Thank you for contacting me. I love to talk about this colorful Irish ancestor.

My illusive BRANNAN ancestor actually was born with the surname KILROY. Bernard “Barney KILROY was born circa (that’s Latin and means “about”) 1830 or so near Kilmacteigue Catholic parish, Achonry in county Sligo, Ireland. No, I haven’t found his actual birth record and probably never will. But that’s the county (and parish) where his sister, Mary, married a GALLAGHER. Folks in Ireland those days didn’t roam too far from their homes. (Unless they were immigrating to some other county.) Why didn’t they roam too far from home, you ask? Good question! The answer is – no cars or buses, few horses. So they had to walk. Walking in the muddy damp Irish weather was no fun either! And you will son learn, there aren’t many early records in Ireland about illiterate Irish Catholic peasants. I probably will never be able prove his birth dates, nor the place. My official ancestral heritage starts some time in the 1830’s.

Anyway, Barney KILROY and one of his brothers, Thomas KILROY, immigrated to England when they were in their early teens. Why, you ask? I’m guessing they were looking for work, and no one in county Sligo was hiring. Remember, this was just before the famine years started. Smart guys!

In 1851, in England Barney met and married an Irish lass by the name of Hannah “Anna” FLANAGAN. In 1853, Barney Kilroy BRANNAN (about age 18 or so) left England and immigrated to America to seek his fortune, again. I don’t know if his wife came with him. Her name was not included on the boat list. Barney used his mother’s maiden name, BRANNAN, instead of KILROY. Family legend says he had to change his name to escape the English military draft and leave England. Oh yeah, Barney BRANNAN was a farmer.

His brother, Thomas KILROY, learned the mason trade, married an Irish lass in England and stayed for awhile in England to raise a family. Thomas used another variation of his mother’s surname BRENNEN or BRENNAN. Thomas BRENNEN/ BRENNAN and his family eventually immigrated to Indiana.

I’ll abbreviate the rest of this long story. My Barney BRANNAN moved on from Philadelphia to Ohio, then to a couple of places in Indiana. Later in life he took some of his family to a homestead in North Dakota. And a GALLAGHER nephew and family joined them there. Barney died in ND in 1918, age about 83 or so.

My Barney Kilroy BRANNAN was a colorful, Irish guy. Married three times, had 21 known children, and outlived all three of his wives. I have 644 names in my database that claim descendency from this man. Oh yes, he did enjoy his drink too!

Thnx for asking.
Bob O'Brien
1819 E. Oxford Dr,
Tempe, AZ 85283-2250
Phone: 480/ 831-5198
email: bpob@cox.net