Kennedys of Harbour Main and Holyrood, Newfoundland
Kennedys of Harbour Main and Holyrood, Newfoundland
It is unclear whether or which groups of Kennedy's in Newfoundland are related. While Seary's references to early instances of Newfoundland Kennedys shows a few Irish county origins, his work is just a sampling. My own branch of Carbonear Kennedys arrived from Wexford county in 1807 married into the Crocker's Cove Kennedys who were there before 1755, perhaps as early as 1680. The Irish origins of the Crocker's Cove Kennedys is uncertain though it is likely that the majority of Newfoundland Kennedys, came from within a 30 mile radius of Waterford County from the ports which follow the Suir River where the counties of Tipperary, Waterford, Kilkenny, and Wexford meet. When considering the Kennedy surname distribution in southern Ireland around the early 1700s the assumption follows that the 18th century Kennedy immigrants in the New World likely had a common ancestor in the mid to late 1600s in southern Ireland. From what I can tell it seems the Holyrood Kennedys spread out from Harbour Main and I cannot tell if any of the Carbonear Kennedys are also related. However, given the fact that all Kennedys who settled between Harbour Main and Carbonear along the 25 mile stretch of Conception Bay shoreline and both attended religious services in Harbor Grace up until St. Patrick's RC Church in Carbonear and St. Peter and St. Paul of Harbour Main were built around 1850 it is certain that they shared both geography and social circles.
A map of the general area around Conception Bay
Holyrood, Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada
1776 Will and Descendants of James Kennedy
All KENNEDY WILLS
Holyrood KENNEDYs in the 1921 CENSUS of Newfoundland
Holyrood KENNEDY NEWS
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