
A search of the Church records on irishgenealogy.ie yielded a baptism for John Archer in 1855, the eldest child of Edmund/Edward Archer and Margaret Cashil. Edmund and Margaret married in 1854 in the RC Parish of Abbeydorney. According to Church records, they went on to have nine more children, Elizabeth 1857, Thomas 1858, Timothy 1861, William 1864, Ann 1866, Edmund 1868, Richard 1871, Francis 1873 and Mary 1877. Another son, Maurice, born c.1878 is listed in the 1901 and 1911 Irish census.
Church records show Michael, the son of John Archer and Margaret Daly of Leamprechane, Lixnaw baptized in 1884 with sponsors Denis and Mary Daly. Michael’s sister Margaret Mary was born in 1887 in County Kerry.
A search of the 1901 Irish Census shows only thirteen people with the surname Archer, living in County Kerry. Margaret, 65, and Edward, 70, are living in Cloonafinneela, Kilflynn with their son Maurice, 24 and daughter Mary, 22. John, 46 is also present in the house and a grandson Thomas, 6, born in England, possibly John’s son.
According to the Calender of Wills and Administration on the National Archives website, Edmond died on July 25th 1904 leaving all his worldly goods, value 69 pounds sterling, to his wife Margaret.
In the 1911 Irish Census, Margaret, 77, is now listed as a widow and she is living with her son Maurice and his wife of two years, Bridget and their one year old daughter Margaret. They are still living at Cloonafinneela.
Griffith’s Valuation lists members of the Archer family living in the same townland in 1850. In the Postal Directory of Munster 1886 Edmond Archer is listed as one of the principal farmers in Keel, Kilflynn.
Civil Marriage records for 1909 show a marriage between Bridget Leary and Maurice Archer in the Tralee Registration District on January 6th of that year. Margaret’s birth is recorded in the same records as December 27th, 1909.
If you are a member of the Archer family we would love to hear from you.
Copyright Martine Brennan Kerry 2015