Riney Clan Information
Riney ...
Roots
Letters and More
It is hoped that other members of the Riney clan of whatever persuasion
will find this information of use in their search for ancestry.
Informational Response
Thank you for your blessings for 1997, hope you had a nice time celebrating
its entry.
Unlike the large families that Rineys tend to have, I being the eldest of
12 children, wanted but two of my own and have sons.
You struck a chord with your remark about grandmothers. A large and
small picture of my grandmother Riney is proudly displayed in our living
room (wall and side table). She was a Hanorah O’Shea who was so generous
to me and my family (her son Joseph's family). The Rineys seem blessed with
ladies such as these. She had seventeen children (some two or three
of whom died at birth) and in addition was kept busy performing the rigorous duties
associated with farming. She lived to the age of 100 years, passing away in
1963. Upon seeing her the previous year, after an absence of some
seventeen years, when introduced to her, she responded with "Sir." I was
saddened by her response, selfishly assuming she should have remembered me
from my childhood days. At this time she was living in my mother's house,
no longer on the land that she had farmed with her husband, my Grandfather
Denis, his son, Denis and his wife Elizabeth (Lizzy McCann).
My grandmother had a proud and regal persona. To still see the one image
of her that is in my possesion, in her shawl and clothing from an earlier era is
my constant reminder of her beauty and strenght.
It is truly a small world. My wife, in addition to being interested
in history and genealogy matters is also interested in stamps. During the
period of the mid 1980s she placed a request to have the image of a
shamrock stamped on an envelope from Saint Patrick, Missouri. Postmaster,
Curtis Kirchner enclosed this note in his response:
Dear Mrs Riney,
This might interest you, our first residents
of St. Patrick were Riney’s and my
Great Great Grandmother was a Riney also.
Hope you have a great St. Patrick’s Day.
Sincerely,
Curtis Kirchner
This news on finding a Riney connection excited my wife Mary and I and
subsequent to that we exchanged letters with Mrs Kenneth Krueger who
provided us with a booklet along with her accounting of some of the history
of Saint Patrick, Missouri. We are desirous of visiting that part of
the country and to be exilerated with that feeling of being around so many
wonderful Riney people. During early 1980 we had such an experience when we paid a visit to
Mrs Lamar Riney (she passed away in 1996, May she rest in peace) of Owensboro,
Kentucky. She traced her family, the Hayden's to England but was unhappy
with not being able to trace her husband’s Riney ancestry. My introduction to her
was through her nephew, a Bill Riney of California who contacted me by
phone during Christmas of 1980.
Cherish the ladies. My wife kept up with the letter writing over all the
years and she appears to be excited about these wonderful Riney discoveries
as much as I am. She is a Corrigan, originally from County Roscommon.
I know the Corrigan name is not unknown to citizens of Texas.
It was so nice knowing that you and your husband had paid a visit and now
have an appreciation of Kenmare, the place where I born. I hope you enjoyed
the sights and had a positive travelling experience around South Kerry and
Ireland too. I’m so pleased of your expression of pride in heritage. The
story of the overcoming of our people is very inspirational.
As for Irish music, it is without equal, it is responsible for so many
offshoots that few people are aware of. Its blending with other forms has
enriched the contribution that s ascribed to others. Then there is Irish
dancing which require flexibility and fleetness of foot that is so
interesting to watch is a whole other matter, I hope you got a chance to
see the show "Riverdance" on PBS stations. The beating of the drums that
accompanied the dancers was electrifying.
I'm pleased to learn of the good stock that the Rineys intermarried
with. There is so much to learn about our mysterious family connections
that appear to be so very positive. The story you relate about the Rineys
and buckbrush is right on the money. We have that streak of having minds
of our own.
In reading the material that Ellen Krueger forwarded I see a reason for the visit by
Tommy Murphy from Mayo, he's probably related to the Father Murphy who built the first
rectory for Saint Patrick’s church.
The Catholic faith is the glue that held the Irish together in spite of
what they had to endure. Their devotion to its tenents caused them much pain. though.
No wonder their neighbor was displeased with people such as this. They
tried desperately to get our people to rid themselves of Romanist beliefs,
the beliefs of enemies who were in competition with them for the world's
riches. They nonetheless made use of our history and our saints and
claimed them for themselves.
We didn't take the county as you put it, nor the shilling for the most part,
although some of our ancestors who stayed behind in Maryland when
anti-Catholic fever developed, this when the Revolution was won, may have changed
their religion and took on name changes (as they had done in Ireland) to survive. I too,
would like to believe we made this world a better place. To be positive
I’d say we have, given the miracle of our interaction over the
Internet and the contributions that I see evidence of, on the Web and
elsewhere.
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