|
Tara County Meath Ireland |
|
Ireland
is a land of myth, fairies, leprechauns, and legend. Where
knights were called "Champions" the "Land of Éire" was thought to be
a mystical land and sometimes one needs science to break through
fantasy and for that I turned to DNA testing.
Records
can only take me back to
Charles Dean O'Kelley, my 4th great grandfather, who appears on
a 1779 Mecklenburg Militia roster where a cousin of Thomas
Jefferson, an officer in the militia is given as his substitute.
My family clearly were not common Irish because the one inescapable
truth found in my closest
DNA matches is
Charles Dean O'Kelley's father
is the only one to come from Ireland before 1750 AD with his "O" surname intact
and he came to America with a story that he was from Meath and descended from
the "Hy-Kings
of Ireland", descended from the "Ard Rí" of Ireland
a story often repeated at our family gathers when I was a child. My family is one of the few lines that are still
"O'Kelley" today and that is likely because of my family's claim to
be of the "Hy-Kings
of Ireland". I suspect our family retained our
O'Kelley name for the same reason most O'Neill retained their Irish
spelling, to remind us of our kingly ancestors and there are
tradition stories in Ireland that claim that the families with the
"O" prefix descend from Irish Kings but modern researchers doubt
that claim but I have found that most stories have some basis in
truth. My
DNA results connects members of my O'Kelley family displayed on this
website to
ancient Ireland, that is a proven certainty.
The rest is determined by DNA matches, records, books, and family
tradition stories that Tomas Ó Ceallaigh found living in Co Monaghan not that far from Glaslough in
1591 was our first Protestant Ancestor and his great, great grandson
James O'Kelley was my ancestor who
lived in
Co Meath Ireland some say near Tara and he left Ireland sometime
after the
Great Frost of 1740 and the Famine that followed in 1741 that
killed 38% of the Irish population, a starvation that was greater than the more well
known
Irish Potato Famine of the 1840s. By 1748 my ancestor is settled near
his older brother William Kelley a
Merchant in the area of King and Queen County that became
Caroline Co Virginia. My closest DNA matches support this
probability. I believe Tomas Ó
Ceallaigh pronouced Thomas O'Kelley,
in the last quarter of the 16th century in an effort to keep land and title
Thomas was
compelled by the Queen's Lord Lieutenant of Ireland to do as the
Chiefs in western Ireland were compelled by the
Tudor Monarchs and became
Anglican or Protestant, began to spelled his name in English as "Thomas Kelly"
and raised his children in English ways. It is likely the land
granted to him was the same land he and his fathers had been living
upon for hundreds of years and it was "granted" to him for his
promise to be a loyal protestant subject of Queen Elizabeth. It must be understood that in that time only
some of the
Gaelic Gentry converted, the common Irish remained Catholic. Two
published sources claim Thomas great, great grandson James O'Kelley
who came to America was an Episcopal Minister in the
Church of England and it is well documented that his eldest son was an
Methodist Episcopal minister in the Church of England in
America, another son is well documented as an officer, a
Captain with the 4th Virginia, another son in his revolutionary
pension application
states
the prove of his birth appears in the King and Queen Co Parish
Church records. It might be that James
was the son of William Kelly Esq a
merchant in Kells who died in 1748 or the year it was said my
ancestor left Ireland and came to Virginia. I think it
possible that William
Kelly of Kells was the grandson of Protestant
Thomas and Juan O Kelly found in
the 1663 records in Carrickmacross and the great grandson of
the William Kelly, "Gentleman"
found on page 571 in "The
History of County Monaghan" also a Protestant receiving land
confiscated
in 1640 taken from a Hugh McMahan a Papist.
My belief that William Kelly Esq a
merchant in Kells who died in 1748 might be my last grandfather to
die in Ireland seems to be supported by a family tradition story
comes from Ruth Barton Pullium who descends from
William Barton -5,
Salina O'Kelley -4,
William O'Kelley -3,
Thomas O'Kelley -2, ? O'Kelley
-1 shared in Genforum August 29 2000 her family story from her
father handed down by his mother
Salina O'Kelley that our
ancestors came from Co Meath.
Ruth passed away at the age of 93 in 2012 but what she shared
can be
supported by my closest DNA matches and I think because this
tradition story still lives in my family that indicates that my
ancestor came directly from Co Meath knowing his family's history
and he didn't come from some other place in Ireland and the story
was handed down to him. The tradition that our family was
"prominent" and descend from the Kings of Ireland was
supported in the stories handed down in my youth by my own ancestors
about my family's use of the surname O'Kelley and our descent from
the "Old Irish Kings" and my ancestors began appearing in
the records during our revolutionary war as "O Kelley" and our tradition
claims we always used O'Kelley and it was just recorded incorrectly
as Kelly in the records of that time. I know of only one other line
of Kellys that appears as O'Kelley
near the time of our Revolution
and they can trace their descent back to
David O
Killia of the O'Kellys of Hy-Many a kingly line from Co
Roscommon Ireland. Like these Hy-Many O'Kelleys I think we too
continued to use O'Kelley to separate us from the common Kellys
living in Virginia and to be a reminder to future
generations that we descend from the
O'Kelley
of Tara who were described as "Styled Princes" meaning
that members of our family were qualified to be Irish Monarchs by
their birth . There was
a tradition recorded in a reprinted 1889
article from the Irish Times
that Irish surnames that begin with
"O" indicate descent from Irish Kings but the article disputes this
is truth but I have always found that some truth remains hidden in
many of these tradition stories and it does seem to be true for my
family line just as it was for those who descend from the O'Kelly of Hy-Many, we maintained the "O" in our name with the tradition that
we descend from "old Irish Kings" while other Kellys didn't.
