The Carmody's of Knocknagoshel Parish

My dad says he remembers when his father heard that his uncle Edmond had died. My grandfather had emigrated to the U.S. a long time ago by then, but he was still upset to hear this, because he had always thought of Edmond as his father. Now that I've learned that my grandfather lived in a completely different village than the rest of his family, it really makes sense how he could identify with someone else as his father. It seems to me that the Carmody's tromping grounds were Knocknagoshel, and for the O'Connor roots I should look elsewhere.

Luckily for me, Knocknagoshel has amazing records. I should explain- many census' were taken in Ireland, and many were burned (or some say "exploded" to be more accurate). And in the rare case of Knocknagoshel, many baptism records survived and were later transcribed into a Parish database online!! This database is very Kerry specific so I really lucked out.

I was hoping to find that the Carmodys had deep roots in Knocknagoshel and maybe I could go back another generation or two. No dice, unfortunately. I could not find EDMOND CARMODY or JOHANA GEANEY's baptism records (which would have their parents names). But I did find both of their names on my great-grandmother's birth certificate transcription! (again, I couldn't find an actual image of the baptism records, but the information was rewritten as follows).

BAPTISM of Elizabeth Carmody of BAILLEDUV on 18 February 1871
Name ELIZABETH CARMODY
Date of Birth 17 February 1871
Address BAILLEDUV
Father EDMOND CARMODY
Mother JOANNA GEANY
Father Occupation NR
Sponsor 1 LAURENCE WRENN
Sponsor 2 ELIZABETH RELIHAN
Priest REV. M. O'FLAHERTY

So, I know have a birth date for my great grandmother - Feb 17th 1871 - making her the oldest of her known siblings thus far. And notice how the Carmodys are from a place called Ballyduff in 1901, that is spelled Bailleduv in 1871. Phonetics is sometimes the rule when finding small townships! (Also notice that Elizabeth's sponsor is Laurence Wrenn, and there is a Wrenn family living next to the Carmodys in 1901-11). Even better, I found 3 more baptism records with the parents EDMOND CARMODY and JOHANA GEANY.

BAPTISM of Denis Carmody of BAILLEBAN on 1 May 1873
Name DENIS CARMODY
Date of Birth 29 April 1873
Address BAILLEBAN
Father EDMOND CARMODY
Mother JOANNA GEANY
Father Occupation NR
Sponsor 1 LAURENCE WRENN
Sponsor 2 MARY WRENN
Priest REV. P. PIERSE
There is no mention of Denis Carmody in Knocknagoshel in 1901 or 1911, but neither is my great-grandmother, so perhaps Denis moved away too. I can't help but gather that the family name 'Denis' (which is huge in our family) started on the Carmody side.

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Other CARMODY Baptisms:

CATHERINE CARMODY of BAILLEDUV
M. Joanna Geany, F. Edmond Carmody / Sponsors: Denis Geany, Julia Leane
PATRICK CARMODY on 18 March 1885 (b. 17 March 1875)
Sponsors: Simon Carmody, Mary Carmody (Priest Rev. T. Carmody)

What we now know about the Carmodys:

Edmond Carmody (somehow related to Simon & Mary Carmody- siblings makes most sense) and Johana Geany (somehow related to Denis Geany) had the following children:

ELIZABETH (b. 17 Feb. 1871), DENIS (b. 29 Apr. 1873), PATRICK (b. 17 Mar 1875), DANIEL (b. 1877), BRIDGET (b. 1879), THOMAS (b.1881), EDMOND (b.1883) and CATHERINE (1885).

Parish records are some of the most reliable records for Roman Catholics in Ireland. The Carmodys lived in the Castleisland Parish, but they had a closer church in Knocknagoshel, where a priest from Castleisland would visit. I found one more record of Edmond Carmody, in 1916 when he signed a petition for the Bishop of Kerry to send Knocknagoshel its own priest. I'm working with the preserver of this document to send me a copy with my g-g-grandfather's signature, but until then you can see the transcription here. The petition was granted.