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  We
are the oldest and one of the few families in the
world to still use the very Irish surname of
O'Kelley and our family tradition story and
records prove that our ancestor arrived in America
before 1750 AD using "O Kelley" as
his surname and when we appear as Kelly in some
early records it is due to the unfamiliarity of
Irish names by the person recording our name and in
some cases it might be due to the English efforts
that began in the 16th century to intentional
suppress Irish surnames. For two and one
half centuries in America generations of my family
have passed down our name, our story, and records
and much survives today. Few
 have such a
rich family history. Few have a signature of
their 3rd great grandfather born in 1795 in our
National Archives proving the spelling of our
surname.
Educator and family historian
Alethea Jane Macon at the age of 87 published
her book
"Four
O’Kelley Sons and Some of their Descendants
– Allied Families"
in 1969 resulting in a dispute about
the forename of my immigrant ancestor but his
surname has never been disputed it has always been
claimed that he arrived in America as a
Protestant O'Kelley having descended from "Old
Irish Kings" and his descendents scattered
over many states and all research slow and manual
this is understandable that not everyone in my
family would be in agreement. The Internet
gives me considerable advantage. DNA, records,
and tradition stories make it certain this
disagreement over my ancestor's forename came from
two stories handed down for generations, one naming
"Thomas" as our first Protestant Ancestor and the
other story naming "James" as our Protestant
Ancestor to leave Ireland and come to America before
1750 AD and 200 years and 5 or maybe 6 generations
separate these two men but without providing
evidence
Alethea Jane Macon's book confused Thomas
and James into a single ancestor that she believed
was named Thomas. It is from a
family pedigree create in 1904 and written in
the hand of
Dr Thomas K
O'Kelley and passed down to his great
great granddaughter
Judith Knowles
Ries my 6th cousin that comes the names
James O'Kelley
and Anna Dean and their first born son the famous
Rev James O'Kelly, Charles, Thomas, Elizabeth,
Polly Ann, Benjamin, Francis, and George. This
great family treasure predates the
Alethea Jane Macon Pedigree by more than 60
years but it doesn't stand alone as
Mary Evelyn
O'Kelley my 4th cousin 1x removed wrote
her 1960 college paper about our ancestors and she
names our ancestor as
James O'Kelley
and his six sons that most migrated to Georgia but
August 11, 2022 the Y-DNA results of
James Thomas
O'Kelley a traceable
descendent of Benjamin O'Kelley the ancestor of
Dr Thomas K
O'Kelley changed everything calling into
question the validity of his
family pedigree create in 1904 as the DNA
results of two descendents of
Thomas, one
descendent of
Charles and now one descendent of
Benjamin
proves that these men were not brothers but cousins
of different degrees. One would have to go
back many generations to find the O'Kelley
grandfather these men shared. Any pedigree
that claims they were brothers is not valid.
 My
thirteen year investigation based in DNA, records, and
tradition stories concludes that everyone who is
blood related to me MAY have descended from
Aed of
Slaine a Monarch of Ireland in the 6th
Century and it seems certain that my family came from
the
Kings of Orel who ruled over Clan Kelly in the
southern portion of what is today modern Co Fermanagh and my ancestors slowly moved south.
DNA suggest that we are the
O'Kelley of Northern Bregia which is pronounced and
sometimes appears written as "Brey" and my
ancestors lived
next to
Tara the place for the coronation of the
Monarchs of Ireland.
Conglach O'Kelley who died 1292 AD may have
been a kinsman and he was the last
known "Lord" of Bregia and the English invasion a century
before reduced and scattered the
O'Kelley of Northern Bregia so low that they were no
longer a recognizable Sept when my ancestor left
Ireland about 1748. By that time the O'Kellys of Ui Maine confined to Co
Roscommon and Galway became the only O'Kellys of
prominence in Ireland. DNA indicate that
while the
O'Kelley of Bregia and the O'Kellys of Ui
Maine share a common ancestor, and that ancestor
lived about 3000 BC or 4000 years or 5000 years before the O'Kelley surname came into existence so the fact
that these two distantly related families both share
a common surname is likely because the name Ceallach
was popular and in common use when surnames came
into fashion.
Just as our family
tradition claims, research based in DNA and records
suggest that our first protestant ancestor was
Tomas O
Ceallaigh, pronounced "Thomas O'Kelley" and he
was a "Gentleman", a man of land and title
born in Ireland about 1540 AD and to appease
the English he converted to Anglican and took an
English styled surname as he appears as Thomas Kelly
in the Survey of 1591 with land near Glaslough Co
Monaghan Ireland and he might be the son of
William Kelly Gentleman Dublin and the Grandson
of
Thomas Kelly also of Dublin. His son
William also a Gentleman and Protestant appears
in 1640 and again in1641 records in
Carrikmacross Co Monaghan and William's son
Thomas O Kelly, Gentleman and Protestant is
found in the 1663 records in the same place.
This
Thomas O Kelly's grandson
William
Kelly, Merchant and Gentleman is found in the
Prerogative Wills of Ireland leaving a Will in Kells
Co Meath Ireland in 1748 and I believe it was
William's death that caused our ancestor
James O'Kelley
and his wife
Nancy "Anna" Dean
to leave Kells
Co Meath Ireland and settle in the portion of
King and Queen County.
 From
Ruth Barton Pullium
my 4th cousin 2x removed comes a family tradition
story handed down to her father from her
grandmother Salina
O'Kelley who was the granddaughter of
Thomas O'Kelley and her story says
that our
ancestors were "prominent" and came from
Co Meath. When living Ruth
orally told the story to some that our ancestor was
of the
Four Tribes of Tara said to once be "Styled
Princes" and DNA matches and research does
support this possibility as it seems likely our
ancestors came from Clan Kelly and may have
descended from the Kings of Orel. For them to still have their
Gentry status in the 16th and 17th Century is proof
they came from an Irish Chieftain line and by
following the demands of the English Tudor Monarchs
my family would have been favored over their Irish
Catholic cousins so it is likely my ancestors were a
protestant Sept of the
O'Kelly of North Bregia
who are found on the map due east
or those found Northeast of
Tara and are distinct from the O'Kelly of Bregia
located along the border of Kildare.
 Maybe
the once greatness of my ancestors living in Co Meath Ireland near Kells
and also in Co Monaghan near Carrickmacross and near
Castle Leslie in Glaslough can be discovered as there are likely Irish Kelly
families who are my cousins and they might not know they came from a line of
O'Kelley who were a thousand years ago great "Princes
of Tara" and likely cousins of the
2nd Earl of
Tyrone Hugh "O'Kelley" O Neill but it is also possible they know
much more about my family's story than I know and they can tell us so much more.
For those who always dreamed of taking a trip to Ireland but didn't know where
to go, you have an amazing opportunity to stay in
Castle Leslie and walk a few miles away over the lands our ancestors once
walked five centuries ago. Please click on the
Email Us link to aid our discovery. I hope you enjoy your visit.
Click on my family Coat of Arms to begin your
journey back in time.
Rick O'Kelley, Webmaster
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