Our most noted family historian
Alethea Jane Macon's claimed that
our Irish ancestor to come to America was
Thomas O'Kelley, but I think we must be reminded
that Macon provides no proof and I now think that her "best
evidence" came from a corrupted story about
Thomas O'Kelley being our first Irish ancestor to be Protestant.
The Y-DNA results of descendents of
Thomas Dean,
Charles Dean and
Benjamin
proves that Macon's family tree presented in her book was faulty
as they were cousins and not brothers and I am certain this created
from Macon's "best evidence" available.
Judith Knowles Ries descends from
John V Knowles -7, Emma
D O'Kelley -6,
Zachariah Asbury O'Kelley -5,
Dr. Thomas Katlett O'Kelley -4,
Francis Marion O'Kelley -3,
Benjamin O'Kelley -2, James
and Anna O'Kelley -1 possess a
five page hand written Family
Pedigree created in 1904 by Dr. Thomas
Katlett O'Kelley making it the oldest known Pedigree of my family
and it is said to be copied from an ancestor's bible that names our
ancestor as "James O'Kelley of Ireland" and
while there
are many reasons to believe this pedigree is true the Y-DNA results
of descendents of
Thomas Dean,
Charles Dean and
Judith's ancestor Benjamin
proves that even that the
five page hand written Family
Pedigree created in 1904 by Dr. Thomas
Katlett O'Kelley can't be true.
The stories, the naming
of the children, our protestant faith and DNA are valid indicators
that my ancestors were Irish Gentry, the
O'Kelley
of Tara who did as the English demanded by becaming protestant and over the centuries
they likely slowing
migrated from Co Monaghan back Co Meath until
William Kelly was living as a merchant
and a Gentleman in Kells
Co Meath Ireland. Our Irish story seems to end with him
and our America story begins with his son James
O'Kelley who was likely as some have claimed, an Episcopal
Minster of the English Church and I believe married Nancy who went
by Anna Dean in
Ireland and their son Rev James O'Kelly and they came to America
when William Kelly died in 1748.
If
one isn't willing to consider their family history and their surname
might be false, I don't recommend they do a DNA test but if you
truly want to discover your ancestors, DNA can help but surnames
haven't been around that long, they came into being about 1000 AD
and for the same purpose as Social Security Numbers, as a means to
identify who paid their taxes and who owed their taxes. Before
that time humans used tribal names to identify their non related
group of people who lived in a common place and depended upon each
other for defense. The "kingly" lines had more non related
members than the lower noble lines. I turned to DNA because
one of the problems with
the O'Kelley surname is "Ceallaigh" pronounced "Kelley" was a common
name in Ireland so it stands to reason that many non related families might
take the "grandson of Kelley" or O'Kelley as their surname and DNA
seems to support this is true. Many of my closest DNA matches either dropped the
"O" or "Mac" from their surname or changed their surname entirely
but my family has always claimed that we came as O'Kelley
descendants of "old Irish Kings" and all my
ancestor's sons started appearing in records after our Revolutionary
War as "OKelly" while other Kellys around them remained as
tKelly.
To find the O'Kelley that my family belongs I had to look at my DNA
matches to the
more rare and regional surnames and look at their records to find my O'Kelley family. It was the Maguires the
Princes of Co Fermanage, the O'Boylans the Kings of Darty
in Co Monaghan along the Clan Kelly border,
the McConnells aka MacDonnells of Clan Kelly, and
the Kearns of Coothill Co Cavan also along the Clan
Kelly border that brought me to the O'Kelleys in
Pages
189 and
190 of Dr John O'Hart's book "Irish
Pedigree, Or, The Origin and Stem of the Irish Nation"
My
DNA results and matches, and records suggest that
Cairbre an
Daimh Airgid King of Orgiall who died in 513 AD was my
ancestor.
Cairbre an Daimh Airgid King of Orgiall is said to
descend from
Colla da Chrioch but DNA indicates that isn't
true and there are some who believe the
Three Collas are a myth. His descendents via his second son Cormac
came to take the surname Maguire in about 1000 AD and they became
Prince and ruling family of what came to be the Co Fermanagh, DNA
suggest that my line descend from Daimhin who was
the first son of Cairbre an Daimh Airgid King of Orgiall.
Daimhin 3rd great grandson
was named Ceallach (Kelley) and so it was
Daimhin's 5th great grandson who took the surname
of O'Kelley after their Ceallach grandfather sometime in the 9th
century. My ancestor of my line was born before the ancestor
of the Maguires, but it was the Maguires who became the Princes of
all of Co Fermanagh and my ancestors became subornate or lesser
kings of what came to be known as Clan Kelly in
southern co Fermanagh.
