BARACK OBAMA’S IRISH
FAMILY ROOTS CONFIRMED – County Offaly
U.S. presidential hopeful’s family origins traced to
Moneygall – records found in local parishioner’s cellar
After weeks spent researching through archives, Ancestry.co.uk
is now able to confirm that U.S. presidential hopeful Barack
Obama’s Irish ancestors originated in Moneygall and neighbouring
Shinrone in County Offaly, Ireland.
Baptism and probate records linking the family line back to
Moneygall have been unearthed with the assistance of Canon
Stephen Neill in the Templeharry Rectory records, until recently
stored in a parishioner’s home. (original images available) It
was initially thought that Obama’s third great-grandfather
Fulmuth Kearney, who sailed from Ireland to New York aged 19 in
1850, was the only member of the family to emigrate, however the
records reveal that other Kearney family members had in fact
been in America since the 1790s.
One member, Fulmuth’s paternal uncle Francis, had in fact bequeathed
land to his brother, Fulmuth’s father Joseph, with the condition that he
emigrate in order to inherit. He did so along with his wife Phebe and
four children, including Fulmuth, although at various times in the
mid-19th Century.
While much has been written about the Democratic senator’s Kenyan
ancestry, his European origins have until now been mostly overlooked.
Ancestry.co.uk spokesperson Megan Smolenyak comments: “This research
will once and for all put to rest any perceptions that Barack Obama is a
first generation American – like most of us he has an interesting mix of
ancestry, including some impressively early all-American roots.”
Images available:
Baptism records – Kearney Fulmuth siblings
1825 marriage index – Fulmuth Kearney parents
1850 U.S. passenger list records – Fulmuth Kearney
1860 U.S.Federal Census – Fulmuth Kearney
Tombstones – Kearney Fulmuth’s siblings and parents
Megan Smolenyak and Canon Stephen Neill are both available for
interview.