The name was always spelled Kearney in Ireland but
	they used the letter 'C' in the United States since 
	1860 or 1862.  Dennis Carney was born 1741 in Culmore
	in the County Galway Ireland and the family had to 
	flee for their lives in 1761 during the Days of the
	Whiteboys and settled in Drishaun - in English Brenville
	in the County Galway Ireland where his son John Carney
	was born and the family had to give up that holding 
	during the Lying Days of 1798 and move to Braughaun
	where his son William was born and also his son Patrick
	and Patrick moved to Thumminaun in the year 1870 where
	his son James F was born. 
	The family has always been intensely Irish and it is the
	hope of the one who hands down this sketch that it stays
	so until Ireland takes her place among the nations of the
	Earth.
        My last wish is that my children may never let the Spirit die.                Dennis Carney		Born Culmore	1741
                John Carney		Born Drishaun	1775
		Wm. Carney		Born Braughaun	1803
		Patrick Carney		Born Braughaun	1836
		Jas. F. Carney		Born Thuminaun	1872

ORIGINS OF THE NAME

From the beginning of the "Family Record":
       The name was always spelled Kearney in Ireland but
	they used the letter C in the United States since 
	1860 or 1862 . . . "

	"The Kearneys are descended from Milesius, King of Spain, 
	through the line of his son, Herber. The founder of the 
	family was Cormac Cas, son of Olliol Olum, first absolute 
	King of Munster {circa 177AD}and Sabia, daughter of Con of 
	the Hundred Battles, King of Ireland {circa 148AD}. Thus 
	the blood of Herman is united with that of Herber in this 
	family. 	
        The ancient name was Cearnach, signifying "Victorious" and
	taken from one of their ancient chiefs, Cartharnaigh. The
	title of the head of this sept was Chief of the O'Gearney,
	and the possessions of the clan were located in the present
	counties of Meath and Westmeath.  O'Dugan, in his topography,
	gives Cathnarnaigh as head Prince of Teffia, whom he designates:

   	"High Prince of Teffia, who obtained renown, Is O'Caharney of
	the Battling Arms. Thus the name was rendered O'Kearney." 
		See Footnote 2

      " The name Kearney is evenly distributed throughout 
	the four provinces of Ireland; the alternative spelling,
	Carney, however, is almost confined to Connacht, 
	particularly County Mayo.  The latter are O'Cearnaigh 
	in Irish (presumably from cearnach, victorious) and are
	a branch of the Ui Fiachrach whose territory was around 
	Moynulla and Balla in County Mayo.  The Dalcassian
	O'Kearneys, who migrated to Cashel in early times, are also 
	O'Cearnaigh.	
       The most important Kearney sept in history are of different 
	origin.  In Irish their name is O'Catharnaigh. They were the
 	chiefs of Teffia, County Meath, and even when their influence
	diminished they retained a considerable territory in Kilcoursey 
	in County Offaly.  One of them became baron Kilcoursey.  The 
	Meath Kearneys are usually known as Fox, the head of the family
	being styled "The Fox".  This arose from the fact that the 
	cognomen Sionnach (fox) was applied to their eleventh century
	ancestor." See Footnote 3

In order to facilitate a better understanding of what is contained in this historic document, we'll analyze it section by section.

		" Dennis Carney was born 1741 in Culmore in the
		county Galway Ireland and the family had to flee
		for their lives in 1761 during the Days of the 
		White Boys and settled in Drishaun in English 
		Brenville in the county Galway Ireland . . . "

Out of sheer desperation and as a protest against the actions of the landlords, bands of men roamed the countryside at night tearing down the fences which enclosed the pastures, frequently destroyed property and cattle. To protect their identities, the men wore white smocks (or sheets) over their clothes thus earning the name "Whiteboys".

With their livelihoods, literally being taken out from under them, the anger and frustration of the Whiteboys was also directed towards the clergy who had been using extortionate methods to collect tithe. The clergy quickly acted to appease the Whiteboys and established a scale of charges for their services.

The Whiteboys, nearly all Roman Catholic, were active throughout Ireland for several years. They subjected some of their victims to cruel torture, caused considerable property damage and are said to have committed several murders. Landlords finally regained control of their lands by getting the English Parliament to pass laws making participation in the Whiteboy's activities a capital offense {don't forget all of Ireland was still ruled by England}. Small armies of loyal and trusted (and I'm sure well paid) farmers were organized to protect the pastures. In the mean time, of course, farm families starved, but the landed were happy.