It is from page
190
that Dr O'Hart tells his readers that King Donnell O"Kelley of Clan
Kelley , the great, great grandson of the above Ceallach
was the ancestor whose sons took the surname of Mac Donnell after
their father and their sons became the O'Donnell of Co Fermanagh. In
1333 Huge O'Donnell was King of Fermanagh and Tyrconnell and he was
the last of his line and the kingship passed to their cousins the
Maguires. These Mac Donnells were of royal Irish blood being
descendents of the Kings of Orgiall now at a low station change their name to Mac Gonnell
likely due to
the arrival of the powerful Scottish Galloglass clan
Mac Donnells. According to noted
Genealogist Edward MacLysaght the Galloglass Mac Donnells came
from Argyle in the 13th century and established themselves as a
warring clan in service to the most powerful
Chieftains
of Northern Ireland. I don't things the Mac Donnells just
change their name to Mac Gonnell because it sounded the same.
I suspect the sons of a Gonnell Mac Donnell followed Irish name
tradition and called themselves Mac Gonnell Mac Donnell their sons
likely dropped the Mac Donnell and used Mac Gonnell to honor their
more recent ancestor who was likely regionally famous, powerful and
wealthy after all they built a castle. In the 19th century the
Irish
Mac Donnells who are now using the surname McGonnell begin to
appear in the records as McConnell and I suspect
that too was because the sons of a Connell Mac Gonnell called
themselves the Mac
Connell
Mac Gonnell because their father was likely regionally famous,
powerful and wealthy by local standards and their sons dropped the
Mac Gonnell and used only McConnell . Rev
Patrick Woulfe recorded this name migration on page 68 in his 1929 book "Irish
Names and Surnames".
Before 1450 AD the Mac Gonnells established Castle
Ard-goneil along the border of
Dungannon and in the 19th century there
were still Mac Gonnell aka McConnell living near where it once stood.
The earliest that the McGonell surname appears in English records is 1605 Priest
Corb Manus McGonell of Calebegs appeared with two McConnells
giving a description of ruins at a priory at Loughdarge. This
is the only record that I have found of a McGonell outside of Co
Monaghan. The
second mention in English records is a
1614 Royal Pardon where
Hugh McGonell is living in the Barony of Trough and it should be
remembered that Trough shares its eastern border with Barony
Dungannon and sets next to Castle Ard-Gonell. Mac Gonnell appears
only in Co Monaghan in the 1659 Irish census and in the 1663
Hearth Money rolls where an
Owen McGonnell is found living less than a mile from my
protestant ancestor
Thomas "O Kelly" at Carrickmaross but the bulk of the
Mac Gonnells are still found
at Donagh Parish near Glasslough where their descendents are still
found in the 1826 Applotments.
I
have several 111 marker DNA matches that make this likely. My
closest 111 marker DNA cousin is Forest Boylen Kannard, we are a genetic distances of 7
markers apart, there is a 90% probability that we share a common
ancestor in the past 1000 years. The O'Boylans were the Kings of Darty in
Co Monaghan along its border with Co Fermanagh and were one of
several families of ClanKelly. Forrest has a pending Big Y.
I am also 7 markers distance from John J Kearns and some of is
family trace his ancestor Patrick Kearns birth to 1827 to an Edward
Kearns Cootehill Co Cavan which borders Darty and is only a few
miles from the Barony of ClanKelley and Co Fermanagh. Kearns
is my only match to have tested his Big Y and we are both R-BY20936, this match is
very reliable and occurred between 800 and 1000 AD in the time
before surnames existed.
I have two 111 marker and two 67 DNA marker matches to McConnells
who I believe descend from
#99 Donall the ruling family of ClanKelly who became the sons of
Donall or the McDomhnaill which in English were McDonnell and
eventually they changed their surname to McGoneil then to McConnell.
ClanKelly takes its name from Ceallach which is pronounced "Kelley"
and Kelley the ancestor of the Kearns, McConnells and
O'Kelleys ruled over the area for a
time in the 7th century and according to
Dr John
O'Hart's "Irish Pedigrees" it is from his son
that all the Kellys of Ulster are said to descend. The Irish
didn't create the Barony ClanKelly, it was the English sometime after the 1172
AD invasion of Ireland that created the Barony named ClanKelly, I
have found nothing to tell us that such a place existed before or
how large it was or what its borders were but my DNA matches and the
records associated with these matches and the writings or Dr John
O'Hart and Dr John O'Donovan cause me to suspect that the O'Kelleys and
their other
surnames
cousins lived and ruled over lands that extended from Co Fermanagh into modern
day Counties Armagh, Cavan, Louth, Monaghan, and Meath. On the
map to the right, these lands were in Airgialla and Southern Ui
Neill. The Barony of ClannKelly established by the English
after their 1172 AD invasion of Ireland was formed from from Ui
Meith and a portion of Dartry both found in Airgialla on the map.
