The Perry Family of Kilboy, County Tipperary

Edward Perry was born in Kilboy, Tipperary, some time around 1815. His exact date of birth is a mystery as there were no birth certificates in the early 19th century and the Church of Ireland parish registers for the area were destroyed in the Irish Civil War. Edward was the eldest son of John and Susan Perry, who had 9 other children. The Perry family had been in the area since the time of John's grandfather, who was also called John and who was granted lands at nearby Graystown after his marriage to Mary Hughes. This John Perry is our earliest traceable Perry ancestor and our new brick wall. Where did he come from?

• Henry Perry, who married Ann Toppin in 1786. Henry and Ann had 8 children, of which John was the eldest son. More information can be found about this family at The Perry Families of Tipperary and Cork.

Karen Bell has identified several other Perrys from around the local area of Kilboy who may also be children of John and Mary. Although the family relationship is not proven, they were all born around the right time to have been part of the same family. These include:

• Matthew Perry of Mountnaylor (1770-1850), buried in Ballinure Cemetery
• Mary Perry of Cataganstown (1772-1805), buried in Ballinure Cemetery
• Sarah Hayes, nee Perry (1722-1822), buried in Ballinure Cemetery
• The husband of Anne Perry (1756-1816) and father of her three children: Samuel, Matthew (1773-1811) and Henry (1794-1816)

John Perry and Susan Minchin married in 1815. When John died in 1872, he named 10 children in his will:

• Edward Perry was John and Susan's eldest son, named after his paternal grandfather, Edward Minchin. This has now been proven, through DNA testing, to be the same Edward Perry that settled in Liscannor, County Clare some time during the 1840s. There is other evidence for this as well: Edward called his 2 eldest children John and Susan, after his parents; at the baptism of his son, Patrick in 1862, John and Susan Perry are the godparents. Edward's approximate year of birth (worked out from his death certificate) is 1813, which ties in with the date of his parents marriage in 1815.
• William Perry and Thomas Perry stayed in Kilboy, which is probably why they stayed in their father's favour. William Minchin Perry died there in 1907 and his brother, Thomas in 1904.
• John, Richard, Matthew and Samuel Perry (the four youngest brothers) went to America
• Henry Perry, John and Susan Perry's second son, appears in Gloucestershire in 1881. He is a boarder at the house of the King family and a tutor to another boarder there, Glencairn Gun Cunningham, who interestingly is descendant of a member of another Pery family, the Earls of Limerick. In 1882, Henry married Anna Slatter Drew, nee Oldland, a relative of the Kings. Although the marriage certificate stated that she was 60 years old, earlier censuses reveal that she was actually 80 on the day of her marriage. Her first husband had been a property developer and when she died several years later, she left her money to Henry Minchin Perry. Henry then disappears from history and we do not know whether he remained in England, went back to Ireland or elsewhere.

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