Looking for McDonald & Kearns great grandparents from Galway

Maureen:

Welcome back to Ireland Reaching Out!

The key issue would be the time frame for the marriage. Many of the RC parishes in the West of Galway have records which start later in the 19th century. I just did a quick search of the subscription site Roots Ireland and did not find an Aeneas McDonald marriage to a Kearns anywhere in Ireland.

Roger McDonnell

Roger,

Thanks for responding. Since both my McDonald and Kearns great grandparents were born about 1844 in Galway I'm not sure if those birth/baptism records exist anywhere but in the parish church somewhere. My DNA results show west Galway especially the Connemara area so I was trying to search for any birth records for these 2 relatives. I wasn't sure if you knew any sites that could help. Is Roots Ireland the best choice? I just recently found out that my great grandparents were from Galway from a Philadelphia baptism record for one of their children, 1st clue in 8 years!

My Kelly relatives in Ardrahan that I found because of Ireland Reaching Out were very happy that I had additional Galway roots. My last 2 visits to Ireland I stayed with them and they took us all over the Connemara area so at least I have an idea of the beautiful county my ancestors came from. I'll be coming back to Ireland within the next year so I'm trying to research now hoping to find an ancestral village. I appreciate any help or ideas.

Maureen

You may already be aware of this, but the given names Aeneas and Eneas were Latinized forms which some priests used in baptismal registers for children who were actually name Aonghus (often anglicized as Angus).  Sometimes the Latinized names stuck, but some of them, like Dionysius for Donncha (often anglicized as Denis), did not.

In case you're interested, the surname McDonnell in Irish is Mac Domhnaill, which means “son/descendant of Donal”.  According to MacLysaght’s Surnames of Ireland, the McDonnell's in Connacht are descendants of a gallowglass (in Irish, gallóglach, or “foreign fighter”) mercenary family who were a branch of the Scottish Clan MacDonald.  In Scottish Gaelic, the surname is spelled MacDhòmhnaill.  There is no "d" sound at the end of the name in either language, and that came about in the anglicized version, McDonald, only after contact with English speakers.  MacDonald is more commonly used in Scotland, but McDonnell and McDonald were both used in Ireland, often inconsistently from generation to generation.  The priests who wrote down names in the parish registers, and the officials who recorded names for other purposes, were not always careful and sometimes could not hear the sounds of Irish clearly, so spelling discrepancies were common..

The Irish Mac Dómhnaill clan migrated from Scotland to the Glens of Antrim in the 13th century, and by the 15th century controlled all of North Antrim (where they can still be found), but a large number of them were brought from Antrim to what is now County Mayo in the late 14th century to assist the ruling family of that area, the Anglo-Norman Burke family.  Many people in Ireland have ancestry in such gallowglass families.  Although those McDonnelll's settled principally in what is now Mayo, some eventualy spread to surrounding counties, especially Galway, Roscommon, and Sligo (the county boundaries came later, anyway).  I have McDonnell ancestors myself, from East Mayo.  In fact, my great-great-grandfather, Patrick McDonnell, had two first cousins named Eneas McDonnell (sons of two different uncles).

Kevin,

 Thanks for all the information! I was told by one of my aunts that the McDonalds might have been MacDonald at one time and came from County Mayo. My DNA shows focus on Connemara only and then other areas northwards well into Mayo too. All other of my 6 great grandparents have their birth locationd identified, the McDonalds are the only ones that I can't find a ancestral village for.

Merry Christmas,

Maureen