According to the writings of Dr John O'Hart it was the
descendants of a grandson named Donnell O'Kelley who ruled what
eventually became the Barony of ClanKelly
and they took the surname MacDonnell and some of their children took
O'Donnell and while it could be assumed that some eventually
moved in Dough Parish Co Monaghan a short distance from ClanKelly following free land
we can't assume that Dough Parish Co Monaghan wasn't part of
ClannKelly, that they always lived there and the English reduced it when they created their
Baronys. These MacDonnells became the MacGoneil likely due to
the arrival of the Scottish Galloglass MacDonnalds in the 13th
century. Some McGonnells took the McConnell surname when they came to America. In my
111 marker matches I am 8
markers distant from Thomas Vincent McConnell and 10 markers from
Dennis McConnell. I have 2 more McConnells in my 67 marker
matches and this seems to indicate that we are all of ClannKelly.
It is from this
single page of Dr John O'Hart's Irish Pedigree that we
find kinship of the of the O'Boylans, O'Kelleys, O'Kearns, and the
MacDonnells or McGoneils or McConnells. The McDonnells were Kings of
ClanKelley, the O'Boylans were Kings of Darty which adjoined
ClanKelley and while DNA suggest that my O'Kelley line came from
Clan Kelly, my family tradition stories suggest that my ancestors
moved from that place and became or were part of the O'Kelley of
Northern Bregia one of the 4 lines of Clann Kelly cousins who were the "Styled
Princes" of Tara; they were called "Styled Princes" because all
these lines descend from the
141st Monarch of Ireland Aed of Slaine and thus were of a
suitable blood line to be Irish Monarchs.
The
O'Kelley of Bregia or Tara are recorded by John O'Dugan in 1372 AD as one of
the four Princes of Tara and O'Dugan gives the O'Kelleys and the
O'Connellys owning harbors which in the 1800s Dr John O'Donovan
records were on the Shannon River but I have doubts this was true
for the O'Kelley of Tara as their lands were in northern and eastern Bregia along
the Irish Sea which is far from the river Shannon in the west. The
O'Connellys were in west Bregia and they may have had ports on the
River Shannon. Owning ports would have been a major source of
income for both the O'Connellys and the O'Kelleys.
Dr John O'Donovan places the O'Kelleys which he calls the O'Kelley
of Meath as located in the south at Naas along the Meath border with
Kildare but this seems certain to be the Southern Bregia O'Kelleys
which are some distance from Tara
and is far from where lands that most researcher attribute to the O'Kelley of Bregia which is east of Tara and north of Dublin, these
locations are marked in yellow on the above map. DNA indicates
the Southern Bregia O'Kelleys are not blood related to the Northern
Bregia O'Kelleys and I find no research that indicates they were
allies. DNA indicates there might be 50 unrelated O'Kelley/O'Kelly
families that took their surnames from different ancestors named
Ceallach. I suspect that by
the time Dr John O'Donovan did his survey in the mid 1800s, all that
remained of my family was the very poor who may have told a twisted and confused legend told
to researchers who had little interest in the O'Kelley lines they believe to be
extinct. All my close DNA matches are in Co Cavan, Co Monaghan, and
Co Dublin the places I would expect to find what was left of the
O'Kelleys of Tara. I have no DNA matches along the Kildare border
or further south where I would expect to find them if my ancestors
were once seated near
Naas Co Kildare.
For
more than a century many of my family
believed that
because of our "prominence" in Ireland that we must be the
O'Kelly of Hy-Many, at least 3 books have
been published making this claim but my DNA proves that
William
Boy O'Kelly of Hy-Many was not my ancestor.
Some Irish researchers claim the
O'Kelley
of Bregia are related to the O'Kelly of Hy-Many
and DNA does suggest that I share a grandfather with the descendents of
William
Boy O'Kelly but our shared grandfather lived 4000 years before the O'Kelley
surname came into use. My family came
to be O'Kelley from a Ceallach ancestor that the Hy-Many O'Kelly. Ceallach
pronouned Kelley
was a common name. Some claim that the Bregia and Hy-Many
had a military alliance and it may even be possible that "The O'Kelley"
was a
title and position that was sometimes held by the O'Kelleys of Bregia
in Meath and sometimes the O'Kellys of Hy-Many
in Connaught and I have found some clues to support this. The
lands of the O'Kelley of Bregia were so highly prized that the
English took them while the English transported the Irish to
Connaught. Michael O'Laughlin of the
Irish Roots
Cafe is a noted and distinguish author and Irish researcher who
in 2002 published "A
Genealogical History of the Milesian Families of Ireland "
and on page 7 he connects the O'Kelly of Hy-Many
and the
O'Kelley of Bregia as Ui Maine and suggest that "Chief" may have
shifted and came from both lines and he references them using the
double "e" spelling of my name. I suspect the reason my family uses
a double "e" and they Hy-Many O'Kellys use a single "e" is being in
the east and coming in contact with the English early that my family
used and English spelling of our name in a time when most English
names had extra "e"s and by the time the Hy-Many started to use an
Englsish spelling of their name the invention of the printing press
had reduced names to remove the extra "e"s. Evidence that
O'Kelley of Bregia and O'Kelly of Hy-Many may have been closely aligned
can be found in the Hy-Many Pedigree. During the time of the "Invasion" it listed at #24 Tadhg Tailten or Teige "Tailteann" meaning "Teige of Tailteann which
was the place of the
annual games that were older than the Olympics and always
located in northwestern modern County Meath near the townland of
Navan which in the time of Teige Tailtean the place was deep in the
Bregia Kingdom and far from the borders of Hy-Many. Teige's
father #23 is also listed, so why would a Hy-Many King come from
TailTean unless he was an O'Kelley of Bregia? This causes me
to suspect the possibility that Hy-Many or Ui Maine and Bregia who were
two completely different septs of O'Kellys may at the time of the
Battle of Clontarf were a united kingdom
that extended from the east coast of Ireland and included Bregia and
extended to the west coast of Ireland including all of what we think
as Hy-Many today and that Teige O'Kelly who died in the Battle of
Clontarf was King over both O'Kelley and O'Kelly. With the
death of Teige the O'Kelley and O'Kelly fought over that
Kingship for 150 years and with the coming of the English in 1172 AD that
the eastern portion or "Brey" as Bregia was pronounce was lost and
the power of the O'Kellys shifted entirely and forever to Hy-Many which
was confined to the west of Ireland and now that they became the
sole keepers of the history and this became corrupted and lost.