Where were the Carney's during all of this and why did they have to flee for their lives? We have few facts to work with, but here is some speculation:

1) If the Carney's were landed to any degree, they may have been targets of the Whiteboys and thus had to flee in fear of the Whiteboys. The next section of the record suggests that they had a "holding" - possibly meaning a lease to a section of land, thus suggesting that they could have been landed to a small degree.

2) If the Carney's were members of the Whiteboys, they may have been sought for their participation - which would have been a capital offense - meaning they were fleeing the landlords. They fled, however, to an area very loyal to England (in the North, of course, suggesting that they were probably not a party to Whiteboy activities.)

3) If they were neither landed nor part of the Whiteboys, they may have simply had to flee for their lives because they had no way to support themselves, no farm land, no income and no food.

4) And, finally, there is a very good possibility that our ancestors fled for reasons totally unrelated to the events related here.

	" . . .  where his son John Carney was born 
		and the family had to give up that holding 
		during the Lying Days of 1798 and move to 
		Braughaun . . . "

The key here is the year 1798. This was the year of the "Insurrection of 1798" - that should tell us a lot, but it doesn't. The Insurrection was the result of centuries of oppression of the Irish people by the landed gentry (mostly English) and was one small step on the long road to Irish independence (or at least partial independence) which was not to come about for more than 150 years! But I digress - While I have not yet found a reference to "the Lying Days", there was so much confusion, infighting, false promises and out right lying during this period, it would be perfectly logical to call them the "Lying Days". Here's what we know:
Two groups, "The United Irishmen" and the "Defenders" became very active in 1797, and had committed themselves to rebellion. Combined, they had seized arms, were engaged in military activities and had nearly 280,000 armed men in Ulster, Munster and Leinster counties. The government's response to the rebellion was even harsher repression of the Irish people and the arrest of the leaders of the rebellion - called The Directory. The "plan" was based on the expectation of help and assistance from France's Napoleon (Bonapart) I. The plan was that Napoleon's forces were to invade England and, coinciding with that invasion, the rebellion would move to take Ireland. Napoleon, fickle man that he was, decided to invade Egypt and canceled the invasion of England. [History buffs will recall that this campaign resulted in the destruction of the French fleet by Horatio Nelson in August, 1798 in the "Battle of the Nile".]

Negotiations between the leaders of the rebellion and the French continued, however, and on 22 August 1798 an expedition of three French ships and 1100 men landed at Killala, County Mayo. This was, unfortunately, a case of too little too late, for by the time of the landing, the insurrection had been effectively crushed and most of the leaders arrested.

During this period, the Irish were lying, to themselves and their people; the British were lying to the Irish about their intentions; and the French lied about their intentions to invade England; Parliament lied, saying one thing and passing laws doing another; there was in-fighting between the "United Irishmen" and the "Defenders"; and on and on (and on) making these - truly - "Lying Days".

Again we ask where were the Carney's during all of this, and what role did our ancestors play in the events of the time, and again we have to say that we have no real idea - yet.

I have not been able to locate Brenville in County Galway, yet, so I am not sure of it's proximity to the major events of the "Insurrection". As Roman Catholics in or near the center of what was essentially a Protestant affair, it could be that they were at risk; or, it could be that they were forced to give up their "holding" on orders from the military or the leaders of the "insurrection". In short, a great deal more research is necessary in order for us to better understand the events which involved our ancestors. See Footnote 5 and Footnote 6

Selected maps of Ireland from

Footnote 2 - Genealogy of Irish Families by John Rooney. RETURN

Footnote 3 - Source requires verification. RETURN

Footnote 4 - Irish Pedigrees by John O'Hart. RETURN

Footnote 5 - For more information on Napoleon and his campaigns, refer to
The Columbia History of the World, edited by Garraty and Grey, and Published by Harper and Row.
1987 edition, pages 774 and following.

Footnote 6 - For more information on Irish history, I recommend
The Making of Modern Ireland 1603 - 1923: A History of Ireland During its Three Centuries
of English Rule, by J. C. Beckett; published 1977 by Alfred A. Knoff Publishers, New York.

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