SOME COMMENTS AND REVIEWS ABOUT "THE IRISH KENNEDYS"

I have just finished reading the 498 pp second edition of the book 'The Irish Kennedys' written by Australian Brian Patrick Kennedy. Brian is to be congratulated on a truly definitive piece of work which wonderfully combines the ancient genealogy and history of the Kennedys from their origins in south west Ireland over one thousand years ago, with his own personal quest to trace his roots.

The book contains a bumper 58 (!) chapters which cover the rise and decline of the family right up to their suppression and dispossession under Cromwell and their eventual emigration overseas. Yet oddly I find the later chapters, where Brian attempts to bridge the gaps in the records to trace his line back to the first Irish Kennedy, by far the most thrilling. It is often said that 'genealogy is not a spectator sport', this book disproves that once and for all. What a shame that, when their old house in Ireland is found in a state of abandon, negotiations to regain ownership never come to fruition.

When the book went to press the Trinity College Dublin Irish DNA project was in progress but had not yet reported, and gets a brief mention at the beginning of Brian's book. As I have mentioned elsewhere, the report included DNA tests for over 60 male Irish Kennedys and I believe this, along with the rise of the commercial DNA testing companies, will open up many new chapters in the story of the Kennedys of both Ireland and Scotland. It would provide an excellent starting point for that Third Edition.

If you are an Irish Kennedy, the book is a must. If you are a Scottish Kennedy, give it a read too and find out about our brothers across the water. It seems that no-one really knows right now whether the two Kennedy families are connected or not but our common name means we ought to be interested in each other. Maybe someone will step up to the plate and write an equivalent book about the Scottish family.

Ian Kennedy, Glasgow, Scotland.

Thank you so much for the wonderful book The Irish Kennedys. The book is well researched and I commend you on your hard work and dedication. I hope you continue on with much success in the future. You are to be applauded for your outstanding work.

Senator Edward M Kennedy

In the first edition, as well as recounting the Kennedy story over a period of a thousand years, he was able to extend his individual family history from Australia to the homestead in Ireland from which his ancestors emigrated. In the new and expanded version of the book he has managed to link his own family tree to the ancient Kennedy genealogies. He is satisfied that every link in the chain can stand up to scrutiny. The book is likely to attract interest well beyond the Kennedy clan.

The quality of his research and the bridging of the all too often impossible seventeenth-eighteenth century gap, marks this book as a template for family historians.

Tony McCarthy (Irish Roots Magazine)

It was very kind of you to share your book with me. I hope it is a great success for you.

Jean Kennedy Smith (US Ambassador to Ireland)

I do congratulate you on producing an important book of reference for present and future generations. The Irish Kennedys is a work of art.

Roger Chatterton-Newman (Author of “Brian Boru, King of Ireland”)

This volume brings together in one convenient package most of the early resources any O'Kennedy researcher would want to see.  Anyone interested in the O'Kennedy clan history would find this work of immense use.

Andrew J. Morris, Genealogist, USA.

Is your name Kennedy?  If it is you'd be extremely interestred in a book called 'The Irish Kennedys'.  It is well researched (apparently over 20 years) and a good read even if you aren't a Kennedy.

Janet Reakes, Family Trees Column, The Sunday Mail, Brisbane, Australia.

There are 38 chapters in this book, and per book review by the editor of "Irish Roots" magazine, most of the book is a history of the Kennedys from earliest times to the present - how the Kennedys fared through the various episodes of Irish history.  There are chapters on Kennedy churches, churchmen, castles and cottages, there is a well-informed chapter on the Kennedy coats of arms and seals.

One of the most interesting parts of the book is a chapter in which the author recounts in detail how he located the place in Ireland from which his own Kennedy ancestors set out for Australia.  Brian Kennedy already knew from Australian records that the family was associated with the parish of Doon, Co. Limerick, but the parish priest had not been able to trace the marriage record years before.  The real breakthrough came when the author's cousin remembered that her grandmother, who had purchased a farm in Brisbane at the turn of the century, had the name "Foilaclara" painted on the board at the farm gate.  She remembered trying to pronounce it as a child and being told that it was the name of the place in Ireland from which her grandmother had come.  The significance of this name became apparent when, checking through the townlands of Griffith's Valuation, Brian Kennedy came across the name Foilycleara with two Kennedy families listed as landholders! Further research at the Land Valuation Office in Dublin enabled the author to find the old Kennedy homestead.  Clearly, it was worth the long search.

"It was a cold drizzly afternoon when we stopped the car on the road outside and walked into the yard.  I cannot describe my feelings as I stepped over the threshold into the cottage.  To think that my great-grandparents had left here to go to Australia.  Every genealogist's dream!"

Jean Rice, RootsWeb, 'IRELAND-L' mailing list.

I received my copy of the 'Irish O'Kennedy' book by Brian Kennedy today.  I'm only a few pages into it, but it's - FASCINATING!  I'm only half Kennedy, (my mum is one - from Ireland) but this book is something else.  If you carry the name, you'd better buy it!

Mike Caswell, Palmyra, New York, USA.

I not only enjoyed but just loved your book "The Irish Kennedys".  I keep rereading it and probably shall continue to do so while I'm on Earth (Hope they have a copy wherever I eventually go!!)

Lesley Roberts, Narromine, New South Wales, Australia.

I was very interested to see the Kennedy castles.  I have been to Ireland and looked at a lot of castles but didn't know which ones were ours.  Now I know where to look.

Dan Kennedy, Winston, Salem, North Carolina, USA.

Congratulations on penning a great read about a noble clan.  The Kennedys are forever in your debt.

Professor Jim Corkery, Bond University, Queensland, Australia.

CONTACT

Sean Kennedy

PO Box 255

Helensvale QLD 4212

AUSTRALIA

Fax:  +61-7-55618866

Email: gaeltach@bigpond.com