Our Native Irish Generation

William Kelly, the Irish father of our below ancestor who was also named William Kelly must have been born about 1700 and probably never left Connaught Ireland but if he was landed Gentry Irish as I suspect then he likely lived in Dublin far from his or his relations Connaught Estate(s).  My DNA results make it certain that he was native Irish, descending from the same ancestral stock as the Ui Ceallaigh* of Ui Maine*which is located in County Galway and Co Roscommon Ireland a sept who descended from Maine Mor who came from Ulster and conquered and lived in Ui Maine Ireland in the fourth century when Ireland was Druid.  We learn William's name from book author Wilbur E MacClenny who wrote in his 1910 book, The Life of Rev James O'Kelly that Rev James's son, William Jefferson O'Kelly, was named after his grandfather, William O'Kelley.  MacClenny makes the claim on page 14 of his book that Rev James descended from William O'Kelly of Athlone Ireland, Chief of Hy-Many and who English King Edward appointed to his Privy Council April 7 1547, William would have been a rare Irish protestant.  MacClenny also wrote on the same page that Rev James maternal grandfather was (Irish born) Rev John Chetwode but I have many doubts this could be true because this line of Chetwodes that appear in MacClenny's source documentation were of high born English Nobility who came to Ireland during King James's time and for a Chetwode woman of her status to marry a native Irish, such a man would have been very high born and protestant making a union likely to have been documented.  The Chetwodes are documented mostly from protestant church records and MacClenny provides his readers an accurate description of Rev John Chetwode, who was the Chaplin to James Butler, but if Rev Chetwode had a daughter who married a Kelley no record of their union has been found. 

In spite of the difficult times experienced by our ancestors MacClenny could have been correct in his belief that Rev James O'Kelley's maternal line was of Rev John Chetwode as John Knightley Chetwode b 1679 appears to have been the only child of Rev John Chetwode of Ireland and he had two daughters born at Martry County Meath Ireland between 1703 and 1713 and one could have married William Kelley and become the mother of Rev James and our ancestor, William Kelley, making them the great grandsons of Irish born Rev John Chetwode and the grandsons of John Knightley Chetwode.  So how do we know that Rev James O'Kelley founder of the  Christian Church is related to our family?  We must look at another century old book authored by  Peter Jefferson Kernolde titled "Lives of Christian ministers: over two hundred memoirs" published in 1909 and he tells his readers the names of three descendants who became ministers in Rev James Christian Church and all three are documented descendants of  Thomas O'Kelley; they being  Rev James O'Kelley, Rev John Pendleton O'Kelley, and Rev Francis Dean O'Kelley.  This makes it very likely that William Kelley of Mecklenburg Co Va and our ancestor, was the older brother of Rev James O'Kelley and the Chetwode connection is true for all our family so just as MacClenny makes the claim that Rev James named his son after his father William that our Mecklenburg William was also named after the same William O'Kelley.   The little clues are there to follow like breadcrumbs. I do not yet know if our line connects to the high born landed Gentry Native Irish but if Rev James's mother was a Chetwode as MacClenny claimed and if Elizabeth Dean was of the Galway old English Deanes then it is likely our family descended from one of the lines documented in Dr John O'Donovan's 1843 book titled, "Tribes and Customs of Hy-Many...." and the Gentry class and Chetwode connection could explain how our ancestor arrived in America as a protestant during a time when almost all native Irish were still fiercely Catholic and very poor.  

After two years of intense investigation I can find no evidence that W E McClenny was right about the Chetwode grandfather.  Both the Chewode and Knightly families received huge land grants in early America and if Rev James O'Kelly was a grandson surely he would have enjoyed some benefit but that doesn't seem to appear.  I don't think McClenny could have been correct in his claim, I don't think Rev James was the grandson of Rev John Chetwode and this can also be proven by the lack of the Chetwode or Knightley name among the Rev James descendants as it was the Irish custom and English custom to use maternal surnames of famous or powerful relations as the middle names of descendants and we have no middle names bearing the surname of Chetwode or Knightley. 

I think it was likely that Rev James like our ancestor William Kelley descended from a landed gentry family who were protestant and friendly with the English and one such family that appears in the documents is the family of William Kelly of Buckfield Ireland.  DNA testing indicate a 63% possibility that the Buckfield line could be our Irish ancestors.  Our good fortune is I am now awaiting the results of a DNA test submitted by a descendant of the Buckfield line to compare to known DNA results from members of our family so about the first day of Spring we may know for certain.  

