Share This:

Hello, any help would be greatly appreciated. I'm looking for the siblings, parents, grandparents etc of Francis McKenna born 1800 or 1802 in Dungannon, County Tyrone. He was said to be a seminarian at Maynooth College in Dublin (I need to verify this yet). He left the seminary to marry Sarah Teresa O'Neill (m. 1820 I believe) of County Tyrone, born ~1798/1805. against objections from both families. 

Her father was Captain Terence O'Neill. (I have not yet determined who her mother was as we have 2 potential mothers/wives of Terence: Margaret Stuart/Steward & Helena LNU). From what we can tell Terence O'Neill married twice. Rumor was Sarah & her brother John Falls O'Neill were sent North (? to Ulster/Tyrone County?) to be cared for by a relative after Terence remarried....

Anyway, Francis McKenna & Sarah Teresa O'Neill McKenna married in 1820 (I believe) & had 5 or 6 children born in Dungannon, County Tyrone, Ireland who came with them to USA-Philadelphia, PA 29 Jul 1841 departing out of Liverpool, England on the Columbia) (alternate sources say 1838 to Pittsburg, PA) 

Children: Francis b. 1821, Ann b.13 Jan 1836, Eliza/Elizabeth ~b. 1831, Michael ~b. 1832, John Falls McKenna b. 1 Feb 1834, Teresa Adelaide McKenna ~b.1835

Thank you in advance for any help provided!!! 
 

Diane C

Sunday 8th Sep 2019, 08:19PM

Message Board Replies

  • The RC baptism records for Dungannon start in 1821 (parish of Drumglass). Have you searched them for the children’s baptisms 1821 – 1835? The RC parish records are on-line free on the National Library site:

    https://www.nli.ie/en/family-history-introduction.aspx

    Researching the family earlier than that may be tricky due to the lack of records.

    Elwyn, IrelandXO Volunteer ☘

    Thursday 12th Sep 2019, 05:17AM
  • Hello, I am new to this group but I actually found your post with a general web search and I am so glad I did!  I believe Francis and Sarah are my distant relatives!  Francis and Sarah arrived in the US in 1841.  Their son Michael married Mary L Eddy and resided in the Town of Moscow, Wisconsin.  They had four children Francis, Hugh, Charles and Mary.  
     

    As for details about Francis and Sarah I am so curious!  My mother did remember reading something in the records about Francis leaving the seminary. This information is completely new to me!  So interesting!  My nephew has spurned a new look into my ancestors and the history they lived.  

    Thank you for sharing your knowledge and I hope that we can fill in the gaps together!

    All the best, 

    Kelley McKenna Lawrenz
     

     

     

     

    Kelley McKenna Lawrenz

    Tuesday 2nd Mar 2021, 01:52AM
  • Hello!

    Francis' daughter Sarah Teressa McKenna married Samuel Gaw McWilliams.  Samuel was the brother of my husband's gg-grandfather Robert McWilliams.  If you have any information on the McWilliamses, I'd love to share!

    John (Falls) McKenna was Francis' son.

    John McKenna
    Farmer; Sec. 4; P.O. Moscow; owns 500 acres of land, valued at $10 per acre; born in Ireland in 1837; came to America with his parents in 1841; in 1846, they settled in this town. He married Ann McNeil in 1864; they have five children - Mary Jane, Francis Eugene, Lucy, Ellen and John Charles. Are members of the Roman Catholic Church.[Source: "History of Iowa County, Wisconsin: Containing an Account of Its Settlement, Growth, Development and Resources..."; Chicago: Western Historical Co. April, 1881. Tr. by K. Mohler]

     

    http://genealogytrails.com/wis/iowa/biosM.html

     

    https://www.familysearch.org/tree/person/details/G9JL-VCP

    karamcw

    Saturday 4th Feb 2023, 02:50PM

Post Reply