilbaha was the lessee of a "Herd's ho.", presumably a herdsman's house, along with about 28 acres of land. The lessor was a Rev. Samuel B. Leonard.
Kevin O'Connor from Kent has provided information on the family of another Patrick O'Connor who settled in Kilbaha in the 19th century having moved from the townland of Shronebeirne in the neighbouring parish of Duagh. It's possible that this Patrick is the Patrick Connors listed in Griffith's for Kilbaha even though he would have been only about 17 years of age at the time of the valuation. Although there's probably no connection between Kevin's Patrick and our Patrick, Kevin's information is worth noting:
Patrick O'Connor was born in Shronebeirne, Duagh in 1834 and moved to Kilbaha, Newtownsandes as a young man. His father was Thomas O'Connor and his mother's last name was Brosnan. Thomas, who was born in 1795 or 1756 had a brother, "Bichana" (Richard?), who farmed in Ballydonoghue in the parish of Galey. Besides Patrick, Thomas had five other children that we know of: Mary, born in 1827; James, born in 1828 who went to farm in Meenahorna, Duagh; Thomas who farmed at Shronebeirne; John T. who moved to Farranpierce in the parish of Killehenny; and Denis who emigrated to the U.S. It's believed Patrick married a woman from Kilbaha and the couple acquired her family's farm, now owned (2007) by a Martin Kennelly. Patrick and his wife had several children, some or most of whom emigrated to the US. Kevin has put his family history together in a book 'The Descendants of the O'Connors of Carrigafoyle Stemming from the Datheenachs Line'. Besides the O'Connors, other families featured in Kevin's work include the Brosnans of Shronebeirne, the Byrnes of Coolanelig in Duagh, the Keanes of Ballygrennan in Finuge, and many more. For further information on the book, contact Kevin at kevin@oconnor4488.fsworld.co.uk.
Another O'Connor family from Newtownsandes was that of Bryan O'Connor, a great-great-grandfather of Diane Kern in the U.S. Diane doesn't know what part of Newtownsandes Bryan came from, and it's unlikely he's connected to our O'Connors, but for the benefit of other O'Connor researchers, here is Diane's information on her O'Connor ancestors:
Bryan was one of the 15 children of Michael O'Connor and Catherine whose surname was believed to have been Flaherty. He left Newtownsandes for the U.S. (possibly via Canada) in the late 1840s / early 1850s and later married Margaret O'Keeffe from Duagh, Co. Kerry (with whose family he may have travelled to Canada). Family lore has it that Bryan had to leave Ireland because he was to be hung for stealing a sheep to feed his starving family. If you would like to get in touch with Diane regarding this family, please send an e-mail to dock9@adelphia.net.
Note: The O'Connor surname is very common in all areas of Ireland, especially in counties Kerry, Limerick and Cork. The name is derived from the Irish 'O Conchubhair' from the first name, 'Conchubhair', meaning, perhaps, 'lover of hounds'. There were five septs: in Connaught (O'Connor Don), Offaly, north Clare, Keenaght in Co. Derry, and Kerry. In Kerry, the O'Connors were chiefs of a large territory in the north of the county. The Norman invasions displaced them further north to the Limerick border where they retained much of their power until the seventeenth century. Today the descendants of these O'Connors are by far the most numerous of all the descendants of the original septs.
