Family Page

The Abraham, Kahy, Kinane/Kinnane, and McGroarty Family Homepage

My family came to America via Ellis Island in the early 1900's

with the surnames of Kinane/Kinnane, Kahy, Abraham and McGroarty.

They arrived on ships from the ports of Ireland, England and LaHavre, France.

They came across the Atlantic from such far-away places as Homs Syria,

Beirut Lebanon, and Tipperary Ireland. Once in America,

most of the familiy settled in the Brooklyn, New York area.

Above: Peggy and Eddie... my Mom and Dad!

Kinane/Kinnane/Cunnene/McGroarty Family

The Kinane family home:

My grandmother Delia and her family grew up in this home in Tipperary, Ireland. So how big is the Kinane family?? My Great Great Grandfather married twice... and had seven children with each wife! See the info below this picture!

WE WENT TO TIPPERARY AND SAW THE HOUSE. WE STAYED WITH MR. WALTER HENNESSEY, WHOSE MOTHER LIVES IN THAT VERY HOUSE TODAY. (from Mary Therese Kupper, New Jersey, USA. Daughter of Noreen "Nora" Kinane)

...The Australian Kinnanes. That is how we spell it, and we are from Tipperary to. My grandfather parents came from Tipperary, my grandad is the last of his 13 brothers and sisters, and his name is James. I don't know any Quinnanes, so I don't know that that part of your family history is correct. There are heaps of descendants of the Kinnane family though here in Australia. (from Kristy in Australia)

My Great Great Grandfather: Michael Kinane married his first wife: Elizabeth Henebury. Together they had seven children.

William Kinane... born Sept 3rd, 1828
Catherine Kinane... born March 18th, 1830 (married Richard Quinn and moved to Wisconsin)
James Kinane...born Jan 18th, 1832
Elizabeth Kinane....born July 14th, 1833
Thomas Kinane....born Jan 20th, 1835 (the Dean of Cashel Cathedral in Tipperary)
Mary Kinane.....Feb 19th, 1837
Dorethea or Doretta Kinane.... May 17th, 1839

Then Michael Kinane married Ellen Kiely (my Great Great Grandmother) and had seven more children....

Ellen Kinane.....born June 27th, 1844
Bridget Kinane...born March 4th, 1846
Anne Kinane......borh March 23rd, 1850
Michael Kinane...born June 3rd, 1852
Daniel Kinane... born Jan 10th, 1855 (my Great Grandfather)
William Kinane...born May 3rd, 1858
Ann Kinane.......Nov 18th, 1859

My Great Grandfather Daniel married Catherine Power... had my Grandmother Bridget "Delia" Kinane, who married William Henry McGroarty.. and had my mother Margaret.

My Grandmother Bridget Delia Kinane McGroarty. Picture was taken outside Holy Name Church in Brooklyn. Delia, as she was known, had two children, my mother Margaret "Peggy", and my late Aunt "Dolly" Mary Therese. Bridget Delia Kinane came to America in 1911 on the ship Oceanic. The ship left from the ports of Queenstown, Cork and Munster, Ireland and arrived at Ellis Island on October 20th, 1911. 21 year old Delia arrived with her 22 year old sister Mary Ellen.

Information on the Kinane/Kinnane name and family from John Burns, who lives in England and is the great-grandson of James Kinnane. The name has two spellings in Ireland, often within the same family - a result of Irish grammar, one the possessive case of the noun and one not. All the Tipperary Kinanes are related because it's an Irish clan or sept name. Most of them still in Ireland are to be found in either County Tipperary or County Cork, adjacent counties in Munster. The clan centre, as it were, is the small village of Upperchurch in Tipperary. The family had a part in Irish history in the first half of the twentieth-century. The pub (Ireland's famous Paddy Kinanane's) is named after a cousin of my grandfather, Patrick "Paddy" Kinnane. He was a battalion commander in the Anglo-Irish War and later a TD - equivalent to a US congressman - in Sean McBride's political party. One of Patrick's cousins, Jeremiah Kinnane, became Archbishop of Emly and Cashel while another, Michael Kinnane, became head of the Irish police force, the Garda. The cousin of Phil Shannahan mentioned on the web page, Sean Treacy - Tipperary spelling of "Tracy" - was a close colleague of Michael Collins. The policeman, Michael, went to school with Eamon DeVelara - no doubt, this didn't hinder his promotion! There's also an Australian branch of the family, but they call themselves "Quinnane". Two strands seem to run through the family - politics and sports. The current champion Irish jockey, Michael Kinane, is a Tipperary Kinane. If you look up local Irish newspapers in Tipperary, you'll fine the Kinane's still closely involved in the GAA, the Irish athletic association. I've also traced a Kinnane from Tipperary who was in the Illinois state senate about a hundred years ago.

The following are some interesting notes about the Kinane name. In my travels I found two books on Irish wills in a library in Texas. The dates are the dates of probate: (From Larry Kinane, Florida, USA)
1787............... Kinane, Paul, Galway, fisherman
1780................Kinane, Edmond, Tipperary
1787................Cashel

The Kahy Family

As far as I can tell, the Kahy's are originally from The Levant, which at that time was Syria and Lebanon. My Great Great Grandfather was Leon Gibron Kahy. His wife was Olga. Together they had four children.

Farida or Freda Kahy... born April 15th, 1887 (moved to Brooklyn)
children: Albert, Evonne

Afdokia Kahy... born August 2nd, 1906 (my Grandmother/moved to Brooklyn)
children: Carl, Olga, Edmond (my dad)

Gibron Kahy....
children: Georges, Albert, Elie, Nadia, Samira, Georgette, Nicholas

Lydia Kahy....
children: Aida, Joseph

My grandmother Afdokia came to America with her siser Freda. They left on a ship from LaHavre, France in June of 1920. As of this writing... I cannot find the name of the ship or exact date of departure from LaHavre or the arrival date at Ellis Island. Due to the fact they did not speak English, their names were more than likely misunderstood and changed on the ships manifest.

Afdokia bought a house in the Sunset Park neighborhood in Brooklyn. Home is pictured on the right. This is where my dad grew up... and this house was also the family meeting place for years! Afdokia lived on the second floor about a garment factory. Her sister Freda lived on the third floor.