Richard and Brigid Whelan Family History

Date: [unknown] [unknown]
Location: [unknown]
Surname/tag: Whelan, Whalen, Whelen, Whalan

Contents 1 WikiTree Profiles that link to this page 2 Richard and Brigid Whelan Family History 3 History from Whelan family of northeast Kansas 3.1 Richard Whalen history attached to this webpage 4 History from Nunda Irish of eastern South Dakota 4.1 Nunda Irish history available online through the Lyons family website 5 Richard Whelan children based on the above sources 6 Richard Whelan potential immigration ship information 7 Sources

WikiTree Profiles that link to this page

WikiTree Profiles that link to this page

Richard and Brigid Whelan Family History

This page summarizes the sources of family history for Richard and Brigid Whelan.

Spellings - The most common spelling is "Whelan". But due to the pronunciation, it can be also spelled as "Whalen". An October 2022 search on Newspapers.com of County Waterford Ireland newspapers (dated 1777-1890) found 1 match of "Whalen", and 615 matches of "Whelan". So it would seem that Whelan was the more traditional Irish spelling. The headstones of the male Whelan descendants in Kansas used "Whelan".

History from Whelan family of northeast Kansas

This history was written by descendants of the Richard Whelan children that settled in Atchison and Doniphan counties in northeast Kansas. It identifies the parents Richard and Brigid, and 6 of their children.

Whelan children mentioned - Michael, David, Richard, Mary, Edward, Joanna/Johanna.

Richard Whalen history attached to this webpage

• https://www.wikitree.com/photo.php/d/d4/Richard_and_Brigid_Whelan_Family_History.pdf

History from Nunda Irish of eastern South Dakota

This extensive history book was written by descendants of Jeremiah Lyons and Ellen Whalen Lyons, and includes Jeremiah and Ellen's immigration story and migration to eastern South Dakota. It does not identify Ellen's parents by name, but identifies some siblings, and also has married surnames of a sister, and some nieces. There are enough names and married surnames and locations in common that we can conclude the families are the same, and thus Ellen's parents are the Richard and Brigid from the other story. Additionally, 2 of Ellen's first 4 children are named Richard and Bridget.

Whalen children mentioned - Ellen Lyons, John, Pearce/Pearie, Richard, Edward, Johanna Sinnott.

Errors - One minor error is in the discussion of Ellen's siblings. It mentions that Johanna had a daughter Mary Brassel that also joined some Whalen's going to northeast KS. However, research has shown that Johanna's daughter Mary indeed went to KS, but she was married to Thomas Spaight. Ellen actually had a sister Mary that was married to Thomas Brazzel (they also went to KS), so that is probably where the confusion came from.

Nunda Irish history available online through the Lyons family website

• Primary website for Lyons family
  • Migration story
  • Library of eBooks
• Nunda Irish book^[1]
  • Nunda Irish Part I
  • Nunda Irish Part III with roster

Richard Whelan children based on the above sources

John Whelan	~1820-?	Ellen's "oldest brother"
Ellen Whelan	1822-1899	married Jeremiah Lyons
Michael Whelan	1824-1901	married Mary Ellen, then Catherine
David Whelan	1828-1894	married Mary Tobin
Pearce Whelan	~1831-~1854	unsure of birth/death, but disappeared one night in Chicago
Richard Whelan	1835-1903	married Ellen Mulcahy
Mary Whelan	1838-1921	married Thomas Brazzel
Joanna Whelan	1840-~1875	married Patrick Sinnott, unsure about death date
Edward Whelan	1843-1905	married Alice Kirwin

Richard Whelan potential immigration ship information

This details a ship list (found on ancestry.com) that seems to be a pretty close match to the Richard Whelan immigration, based on all the stories, ages, etc.

Ship "Lady Russell", departed from Liverpool, England, arrived in New York, NY, USA on 9-Jul-1852. Pages 8-9 of 10 pages.

line	name	age	gender	from	to	Research Notes
309	Richard Whilan	54	male	Ireland	US	matches Richard Whelan
310	Bridget Whilan	54	female	Ireland	US	matches Richard's wife Brigid
311	Bridget Whilan	26	female	Ireland	US	could be match for his niece Bridget Whelan, but age is younger
312	Mary Whélan	14	female	Ireland	US	close match to his daughter Mary
313	Richard Whélan	17	male	Ireland	US	matches his son Richard
314	Patt Whélan	22	male	Ireland	US	might be match for his son David
315	Pierce Whélan	16	male	Ireland	US	might be match for his son Pierce
316	Edmond Whélan	12	male	Ireland	US	close match to his son Edward
317	Peggy Whélan	13	female	Ireland	US	unclear who this is (maybe dau Joanna, or a niece?)
318	Ellen Whélan	12	female	Ireland	US	unclear who this is (maybe dau Joanna, or a niece?)

Research Notes

• It appears this contains most of the Richard Whelan children, and perhaps a niece. The extra female is not known, and we don't know who Patt is, and thus unsure about if this ship list includes son David.
• We know daughter Ellen came over about 1845, thus on a different ship with her husband and children.
• Son Michael is not found, but likely would be traveling with his infant daughter Mary, maybe on a later ship.
• Son John is not found, but nothing is known about him, so he may not have immigrated (or died in Ireland before 1852).
• Son Pierce is expected to be older, maybe 21, as Ellen's story tells of him being 11 about the time she married (~1841).
• Niece Bridget is expected to be older, maybe 31-36 (based on later census records).
• Nephew David's wife's obituary says she and David immigrated together in the 1850s, so he is likely not part of this list (he is a brother to the niece Bridget).

Sources

1. ↑ McDonald, William J., The Nunda Irish - A Story of Irish Immigrants : the Joys and Sorrows of Their Life in America and Dakota, Stillwater, MN: Farmstead Pub., 1990.