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Keaveney is an Irish surname with dates back to approximately 970AD in the Hy-Many territory of East County Galway/County Roscommon and takes it's name from Geibennach Mac Aedh O Kelly who was chieftain of the Ui Maine (Hymany) clan for 15 years until his death in 971 AD.
The surname is also common in County Sligo, particularly in Easkey and Keash and in County Mayo between Balla and Ballintubber.
There are many variants like Cavaney, Caveney, Cavney, Caveny, Geaney, Kaney, Kenney, Keafeney (Offaly >Australia), possibly Kenoy (Co. Roscommon) and Kevane (Dingle, Co. Kerry), and Kavanagh variants including Cavanaugh/Kavanaugh.
Geaney is the version of the surname which is quite common in the Dingle Peninsula in Kerry. Paul and Michael Geaney are cousins from Dingle who won All Ireland Football medals in 2014 representing Kerry. Paul won his second medal in 2022.
Jimmy Keaveney of the 1970's Dublin team is our most famous Gaelic footballer to date with three All-Ireland Football medals in his possession.
The Irish poet Patrick Kavanagh's paternal ancestry has now been definitively traced to a Keveny family in Castletown, Easkey, Co Sligo.
The surname is also common in County Sligo, particularly in Easkey and Keash and in County Mayo between Balla and Ballintubber.
There are many variants like Cavaney, Caveney, Cavney, Caveny, Geaney, Kaney, Kenney, Keafeney (Offaly >Australia), possibly Kenoy (Co. Roscommon) and Kevane (Dingle, Co. Kerry), and Kavanagh variants including Cavanaugh/Kavanaugh.
Geaney is the version of the surname which is quite common in the Dingle Peninsula in Kerry. Paul and Michael Geaney are cousins from Dingle who won All Ireland Football medals in 2014 representing Kerry. Paul won his second medal in 2022.
Jimmy Keaveney of the 1970's Dublin team is our most famous Gaelic footballer to date with three All-Ireland Football medals in his possession.
The Irish poet Patrick Kavanagh's paternal ancestry has now been definitively traced to a Keveny family in Castletown, Easkey, Co Sligo.
We are lucky to finally have the Kavanaghs from Quebec join our group.
The story of this family is both tragic and a testament to courage and perseverance in the face of impossible odds beginning with the clearance of the Palmerston Estates in Sligo during the Potato Famines of the 1840's
We will update this page with more information shortly.
Here are some web addresses for online resources to the Kavanaghs.
https://lostchildrenofthecarricks.com/
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLEzulq_tiqtxPGAy70EFEjoZG3p6RmzJP
To date the genetic profile of the surname is tightly Haplogroup I -L161 which is consistent with a North East Galway/Roscommon/Sligo/Leitrim/Mayo origin.
The existence of Geaneys in Kerry (and possibly Kevane) is thought to relate to some population movements from Roscommon/Longford in the late 1600s.
To date the genetic profile of the surname is tightly Haplogroup I -L161 which is consistent with a North East Galway/Roscommon/Sligo/Leitrim/Mayo origin.
The existence of Geaneys in Kerry (and possibly Kevane) is thought to relate to some population movements from Roscommon/Longford in the late 1600s.
A common denominator of the DNA line is it's existence predominately west of the River Shannon until recent times.
The name of the north Kerry town of Ballylongford and the presence of the Mulvihill surname in both Longford and Kerry has now been found to be genetically connected also.
We hope to soon confirm that the Kevanes and Geaneys from Kerry are also related to members of this group.