Pedigree of Kelly

The below is not proven, so please do not replicate as fact.  I post this only in the hope that others who may have documents will view it and contact me and provide additional information and to keep my readers informed about the progress of my quest.  The below assumes that Dennis Kelly of Buckfield Ireland is our ancestor William Denis Kelley and James Kelly may be Rev James O'Kelly founder of the Christian Church.  This is not yet proven so please do not replicate it as proven fact.  DNA testing is being used to eliminate documented lines as our ancestors.

William Kelly married Reddis Kelley about 1727.  Reddis was the great, great, grand daughter of Colla O'Kelley who is well documented as loyal to the English Queen Elizabeth and in 1601 he accepted her written request to drop the "O" from his last name, learn the English language and raise his descendants as English and protestant a rare action by native Irish who most remained Catholic.  They had the following children:

i.	Edmond Kelly of Buckfield was born about 1728 in Ireland.  Edmond received both the title and lands of his father likely motivating some of the younger sons to immigrate to America.
ii.	John Kelly of Strokestown was born in Ireland likely about 1730 .  John may have had a son or grandson named after him who immigrated to Virginia as the Elon University Rev James Collection presents us with the possibility that Rev James had a brother named John and Frances Crowder married a John Kelley Dec 6, 1804 where Charles Kelley appeared as the second or best man.  Frances was Mary and Delilah's younger sister and because of Frances's age and the date of the marriage I think the John Kelley she married may have been a son or grandson of don't think she married this John Kelley but likely married his son, who would have been a first cousin to my 5th grandfather Charles Kelley.  Because this marriage also appears in the Rev James O'Kelley Elon Collection it is likely he may have preformed the marriage.
iii.	William Dennis Kelly was born in Ireland about 1730, and immigrated to Virginia.  There are ship arrival records for a William Kelly in 1746 and Wm Kelly arrived in Virginia in 1748 and one of these could be the record of his entry.   This was just a few years after the "Year of the Slaughter", a time that would have been of great sorry for young William.  If he was able to pay his passage he would have received land in Virginia upon his arrival.  We find William as the head of household for the only Kelley, Kelly, O'Kelly or O'Kelley family living in Mecklenburg Co according to the 1782 Virginia State Census and living with him are ten others likely his wife, Charles and his wife Mary and their two young children, William and Elizabeth Dean Kelley.  From a Mecklenburg Militia Roster we know that Charles was living in Mecklenburg in 1779 and because Rev James lived until 1826 it is likely that William could have been alive when most of his sons and their families moved to Georgia in 1805.  This is my line documented and presented within this website.
iv.	Owen Kelly was born in Ireland about 1734
v.	Anthony Kelly was born in Ireland in 1736
vi.	Rev James O'Kelly founder of the Christian Church in America was according to W E MacClenny likely born in Ireland and I suspect as James Kelley because the English made using the O' difficult if not deadly. Elon University makes the claim that Rev James moved to Mecklenburg in 1785 and lived there until 1797.  From where he came before Mecklenburg isn't clear.  He reportedly lived as a young man in Surry Co Virginia but there appears to be a 25 year gap of which he is unaccounted for between the time he reportedly lived in Surry and moved to Mecklenburg.  While living in Mecklenburg one can surmise that Rev James likely visited William Kelley's Mecklenburg home and family on many occasions.  I suspect he may have officiated the marriage of Francis and Delilah and in turn they named their first son after the famous Rev James.  It is also likely that Rev James was the source of the name James in the families of Charles and Thomas as well.
vii.	Francis Kelly was likely born about 1739 in Ireland,
viii.	Fetus Kelly of London was likely born about 1741 in Ireland, served in the British military and died Oct 7,  1831 and is buried in Dublin.
ix.	Mary Kelly was likely born about 1742 in Ireland.

* Ui Ceallaigh is Irish Gaelic pronounced as "i Kel lee" and is plural for O'Kelley.  Ui Maine is pronounced "i manie". 

** Wilber E MacClenny, 1910 "The Life of Rev James O'Kelly" page 15 "John Chetewode, James O'Kelly's maternal grandfather.."