KELLY FAMILY
My Kelly family comes from Northern Ireland and for the last 150 years has lived in the Ards Peninsula of County Down. Participation in the Clan Colla DNA Study has shown that my Kelly family has lived in Ireland, likely throughout Ulster, since the 4th century AD or approximately 1,600 years.
Marriage records that I've gathered. Some are 'my' Kelly family but there are also families that I am not related to. Please note that this is a work in progress. I will be adding and updating.
The Castle has been preserved with laudable care by the Montgomery family, and some years ago it was in the charge of a farmer, Mr. James Kelly, who, strangely enough, traced his descent maternally to the Ballygalget Savages
This is a work in progress and will be continually revised as I get more info. I've started with a series of KELLY families from the 1911 census and will try to connect them while adding in the 1901 census, marriages, gravestones, etc.
A record of the origins and history of the Kelly's of County Down, Ireland with particular reference to the Kelly's of Newtownards and surrounding parishes. Written by Charles Kelly circa 1999.
The goal of the Clan Colla 425 null DNA Project is to use Y-DNA analysis to test certain hypothesis and theories about the origins of The Three Collas and the surnames descended from them. Can a relationship be seen for those participants carrying the DYS425 null and surnames with origins in the Kingdom of Oriel? And if so, are the ancient Oriel surnames with the 425 null descended from The Three Collas?
This map of the Johnston estate at Kirkistown and Ratallagh includes a list of tenants and rents on the bottom right corner.
On a hill projecting as a peninsula into Strangford Lough, in the townland and parish of Ardkeen, stands the old motte and later castle of the Savage family. The church yard and building on the south slope probably dates from the late thirteenth century.
Excerpt from pages 107-111 of the book Diary of a Country Parish: Christ Church - Ardkeen Diocese of Down by Rev. Cannon Frank W.A. Bell, M.A., B.D., circa 2001.
Published in 1920, John Stevenson's Two Centuries of Life in Down 1600-1800 is a detailed description of local history and life in County Down. I've extracted a description of Down prior to the Scots settlelement found on pages 20-25.
This is not the complete list although I believe I have extracted all the renters from the Ards.
The following images are excerpts from the Famine Relief Commission Papers, 1845-1847, (RFLC3/2, Incoming Letters: Baronial Sub-series) which document the subscribers to the Ardkeen Soup Kitchen on March 27, 1847. You will note many local family names including McMaster, Young, McCormick, Coulter, Echlin, Donan, Bailie and Savage.