Kiely Surname Project

Group Administrator: Gregory Kiely
Group Co-Administrator:

Project Background

In the year 1982, my grand aunt Sister Mary Michael (of Saint Joachim -s convent, Victoria Park, Western Australia) along with two other Sisters approached me with genealogical information concerning my family - Kiely. It was information compiled by Sister Catherine Joseph and Sister Roberta (Ni Kiley), both of Ireland - and was sent to Sister Mary Michael in good faith. I was now the recipient of a photocopy of the information and a letter from Sister Mary Michael concerning my great grandfather and his immediate family. In the genealogical information page from the Irish sister-s information, the following family tree was compiled: PATRICK KILEY of KILGLASS County Limerick begot the following children: MARGARET (married to Michael Noonan); NELL (married to Dennis MacGrath); MARY (married to Mr. Flynn); JANE (married to a Mr. Condon); NORA (married to James Shealey); PATRICK (MY GREAT GREAT GRANDFATHER, married to Honnorah or Hannah Quinn and settled in Baurnagurrahy); JOHN (married to Marie Cushing?) - may have been other children. My great great grandfather PATRICK-s surname would possibly have been registered as KILEY, but the surname was certainly changed through the registering of my grandfather John KIELY-s birth name and other details in the town of Galbally. The information given by the Sisters also included from the genealogist John Woulfe-Flannigan (IRISH NAMES AND SURNAMES), the following: Kiley and Kiely were the name of a Kilkenny family who were anciently chiefs of Ui Bearchon (in the Barony of Ida), and the names of a Tipperary family who were anciently chiefs of Aolmagh. I would later prove this information to be valid through the research done in this project.

The - Kiely - surname investigated in this project is then, an Anglicized variant of a Gaelic ancestral surname inherited through a genealogical patrimony. The pedigree for the Kiely family can be traced back to its origins in the Province of Leinster, Ireland. The family is descended from Gaelic lineage, and to this day, the Gaelic equivalent for the surname is written as - Cadhla. The Kiely surname form of Cadhla is the recognized Gaelic form of the Kiely surname in Connemara, Tipperary and Clare, Ireland, however, in Waterford the Anglicized form of the surname is sometimes written as Quelly. The Anglicized forms of the surname - Kiely - are to be found in Counties Cork (the highest account), Waterford, Tipperary, and Limerick. In ancient times surnames were normally given in the form of a superlative or even as diminutive descriptive noun - these styles and forms of surnames have persisted to this present day.

The Kiely Surname Project began in earnest in 2005. Searching regional birth records and other filial information concerning my grandfather John Kiely and his immediate family in Ireland, a model for searching Kiely surname distribution had begun. Later a broader distribution of the Kiely surname and other speculated surname variants were investigated by using the Griffiths Evaluation Record of the mid 1800s as an analyzing tool. A distribution map of all of the Kiely households and other assumed variant surname households in Ireland were mapped within the same time-frame (1800s) - where cross regional migration in Ireland was not at all common for the Kiely family. This gave me a regional distribution pattern much needed for the continuation of the surname research in an historical context in Ireland. I next looked at the variants of the Kiely surname suggested by John O-Hart (Historian and Amateur Genealogist)and found that his own variegated genealogical grouping of surnames had no proven validity of relatedness against any evidence found in historical data or within any current genetic results analysis within the Kiely Surname Project results. More than historical records and speculative theories were required to validate or invalidate ancestral matches between my immediate family and the descendants of bearers of the assumed variant surnames given by O-Hart, for example, O-Hart proposed that the Kielys descended along with the Kealys from Chonaill - a 5th Century King of Thomond - as the Ui Chonaill Gabhra [or] gathering of Chonaill; grandsons of Chonaill etc. Within the context of the Kiely Surname Project it was hoped that a Kiely surname target group and corresponding Y-DNA results could validate a haplotype that could then be matched with other assumed surname variant descendant-s results found in the FTDNA (and other) data base(s) - whose ancestors were proven to be found within specified regions in Ireland,for example, the ancestors of the variant surname holders found within the ancient territories of the Southern Ui Neill. All of the results matched with the participant DNA samples found in the FTDNA database were in this way investigated for any recent common ancestor that could derive a common genetic haplotype ancestry for their own results establishing subgroups within their own results and ruling out any results representing non-paternal events. This method of research was hoped to extend to include what is known as -genetic cousins- sharing the same haplotype along with the Kiely haplotype in other world regions. I found Family Tree DNA to be one of the top six companies to support my research - so I began this project with their support. I would also like to mention that gender DNA restrictions do not apply to this project - mtDNA results are also included to compliment research within this project. The participation in this project, of the grand daughter of an Irish lady who was married to a Kiely in Waterford, has helped to investigate mtDNA haplogroups found within this region ancestrally.