A Brief Blaney Genealogy
I hope to post occasional stories here collecting Blaney family stories and lore in the Blaney Blog, but a brief summary of my immediate family’s genealogy may also be in order.
In the 1990’s, Richard W. Blaney compiled an excellent Blaney genealogy. He was able to trace our branch of the Blaney family back to James Blaney, born about 1807 in Co. Antrim, Northern Ireland. James died November 15, 1879 in Lisnagarran, Co. Antrim, Northern Ireland. James Blaney married Jane Marks, who was born around 1804 in Co. Antrim and died January 1, 1904 in Lisnagarran, Co Antrim, Northern Ireland.
James Blaney and Jane (Marks) Blaney had eight children, including my great-granfather, Henry “White Harry” Blaney, born about 1841 in Co, Antrim. He died March 20, 1899 in Lisnahunshin, Co. Antrim, Northern Ireland.
White Harry married Alice O’Neill, daughter of Henry and Mary O’Neill. Alice was born about 1842 in Co. Antrim, and died September 15, 1917 in Boston, Massachusetts. White Harry and Alice had 11 children, including my grandfather, John Blaney, who was the second youngest, born July 25, 1882 in Lisnagarran, Co. Antrim.
After Henry “White Harry” Blaney died in 1899, Alice sold the farm in Ireland and immigrated to the united States in 1900 with her remaining four children, Joseph (age 21), John (age 18), William (age 16) and Henry (age unknown). A number of the older children of Alice and White Harry had already left Ireland for America. According to Richard Blaney’s genealogy, Alice was planning to live with her son James at 77 Centre St., Roxbury. That information was recorded in the manifest of the ship they took to America, the Cunard Line’s RMS Saxonia, arriving in Boston in August 1900.
My grandfather, John Blaney, married Rosetta O’Hara on June 28, 1916 in Boston. She was also a Catholic from Co. Antrim, Northern Ireland.
Rosetta (O’Hara) Blaney was born June 12, 1886 in Ballymoney, Co. Antrim, Northern Ireland. (Her naturalization records list her year of birth as 1887.) She was the daughter of Cornelius O’Hara and Nancy McNeil.
John and Rosetta Blaney had five children, all born in Boston. Anne Mary was born September 20, 1916 and died in May 1971. Henry John (known as “Bud”) was born May 23, 1918 and died July 14, 1992. Rosaline Helen was born June 13, 1920 and died in April 2010. Rita Alice (my mother) was born February 25, 1922 and died August 10, 1998. Margaret Teresa Blaney was born December 3, 1925 and died May 1, 1949.
My mother went by the name Rita, but her legal name was Alice. I don’t know why, but at some point she flipped her first and middle names.
My mother married Stephen M. Sardella of Wakefield, Massachusetts on November 12, 1950. They had four boys, myself (Mark), Robert, David and Daniel.
Filed under: Blaney Blog, Family | 3 Comments
Tags: Blaney, Blaney Blog, Blaney family, Boston, Co. Antrim, family history, genealogy, Ireland, Irish, John Blaney, Mark Sardella, Richard Blaney, Rosetta Blaney
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Mark Sardella 
of course we need to know our family history so that we can share it to our kids :,*
Hello Mark, it’s likely we are related. Oliver Blaney, from Antrim, immigrated to Ontario Canada; date unknown but in the 1800’s. My gggrandmother, his daughter, was Francis Blaney. The stories go that the name Blayney was mis-wrote to Blaney on the immigration ship to Canada…who knows?
The Caldwells immigrated around the same time and children of the two families married to include Francis and Henry Caldwell, eventually immigrating again to Washington State. I’ve kept the maiden name of Blaney.
I enjoyed your Blog. Thanks,
Julie Blaney
Sacramento, CA
Hello:
The name BLAYNEY was not mis-wrote to BLANEY on immigration to Canada. This is a common misconception when a name has a different spelling. The name “Blayney’ is of WELSH origin and became interchangeable with “Blaney” going back centuries in the UK. Some of our grand uncles have records with it spelled both ways.
14 April 2019