Kennedys from Powerscourt Wicklow, Ireland 1830

SLinda Adarae

My ancestor John Kennedy and his wife Mary or Margareth McGrath emigrated to Quebec in 1832. Mary or Margret died on the ship. There were at least 10 children in the famiy. The Oldest son George married in Bray before they left Ireland. He married Margaret Dempsey in 1831. Their first son was born in Quebec in Aug 1832. The family then worked their way down through Maine. They are known to have built the Catholic church in Augusta. Later they emigrated to Wisconsin settling in southwest Sheboygan County. They also built the Catholic church in 5 corners. John is buried in Cascade. His tombstone says he was born in Parish of Powerscourt in wicklow. Any help for the Wicklow Research would be of great help and appreciated.

A van Helsdingen

I was not able to find any evidence that a parish (either civil, Anglican or Catholic) called Powerscourt exists. However in County Wicklow there is an estate named Powerscourt in the Catholic parish of Enniskerry. You can browse the Catholic records of that parish here: https://registers.nli.ie/parishes/0476 These records are indexed at both Ancestry.com and FindMyPast.

John Curran

Hello @Linda A Smith49 and @A van Helsdingen ,

There is a Civil Parish called Powerscourt in County Wicklow. The map below gives the location. Also you can get more details of the Civil parish at the following link... https://www.townlands.ie/wicklow/powerscourt2/

Hope this helps.

John.

A van Helsdingen

I should have looked more carefully at the civil parishes in Co. Wicklow. "Eye-balling" the maps it seems that the civil parish of Powerscourt and the Catholic parish of Enniskerry have very similiar boundaries. My advice to @Linda A Smith49 would be to search the Catholic records for Enniskerry first, and if nothing is found to then search the adjacent parishes.

SLinda Adarae

Thank you so much for your suggestions. I have found a couple of children in the Parishes listed. I would so much like to find John and Margaret's marriage although it seems unlikely to find their parents listed in the marriage records. Anyone know of any other records that might list their Parents?

A van Helsdingen

Alternative records include newspapers (try the British Newspaper Archive) and marriage settlements recorded in deeds (see https://www.irishdeedsindex.net/index.php) Both of these records are likely to exist only for well-off families. A marriage settlement will almost certainly list the names of relatives of both parties. A newspaper entry should at least mention the father of the bride.