Joseph Kearney b.ca. 1730
11 April 2016Joseph Kearney was Barack Obama’s 6x great-grandfather. This pedigree chart shows his wife, siblings, nieces and nephews. Read on for further information on some of these individuals. Thomas Kearney Thomas was witness to a lease dated 1768 (Bettridge to Kearney) and describes himself as a ‘peruke-maker’. He married Miss Jane...
An Early Involvement in Politics
11 April 2016Within the extended Kearney family tree we found an early involvement in politics. Michael Kearney, a kinsman and probably older brother, of Joseph Kearney, entered the Guild of Barber Surgeons and Periwigmakers in 1717, and was entered as a Capillamentarius (i.e. a hair dresser) in the Freemens Rolls in 1718....
Benn Family History
11 April 2016Fiona Fitzsimons of Eneclann met with cousins Dick Benn and Tom Donovan, President Obama’s closest living relatives in Ireland, to discuss Eneclann’s research into the Benn and Donovan families for RTE’s Nationwide programme. In 1825 Joseph Kearney of Moneygall married Phoebe Donovan. Phoebe Donovan’s parents were Fulmoth Donovan and Mary...
People and Places
11 April 2016Our research showed that in the 1760s the Benn and Donovan families first settled in the townland of Ballygurteen, and that nine generations of the Benn family have farmed the land down to the present day. The Donovans likewise remained in Ballygurteen down to 1999. The identity of both families...
Continuity and Memory
11 April 2016The Benn family have demonstrated a strong entrepreneurial streak down through the generations. Dick’s grandfather ran a hardware shop in Roscrea in the 1920s and 30s, in addition to the farm. Dick’s great-grandmother Susan Benn (nee Wakeley) who jauntily recorded her trade as ‘confectioner’ in her 1879 marriage certificate, established...
Researching the Benn Family
11 April 2016In March 2010 during a live radio interview with the late Gerry Ryan, Fiona Fitzsimons ‘outed’ Dick Benn as a cousin of president Barack Obama’s. “We came across the Benns when we were researching the President’s Kearney ancestors” she explains. “I thought everyone knew of the connection, and didn’t think...
The Extended Family
11 April 2016By compiling a 9 generational family tree, Fiona Fitzsimons and Helen Moss were able to make some interesting observations about the President’s extended family – the Benns, Donovans and Kearneys. Close relationship between the Benns and Donovans From the 1760s the Benns and Donovans lived side by side in the...
What’s In A Name?
11 April 2016Our research to this point showed that the name Benn had a certain ‘rarity value’ in the Irish records. The records used to compile the family tree also went towards constructing a ‘family profile’ indicating the Benn family had ‘substance’ Family marriages took place by Marriage License Bond rather than...
Tom Cruise’s Family History & the Mapother Name Origin
08 April 2016If you’re interested in genealogy, a fascinating way to explore it is by researching famous people and their family trees. One celebrity whose ancestry can be traced back to Ireland is Tom Cruise, the actor known for the films Mission Impossible, The Color of Money, and Risky Business, among others....
Patrick Russell Cruise returns to Ireland
08 April 2016As a younger son Patrick Russell Cruise had not inherited the family ancestral seat of Drynam House. However, he had inherited a half share in approximately 500 acres of land, comprising the townlands of Paristown and Dardistown, in the Barony of Delvin in county Westmeath.[1] These lands had been set out to...
Patrick Russell Cruise – From Ireland to America
08 April 2016On 11th August 1825 Patrick Russell Cruise married Teresa Johnson in Warrenstown House, the ancestral seat of the Johnson family in county Meath.[1] The marriage united two ancient families, with origins in competing cultural and political traditions. Left: reproduced with the permission of the board of Trinity College Library Below: marriage...