The only description we have of the boundaries of Hy-Many comes from
Dr John O'Donovan's "Tribes and Customs of
Hy-Many: O'Kelly Country" and that description comes from
a single 19th century source that sets it mostly in Co Roscommon and
Galway but on page 45 Dr O'Donovan makes a curious entry "The
Race of Domhnall, so of Tadhg Taillten". One
should take into consideration that in the mid 1800s when Dr
O'Donovan published his book, there were no known representatives of
the O'Kelley of Bregia found living in Ireland so Dr O'Donovan
turned to a single O'Kelly of Hy-Many source for his book, he may
have come to a different conclusion if he had Bregia sources.
My question is if the well known traditional O'Kelly of Hy-Many
Pedigree is about a single O'Kelly family, why the reference to "race"
and why does it occur 8 years after the invasion when the Bregia
O'Kelleys in the east would have been greatly reduced and driven out
of power and maybe into near extinction by the English? We may
never find a method to know but if what I suspect is true it may be that
Teige Mor O'Kelly
who died in battle in 1014 at Clontarf
could have been blood related to the Hy-Many line as the Pedigree
indicates or he may have been blood related to the Bregia line and
Teige Tailteann was his last descendent to appear in the Pedigree
and the power shifted to Hy-many or neither might be true, there
is no method to know for certain but it might explain why it is
commonly believed that all O'Kellys and O'Kelleys originate from
Teige Mor O'Kelly.
They all followed him into battle and claimed him as their king and
some no related may have taken his surname as their own.
|
The "O'Kelley" Earl of Tyrone
|
|
 Recorded
in
The Annals of The Kingdom of Ireland by Michael O'Clery page 1886 to
1890 we learn that "The Great 'English' Earl"
Hugh O Neill wasn't a blood descended O'Neill, he was according to Dr John
O'Donovan the son of
Mahon O Ceallaigh pronounced "Matthew O'Kelley" of the
O'Kelley
of "Northern" Bregia that originated from Clann Kelly found in modern day southern Co Fermanagh.
It is very likely that "Matthew O'Kelley"
is related to my family.
Huge O'Kelley Neill's mother was Lady Joan McGuire the daughter of Lord Cuconnaugh McQuire
of Fermanagh.
It was said that when Matthew's father died, Matthew was adopted by the
1st "English" Earl of Tyrone
Conn O Neill and while adoption was a very common Gaelic custom
it wasn't common for such a high born man as Earl Conn O'Neill to
adopt anyone who wasn't always high born and who provided no
political or monetary advantage so clearly Matthew O'Kelley
was of a royal Irish blood line. Having descended from the
O'Kelley
of "Northern" Bregia "Styled Princes of Tara" Matthew O'Kelley and his sons would pass on their O'Kelley of
Northern Bregia Y DNA, the same Y DNA that was passed on to me from my own
father but because there are no known living descendants of
Hugh O Neil it isn't possible to conclude beyond all doubts that
we are cousins but I do have a mysterious DNA match to a Patrick
O'Neil who has seemed to disappear so as more people test this might change in time. In
the painting of Hugh he does have the O'Kelley ears, nose, forehead
and eyes. Because Matthew descends from the Kings of
Orgiall and they from Irish Monarch Aed of Slaine Dr
John O'Donovan writes that the son of Matthew, Hugh
O'Kelley O Neill was more qualified by
birth to be rightful ruler of all of Ireland than those of the O
Neill bloodline.
When in 1542 King Henry VIII made Conn O'Neill the 1st Earl of
Tyrone, he ignored Conn's legitimate son Shane O'Neill and made
Matthew "O'Kelley" O'Neill the Baron of Dungannon thus giving
Matthew and his heirs the inherited right to the title of Earl of
Tyrone. Shane was only 12 at the time but when he
grew into manhood he became furious with his father and drove his
father
out of his earldom and killed Baron Matthew "O'Kelley" O Neill thus
the English title of Baron passed to Matthew's older son Brian so
Shane O'Neills followers hunted him down and slew him and declared
himself as "The O'Neill" the rightful King of Ulster.
Some authors of O'Neil history would have us believe that Conn O Neale was deceived by
Matthew O'Kelley's mother but Conn was King of Tyrone for 4 decades.
