Hello All,

Since I am a new subscriber I thought I would introduce myself. My name is
Ray McInerney and I live in Saginaw, Michigan, which is located 100 miles
north of Detroit. I have been researching my family for a couple of years now
and have made connection with two distant cousins, who have been at it much
longer, and they have been gracious enough to share their findings with me.

We have a family story that says that there were 5 brothers from
Newmarket-on-Fergus, Clare County, Ireland, who came to the US through New
York. Three moved to Michigan, one stayed in New York, and one went to
California during the Gold Rush. This story of course is over 150 years old
and as family stories go it is most likely a mix of fact and fiction. There
was also an additional family story that two of the brothers were twins.

Our research shows that the 3 brothers who came to Michigan were
James(Michael), John, and Cornelius. James always signed his name as James
McInerny and a few records infer that his name was Michael so there is an
element of confusion concerning his full name. We also have no documentation
that proves that they were actually brothers but the circumstantial evidence
is overwhelming. And, we believe that James and John might have been twins.

We know that James and Cornelius were in New York City in the early 1830's.
James was married to Mary E. Marr. They moved to Mt. Clemens, Macomb County,
Michigan about 1835 and show up in the census of 1840 as the only McInerny in
Michigan. Cornelius worked as a laborer in the Harbor of New York including
Governor's Island and Fort Albany. He was married to Margaret Laffan in New
York in 1838. Cornelius and Margaret move to Michigan shortly after their
marriage and purchased land from James.

John McInerney and his wife Mary Murphy arrived in New York along with their
8 children in 1849, during the Potato Famine. They immediately moved to
Michigan and bought land adjacent to Cornelius. These 3 immigrants prospered
as farmers in the area and had large families. Their descendants for the most
part live in the eastern part of Michigan from Detroit to Bay City. There is
also a large contingent of McInerney's in Grand Rapids (western Michigan) but
we have never made any connection to them.

Two separate research efforts have been contracted in Ireland. The first was
done a few years ago by the Clare Heritage Center, and the latest was done
last year by a private researcher. Unfortunately, the civil records in Clare
County are not very good and not much is available prior to 1828. Our only
clue to the parents of these men comes from Cornelius' death record, which
indicated that his father was Cornelius and his mother was Catherine. Records
were found for the baptisms of 3 of John and Mary's children in the parish of
Clarecastle, the old parishes of Clareabbey and Kilone. Since John and Mary
left Ireland in 1849 those records were easier to locate. Additionally,
whatever property John owned or leased was taken over by a Bridget McInerney
who we suspect was a sister since she was not listed as a widow.

The search for James and Cornelius was much more difficult. The key here was
the name Cornelius, which was not too common amongst McInerney's. There were
only 5 Cornelius' listed in the Index to Griffith's Valuation 1848-1864. The
Tithe Applotment records of 1824 list even fewer. Many of those Cornelius'
were eliminated because of who they married and where they lived. Our
researcher was successful in finding a family in the parish of Kilmurry,
townland of Cashuniky. There is more than one Kilmurry in Clare but this town
is located near Limerick. The names listed in this record were Michael,
Cornelius, John, and Patrick McInerheny.

This research then somewhat confirms the family story since the towns of
Clarecastle, Kilmurry, and NewMarket-on-Fergus are all located in close
proximity.

I hope this brief history and description of the research methods proves
useful. I would appreciate hearing from any of you who might be able to make
a connection to these three men. We still are looking for the other brothers
and assume that there were other siblings as well, since family sizes of the
time were 10 to 12 children.

I would also like to express my appreciation to Michael McNerney for
establishing this Listserver so that we can all benefit from our collective
research.

Ray McInerney
IrishRayMac@aol.com