Joseph Kearney was Barack Obama’s 4x great-grandfather. This pedigree chart shows his parents, William and Margaret Kearney, and Joseph’s siblings.
Information on individuals:
Joseph Kearney
Joseph was referred to in a lease dated 1 May 1800 (Minchin to Kearney) as the son of William Kearney. The lease was cited in the Landed Estates Court document of 1851. His date of birth has been estimated based on information on his gravestone. He died in America on 30 October 1861 aged 67 years.
Francis Kearney
Francis emigrated to America and settled in Pickaway County in the state of Ohio. He left lands to his brother Joseph on condition that Joseph moved to America. His will (of circa 1848) also mentions his brother William – who was apparently already living in America – and his nephew, a son of his late brother Thomas in Ireland.
Benjamin Kearney
Benjamin was described as ‘son to William Kearney, shoemaker of Moneygall, buried in Shinrone.’ He did not marry and remained in Ireland.
Thomas Kearney
Thomas remained in Ireland. He married and had a son who was referred to in his brother Francis’s will of circa 1848; we know from the will that by then Thomas had already died, but no record of his burial has been found either in the Shinrone or Templeharry Church of Ireland burial registers.
William Kearney
Like his brothers Joseph and Francis, William emigrated to America. He was certainly in America by the 1840s, and appears in the 1850 and 1860 census returns for Wayne Township in Fayette County, Ohio. It is this uncle that Barack Obama’s great-great-grandfather Fulmouth originally stayed with in America.