Hi, Michael,I don't know much about the Kearneys in Ireland, but at least what I do know goes back farther than yours. I guess people spelled names the way they sounded in those days. I've often found official records as Carney on my Kearney family, so I try to always look for both spellings. My grandmother Mary Kearney was born in Doonbeg, Co. Clare, in 1857 and her brother Michael was born there in 1859. I think Doonbeg is about l0 - 15 miles from Ennis? When my grandmother was 3 years old, the family came to Upper Michigan where they had 8 more children, the other boys being Patrick, John, James and William. They were Catholic. About 5 years ago I had research done by the Clare Heritage Centre. They not only found Mary & Michael's baptismal records, but they found their mother, Margaret Neylon (Kearney) who was born in Doonbeg in 1837. Unfortunately their father Patrick Kearney was harder to find, since I had no birthdate or parents; names. The only Kearney they could find a record of in Doonbeg was Bartholomew, who lived next door to Margaret Neylon's parents. They surmised that Bartholomew and Patrick were probably brothers. When Patrick died in Michigan in 1882 his age was given as 56. If this was correct he would have been born in 1826. When Bartholomew died in Doonbeg in 1891 his age was given as 77, making his birth in 1814. He also had a son Michael. The trouble is, it seems that many people in those days couldn't read and/or write and didn't really know their birthdate, or how old they really were. I understand there are several Neylon families still living in Ennis, as well as some Kearneys. Maybe that's where my Patrick came from. I'll probably never find him, but wouldn't it be nice if some of this helps you someday? Good luck. Mary