William Kelly

WILLIAM KELLY

William Kelly was the youngest brother of my great great grandmother Alice Morgan (nee Kelly)

Their parents were Cornelius Kelly and Mary Moloughney of  Dualla, Ballysheehan, Tipperary.  Dualla is near Cashel.

William was baptised Roman Catholic on the 6th of January 1846 at Dualla.  Sponsors were Michael Kelly and Mary Ryan.  I don't know if this Michael Kelly was his older brother or another relative.

William had 4 older brothers.  Edmond I know nothing further about.  Michael went to South Africa.  He came to his sister in Australia 1898 where he died of Tuberculosis.  John and Thomas. 

 John, Thomas and William all traveled to Australia on the ship Rising Sun arriving on the 15th of June 1858 just in time for their sister Alice's wedding to John Morgan.

According to Michael Kelly's Will in 1898 his brother, William, was last known to be a speculator of West Australian Mining.

In 1905 a New Zealand newspaper notice said at the death of John Kelly that he was the beloved 'only' brother of Thomas Kelly.  We know that Michael had already died so I would assume that William was also deceased in 1905.

On further searching in the Queensland indexes I found the death of a William Kelly in 1899.  His parents were named as Con Kelly and Mary O'Loughlin.

I'm told the surname Molloughney is pronounced with the 'gh' as MolloKney which I have read is also interchangeable with McLaughlin etc.  This is the closest death entry I can find.

The age is out and I don't know when he left Victoria but death certificates are not always reliable.

I cannot be certain this is our William Kelly.  Hopefully one day further information may come to light.

Travel Tuesday - It's a long way from Tipperary

In the 1850 Griffiths Valuation Cornelius Kelly was leasing house land and office from M Penefather at Fussough near Dualla, Ballysheehan, Tipperary.

Yellow highlighted area is roughly map reference 8 on the old Griffiths Valuation map.  This is where Cornelius Kelly's leasehold was situated in 1850.

Cornelius Kelly and his wife Mary Moloughney married on the 6th of February 1834.
Cornelius had died about 1851.
I haven't found when Mary died but perhaps it was about 1858 as her three youngest sons, John, Thomas and William Kelly, aged 18, 15 and 13 resepectively, sailed from Tipperary to Melbourne, Australia just in time for their older sister Margaret's wedding in June 1858.

Margaret Alice Kelly, (known as Alice) my great great grandmother, had moved to Australia possibly about 6 years earlier and their older brother Michael had gone to South Africa to make his fortune.  He remained a bachelor.

All the brothers except John were interested in mining.  Michael did well in Kimberley, South Africa but contracted Tuberculosis and came to his sister in Melbourne where he died in 1898, age 62,  leaving large sums of money to his remaining family members.  Read Michael's Will.

Meanwhile in 1861, Thomas headed for the New Zealand gold rushes where he was one of the discoverers of Noble's Rush on the Grey River in 1865.  Read Thomas' story. 

William it seems was also a miner but a bit more elusive than his brothers.  I have obtained one death certificate which may be him but perhaps I'll never know.  William's story.

John Kelly became a Tanner and it seemed he had a rather tragic life.  His wife and one daughter both died in Melbourne in 1888.  It is on my "to do list" to find out what happened to them.  As yet all I know is his daughter died from accidental burns.  John's story

DUALLA

Dualla - a charming village in Co. Tipperary, nestled in between the local Kill Hills, Slieve na Mbhan (the mountain of women), and the distant Galtees. A lovely, modern church, a beautiful Grotto erected by local people, a Community Centre, tennis court, all add to the picturesque village on the road between historic Cashel and Killenaule.

At the foot of the Kill Hills, which was once thickly populated, can be seen the remains of Killballyherbry Church, built in the 13th century. This church was in use for the locals before Dualla was built. There is a graveyard nearby, where many of our ancestors are buried.

There are various interpretations of the origin of Dualla, but a widely accepted one in Duche Ui Cheallaigh - the land of Kelly.

A few miles down the road as you approach the main Dublin road can be seen the ruins of a Cistercian Monastery in Ballykelly.

The chief attractions of Dualla are it's unspoilt beauty, and the warm, welcoming and friendly people, who are always ready to greet friend and stranger with a Céad Míle Fáilte.

Dualla sounds like a beautiful place and it is my dream to one day visit my great great grandmother's homeland.