He married the daughter of Thomas Fitzgerald the 7th Earl of
Kildare, he didn't rule for 4 decades so easily fooled. Irish
Kings had children by their concubines and they didn't inherit title
so why would Hugh O Neill be any different, why would the King of
Tyrone Conn O Neale adopt a son of an O'Kelley of Bregia unless this
son's father or mother was someone special to the O'Neals? Everyone else
seemed to know that Matthew was an O'Kelley, so how did Conn not know and
if he knew, why did the First Earl, the most powerful man in Ulster adopt him? Some
speculate that the Tudor monarchs sought to break the
power of the O Neills over Ulster by introducing an acceptable but
more agreeable "Royal House", the O'Kelleys of Bregia into
the leadership of Ulster and
that may have been true because Queen Elizabeth protected young Hugh
O'Neil, had him brought into the English controlled "Pale" where he
was rasied in Engish ways.
After Shane O Neill's followers
killed Brian the eldest son of Matthew "O'Kelley" O Neill, to
protect Hugh "O'Kelley" O Neill who was still a child but the next in line
to inherit the title of Earl of Tyrone Huge was taken
by the English to the Pale and raised in an English family of a military officer
spending his final year before manhood
raised at Queen Elizabeth's court as the
Baron of Dungannon. It is said a great affection occurred
between Hugh and the English Queen. The English hoped that by
returning him to Ulster Hugh O Neill would be a taming influence upon his kinsmen.
The young baron was returned to Ireland when he was 18 and it was a dangerous
place but after the passing of a number of years he was made the 2nd Earl of Tyrone
and it is said that "The Great Earl" nephew General
Owen O'Neil favored his
O'Kelley of Bregia
kinsman with the "prized" woods in the Clogher Dioceses
and it is said he restored the woods to the O'Kelleys because it was
theirs before the English invasion.
(Ulster Journal of Archeology VIII Page 268" where I find
my ancestor Thomas Kelly living in 1591. This could explain
how the
Castle Ard-goneil came to be where it was built. The Irish trusted kin
above all else and the English began to suppress the Irish Catholic
houses so it seems likely when the "Sta-Gonnell"
were suppressed that the the 1st Earl of Tyrone, Conn O Neill
allowed them to move to the River Cor on the edge of Dungannon where
they build
Castle Ard-goneil. Irish Priest were often great warriors
and great Irish warriors were sometimes Priest and most Irish
Castles were really Abbeys with walls, and if the McGonnells Priest they
likely
helped build and lived around
Castle Ard-goneil said to mean the "Height of Coneill". They
may have been there to help provide additional protection for Matthew O'Kelley O'Neil and in that
time it would have been
in the heart of the southern portion of 1st Earl of Tyrone Earldom
so it made sense to have a Castle in that place but during Shane O
Neill's time, Queen Elizabeth took Co Monaghan from the Earldom and shired it into Co Monaghan for settlement by "loyal" Irish and
English subjects and this was the motivation for the "Nine
Years War".
Castle Ard-goneil set on the Barony Dungannon side of River Corr
so it remained within the Earldom of the 2nd Earl of Tyrone Hugh
"O'Kelley" O Neill's lands.
Hugh was said to be a brilliant and modern general, he must have
been, he almost did what no Irish had done before him, remove the
English from Ireland. He carried
firearms as he made his rounds in his Earldom and offer peasants an
opportunity to fire a weapon and if they displayed skill and an
interest he would give them a firearm and provisions provided they
promised to practice and respond when called upon so was likely the
"Ard-Gonell" continued well into the 2nd Earl of O Neill's time. The King of England had his
"Privy Council", the pope has his inner circle of Cardinals so why
shouldn't the man who though of himself as the King of Ireland have
his "Ard-Goneill" who would have "O'Kelley
Y-DNA and the restoration of the "Sta-Gonnell"
or the religious "House of Gonnell" must have been part of O Neill's
restoration of the Gaelic Order. Those who lived at the Castle would move their families near the
Castle and construct dwellings for them and their families would
farm and settle the land and when the Earls fled Ireland in 1607 it
is likely some stayed on manning the Castle and living around it on
the Earl's promise he would return but when the Earl died, they
likely abandoned the Castle, lost their dream and became famers some
may have retaken their old surnames or took new ones but some surely
some of the older children now young men remained McGonell and with
the O Neales now in possession of the Barony of Dungannon I think it
likely the O Neills occupied the Castle and didn't change the name,
it remained the
Castle Ard-goneil and eventually appeared as Castle
Ardgonnell and because some who remained helped build the castle a
story was passed down in their family that the Castle was named
after them who built it and the history about their service and
kinship to Earl Hugh O Neill became lost. "Ard" might have
even been a reference to Hugh O Neill's O'Kelley descent from
the
Irish Monarch Aedh Slaine.
There is still an unanswered question about a 12/12 DNA match to a
mysterious Patrick George O'Neill who I have been unable to locate
but his ancestor could have been an O'Kelley cousin who just took to
calling himself "O Neill" because of his relationship with the great
Earl Hugh O Neill. This is turning out to be a very good mystery.
Patrick only completed a 12 marker test and I can't have it upgraded
without his consent so we might never know if he could be an unknown
descendent of the 2nd Earl of Tyrone Hugh "O'Kelley" O'Neill, and I
am not the one claiming that Hugh O'Neill is O'Kelley of Bregia,
that
conclusion comes from the notes
of scholar
Dr John O'Donovan.
