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14.11.08 Visited Manchester central library where I studied parish registers for Ashton-under-Lyne, Stalybridge and the RC parish of St Josephs Goulden St (Manchester), the latter in particular yielding many Kennedys. From what I have seen so far, most Kennedy marriages in this area didn't take place in Anglican churches, unsurprisingly in view of the Irish influence. I managed to find the marriage of Alexander Kennedy to Alice Green in Stalybridge in 1920, witnessed by his brother Gordon and plan to write this branch up shortly. Alexander was a calico engraver's polisher. Earlier in the week I was at Jordanhill college archives looking at some Kennedy teacher training records for the period 1910-1937.
7.11.08 Added a map of Irish 19th century distribution to the Distribution page.
2.11.08 A very busy week started with a day at New Register House finishing the transcription of 1902 births and reconstructing
the Kennedy families of Kingussie who once formed the biggest concentration of Kennedys in Britain, some 8% of the population, significantly higher than
Maybole or Liverpool. Then it was a mad dash to Liverpool to visit the Record Office
and here a talk from the manager about their resources, and very
briefly meet the local Guild members of the area manning a stall at the Liverpool family history fair. Meanwhile I am also
busy working on preparations for the Kennedy clan tent at the big Gathering of the Clans next summer in Edinburgh.
24.10.08 Spent a morning at the National Archives, transcribing 3 wills from 1930 and reviewing the parish register for the Roman Catholic parish of Girvan, which covered the area around Girvan, Maybole and Kirkoswald. There is only one Kennedy in this register, a Margaret Kennedy who was a native of Girvan and married Hugh McGarry from Co. Down. There are no Kennedy baptisms. The church and its register date from 1850, and became the Church of the Sacred Heart, Girvan.
17.10.08 Stop press: Lyle Kennedy of Bonnybridge was a medal winner at the Gaelic Mod 2008 yesterday. He sang in front of the TV cameras introduced as Lyle Ceanadach, introduced by the lovely Màiri Anna NicUalraig.
15.10.08 Another trip to Carlisle RO to study the parish register for Stapleton. This small rural parish has sufficient numbers
of Kennedys to make Longtown registration district the biggest concentration of Kennedys in England. In one day I transcribed 46 Kennedy marriages, 86 burials
and 187 baptisms. Intriguingly the lands were once owned by the de Carricks! The Kennedys are present, working the land, from as soon as the parish registers
open in the early 1700s. Earlier I visited Summerlee Ironworks museum at Coatbridge
, newly refurbished, to see where so many mostly Irish immigrant
Kennedys worked in the 1800s, and surveyed the mostly Catholic Coatbridge Coltswood cemetery.
8.10.08 ScotlandsPeople are now offering digitised entries from the Lord Lyon Public Register of Arms, after which you can view the records for a rather pricey £10. However if all you want to see is the entry for the chief of the Kennedys, the Marquis of Ailsa, I transcribed it some time ago and it won't cost you a penny! Apart from this entry there are 11 other Kennedys including Clowburn, Auchtyfardle, Underwood and the Fergusson Kennedys.
.7.10.08 I've produced a distribution map of Kennedy birth registrations in England for the period 1837-1901. The top 10 registration districts are all in the industrial north of the country, reflecting known migration patterns of the Irish and Scottish. The highest placed district outside this area was London Kensington in 15th place. It is difficult to prove the origin of every Kennedy in England (the population was already well established before the first census which listed their country of birth) but the likelihood is that most of them are of Irish as opposed to Scottish origin. But in the area around Whitehaven most of the Irish born Kennedys were from Co. Antrim and Co. Down and so of more distant Scottish origin. They came there initially to work at the Whitehaven port, and later to work at the iron and coal mines.
25.9.08 Visited Carlisle Record Office mainly to view parish registers for Whitehaven registration district, one of the top Kennedy areas in England (ranking 4th highest registration district for the Kennedy surname in the 1881 census).
19.9.08 BBC Alba, Scotland's new Gaelic TV channel, has opened with presenter Màiri Anna NicUalraig (Mary Ann Kennedy in the lowland tongue) speaking to the nation in Gaelic. What a glorious moment!
16.9.08 Visited East Dunbartonshire Archives in Kirkintilloch to study the Campsie parish pauper rolls.
14.9.08 Made my first research trip to Stirling Council Archives where I surveyed Kennedy records for Drymen parish; and analysed some Catholic marriage records for naming patterns.
9.9.08 Want to see 45 Kennedys running in Glasgow?
8.9.08 Results have been published of yesterday's Great Scottish Run in Glasgow. Star once again was Shettleston Harriers' Scott Kennedy who ran a superb 45th place in the half marathon in 1:15:37, followed by Graeme Kennedy 1:22:07, Grant Kennedy 1:36:02, Matt Kennedy 1:39:44, Donald Kennedy 1:42:46, Gerry Kennedy 1:45:15, Linda Kennedy 1:47:26, David Kennedy 1:47:30, Campbell Kennedy 1:49:56, Nick Kennedy 1:50:52, Thomas Kennedy 1:55:47, Trudy Kennedy 1:56:31, Tracy Kennedy 1:57:07, Lesley Kennedy 1:58:08, Sybil Kennedy 1:59:13, Sheila Kennedy 2:04:25, Laura Kennedy 2:05:15, Rosie Kennedy 2:11:17, Scott Charles Kennedy 2:16:37, Suzanne Kennedy 2:17:14, Paula Kennedy 2:19:50, and Sally Kennedy 2:58:13. In the 10km race which ran earlier, finishers were Robert Kennedy 44:52, Iain Kennedy 45:17, John Kennedy 47:29, Colin Kennedy 48:50, Mark Kennedy 49:26, Craig Kennedy 49:59, Trudy Kennedy 50:33, Paul Kennedy 50:43, Glenn Kennedy 53:11, Alan Kennedy 53:14, Arthur Kennedy 53:59, Roslyn Kennedy 54:24, Dawn Kennedy 54:59, Gillian Kennedy 56:32, Audrey Kennedy 58:33, Pamela Kennedy 66:39, Shona Kennedy 67:30, Barbara Kennedy 72:06, Alison Kennedy 74:35, Kathleen Kennedy 74:46, Karen Kennedy 75:18, Dawn Kennedy 90:37 and Rowena Kennedy 104:50. Well done to all! Hope to see you again next year.
3.9.08 The death has been announced of Deborah (Birkbeck) Kennedy, of the Doonholm branch in Ayr, at the age of 90. The family were originally Highlanders from the parish of Logierait in Perthshire but gradually moved south, building a major timber business before becoming land-owners at Doonholm just outside Ayr.
1.9.08 There are now 49 (as of 1.9.08) Kennedy clan members entered in the Great Scottish Run. I have finished transcribing all the 1886 Kennedy birth records (168 in total), surveyed Inveresk cemetery in Musselburgh, the town where my parents spent their early married life, and written up an article about the Kennedy role in the massacre of Glencoe.
Inveresk church, Musselburgh
9.8.2008 The new Kennedy study website is launched!
2.8.08 Scottish singer Fiona Kennedy will be appearing in concert at Glamis Castle on Saturday August 9th. Celtic football player John Kennedy, off for some time with an injury, has been loaned to Norwich AC. Meanwhile across the water Professor Michael Kennedy of UCD has been promoting his new book 'Guarding neutral Ireland'.
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