The
original O'Neill arms was the "Red Hand of Ireland" but I
read that the "Great Earl Hugh
O Neill introduced an arms with the two Rampart Lions. Dual
Rampart Lions are used by both by the
O'Kelley
of Bregia and the O'Kelly of Hy-Many.
I wonder who might have influenced who and if there has been a lost
meaning for the use of dual rampart Lions.
There is mention of the
Nine Kingdoms that came into being from the descendents of the
Irish Monarch Aedh Slaine. It should be noted that Dongh
Parish Co Monaghan is said to be one of those nine kingdoms as was Carrickmacross Co Monaghan the place where my ancestors are found in
the 1600s.
The story of the
O'Kelley
of Bregia, the Great Earl Hugh "O'Kelley"
O Neill, and our descent from Irish Monarch Aed Slaine made a
surprising appearance in the 2011 fantasy children book "Kingdom
of the Green Grass Straw" written by Vicki A King.
In one of those odd twists of fate, it is said on WiKi that
Queen Elizabeth II is a descendant of the
Earl of Tyrone Hugh "O'Kelley" O Neal and I haven't chased this
rabbit down its hole but because DNA suggests the possibility that the Earl could
have been my 10th great grandfather's second or third cousin making
anyone blood related to me also cousins to the Queen, her children,
grandchildren, and great grandchildren. I haven't proven this
to be true.
One doesn't have to take my word for any of this, myself, my Uncle
John O'Kelley, and Owen McConnell appear in R Group 15B
in the
Kelley DNA Project. Owen actually appears in the 1826
records as McGonnell, he changed his name to McConnell when he left
Ireland and settled in America. You will not see some of my
close matches only because they chose not to join the
Kelley DNA Project but I can
see their matches in my Family Tree Account.
I make my research public to encourage the research of others hoping
someone may produce evidence that will either prove or disprove my
conclusions. It matters not to me, I only desire to seek truth
relating to the origins of my ancestors and this seems timely
because the 400th Anniversary of the Earl of Tyrone's death comes in
July 2016.
My Wish List
- Find the 1748 Will of William Kelly of Kells to learn its
contents.
- Discover William Kelly's father and learn if Thomas O Kelly
of Carrickmacross is truely his grandfather, William Kelly of
Carrickmacross is his great grandfather, and Thomas Kelly found
at Carvally in the Survey 1591 is his great great grandfather as tradition
claims.
- Discover how the McGonnell surname came into being and find
proof about how that surname connects to Castle Ard-Goneill and the O Neills and the 2nd Earl of Tyrone Hugh O
Neill.
|
If you are a male descendent of
2nd Earl Hugh O Neill with the O Neill surname, in
other words his Y-DNA has been passed directly down to you without any maternal connections, I would loved to compare our Y-DNA results.
Pease
contact me.
Áed Slaine was the 141st Irish Monarch and
he died in 605
AD and
it was from him that the
O'Kelley of Bregia claim descent.
If this is true, based upon a 30 year generation, he was likely my
40th great grandfather.
It was claimed
by researchers that
Áed Slaine was of the southern Ui Nail but I will point out that those who believed he was of the Ui
Nail really had no proof. WiKi says this about
Áed Slaine genealogy:
"Áed and his kin were considered by later genealogies and histories to
be members of the southern branch of the Uí Néill kindred,
but this may be a later addition to include the
descendants of Diarmait mac Cerbaill, supposed to be great-grandson of Niall
of the Nine Hostages, among the ranks of the dominant Uí Néill. The
other branches of the Uí Néill, the great Cenél Conaill and the Cenél
nEógain, and the lesser Cenél Lóegairi, Cenél Maine, Cenél nÉndai, Cenél
Coirpri and Cenél Fiachach, traced their ancestry rather to sons of Niall."
Slaine is located in Co Meath Ireland just a few miles west of Drogheda.
It would seem my ancestors lived not more than 30 miles from the same place
for maybe 2000 years. Slane is on the River Boyne and near the Co
Louth border. A Norman family named Fleming built a
stone castle at Slane and it still remains today.
Found in the book
"Irish Pedigrees" Dr John O'Hart records at generation #101 or ten
generations after the 141st Irish Monarch Aedh of Slaine lived appears
172nd Monarch of Ireland Congall O'Kelley. Congall lived sometime
in the early 10th century almost a full century before
Ceallach #103 the ancestor of the O'Kelly of Connaught
lived.
|
My DNA results will be
valid for all O'Kelley descendents that share our common ancestor
William abt 1685, -> James abt 1715, ->
Charles
1760 -> Charles
Dean
1795 ->
James Stamps 1824.
If you descended from another line in this family, from one of the
other brothers, your results will be very close to mine but maybe
not exact there could be one and sometimes a two marker difference
at 67 markers.
Below are my 111 marker results. They are available for
download here in CSV format.
Halpogroup Confirmed R-BY20936
YSearch ID 6SG69
|
|
PANEL 1 (1-12)
Marker |
DYS393 |
DYS390 |
DYS19**
|
DYS391 |
DYS385 |
DYS426 |
DYS388 |
DYS439 |
DYS389I |
DYS392 |
DYS389II***
|
Value |
13 |
24 |
14 |
11 |
11-14 |
12 |
12 |
12 |
13 |
13 |
30 |
PANEL 2 (13-25)
Marker |
DYS458 |
DYS459 |
DYS455 |
DYS454 |
DYS447 |
DYS437 |
DYS448 |
DYS449 |
DYS464 |
Value |
18 |
9-9 |
11 |
11 |
25 |
15 |
19 |
26 |
15-15-15-17 |
PANEL 3 (26-37)
Marker |
DYS460 |
Y-GATA-H4 |
YCAII |
DYS456 |
DYS607 |
DYS576 |
DYS570 |
CDY |
DYS442 |
DYS438 |
Value |
10 |
11 |
19-23 |
17 |
15 |
18 |
17 |
36-37 |
12 |
12 |
PANEL 4 (38-47)
Marker |
DYS531 |
DYS578 |
DYF395S1 |
DYS590 |
DYS537 |
DYS641 |
DYS472 |
DYF406S1 |
DYS511 |
Value |
11 |
9 |
15-16 |
8 |
10 |
10 |
8 |
10 |
11 |
PANEL 4 (48-60)
Marker |
DYS425 |
DYS413 |
DYS557 |
DYS594 |
DYS436 |
DYS490 |
DYS534 |
DYS450 |
DYS444 |
DYS481 |
DYS520 |
DYS446 |
Value |
12 |
23-23 |
17 |
10 |
12 |
12 |
14 |
8 |
12 |
22 |
20 |
13 |
PANEL 4 (61-67)
Marker |
DYS617 |
DYS568 |
DYS487 |
DYS572 |
DYS640 |
DYS492 |
DYS565 |
Value |
12 |
11 |
13 |
11 |
11 |
12 |
12 |
PANEL 5 (68-75)
Marker |
DYS710 |
DYS485 |
DYS632 |
DYS495 |
DYS540 |
DYS714 |
DYS716 |
DYS717 |
Value |
36 |
15 |
9 |
16 |
12 |
25 |
26 |
19 |
PANEL 5 (76-85)
Marker |
DYS505 |
DYS556 |
DYS549 |
DYS589 |
DYS522 |
DYS494 |
DYS533 |
DYS636 |
DYS575 |
DYS638 |
Value |
12 |
10 |
12 |
12 |
11 |
9 |
12 |
12 |
10 |
11 |
PANEL 5 (86-93)
Marker |
DYS462 |
DYS452 |
DYS445 |
Y-GATA-A10 |
DYS463 |
DYS441 |
Y-GGAAT-1B07 |
DYS525 |
Value |
11 |
30 |
12 |
13 |
24 |
13 |
10 |
10 |
PANEL 5 (94-102)
Marker |
DYS712 |
DYS593 |
DYS650 |
DYS532 |
DYS715 |
DYS504 |
DYS513 |
DYS561 |
DYS552 |
Value |
21 |
15 |
19 |
13 |
23 |
17 |
12 |
15 |
24 |
PANEL 5 (103-111)
Marker |
DYS726 |
DYS635 |
DYS587 |
DYS643 |
DYS497 |
DYS510 |
DYS434 |
DYS461 |
DYS435 |
Value |
12 |
23 |
18 |
10 |
14 |
18 |
9 |
13 |
11 |
|
If you are a
traceable member of someone displayed on this website and you have DNA
test results please
contact me. If you are a male with
the name Kelly, Kelley, O'Kelly or O'Kelley and you desire to know
if you are related to our family line, you can join the project and
submit your sample to learn if there is a family relationship.
If you are a known male descendent of
Rev James O'Kelly searching for your family roots, I would
encourage you to join the Kelly DNA Project and complete a DNA test
as that will prove or disprove Rev James O'Kelly
relationship to our family. It is not free, there is a fee that
ranges between $150 and $250 dollars depending on the number of
markers you desire for DNA testing but I believe this to be a
reasonable amount and could save a lot of time and money wasted
going down an incorrect research paths. Only one male
descendent need submit a DNA sample so the costs could be shared by
interested family members. If you would like to know more about
DNA testing click on the
DNA testing link.
The
Kelley DNA Project was established
by Raymond Kelly. The purpose of the project is best learned
by reading the pages relating to the project. I appear within
R Group 15B, you can select
test results table view below to see
others around me. I have listed the links below:
|
Explains the projects goals of
DNA testing
|
|
Explains how the grouping is determined |
|
Table showing relations
(full view) I appear in Group 15 Ui Maine Branch 2 |
At 37 markers I have 71 matches. At 67 markers that drops to
41 but 11 of my 37 marker matches did not do the 67 marker upgrade.
Only 5 of my 67 marker matches have done a 111 marker upgrade and
only 2 made it, 3 of of my 67 marker matches who upgraded to 111
markers do not share a male ancestor with me in 24 generations.
They are still my cousins, we just have to go back further than 750
years to find the grandfather that we share and that is getting
close to the time when surnames came into use. If you really
want to find these shared ancestors, I am of the opinion that a 111
marker test is needed.
|
Members of our family known to
have tested
|
|
|