Timothy Shea baptism — 16 Jul 1820 Kenmare Kerry, parents John + Margaret Shea of Rusacussane, godparent Mary Leyne (Lyne)

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Summary

Roman Catholic baptismal record abstract from Kenmare parish, Co. Kerry. Subject Timothy Shea — early Beara/Kerry Shea family record. ## RECORD DETAILS (verbatim from the abstract) - **Name**: Timothy Shea - **Date of Birth**: (not recorded — common for early 19th- century parish records, where baptism date was often recorded but birth date left blank) - **Date of Baptism**: **16-Jul-1820** - **Address**: **Rusacussane** (townland near Kenmare) - **Gender**: Male - **Parish/District**: KENMARE - **County**: Co. Kerry - **Denomination**: Roman Catholic - **Father**: **John Shea** - **Mother**: **Margaret Shea** (the abstract does not say whether Shea is her maiden or married surname; Irish registers of the period often enter the mother under her maiden name) - **Sponsor 1 / Informant 1**: **Timothy Shea** (likely paternal uncle or older relative — naming-after pattern suggests the baptized infant was named for this sponsor) - **Sponsor 2 / Informant 2**: **Mary Leyne** (= Mary Lyne) ## SIGNIFICANCE **1820 Lyne-Shea social/family tie**: Mary Leyne (= Mary Lyne) as godmother of the Shea infant in 1820 documents a Lyne-Shea social or family-by-marriage relationship in early-19th-century Kenmare. This predates by 45 years the 1865 Myles Lyne + Margaret Shea marriage (which married the Lyne and Shea families through JJM's maternal-grandfather generation). **PROVISIONAL identification candidates** — held at low family confidence pending Beara/Kerry Shea-line corroboration: (a) **Is this 1820 Timothy Shea = the 1838 Timothy Shea + Margaret Sullivan marriage of Allihies?** Plausible — he'd be 17-18 at marriage. But the 1820 baptism is Kenmare (Kerry) at Rusacussane; the 1838 marriage is Cluane, Allihies (Cork) — different locations on opposite sides of the Beara peninsula. A move between is plausible but not confirmed. (b) **Is this 1820 Timothy Shea the father or grandfather of Margaret Shea Lyne (m. Myles Lyne 1865)?** Margaret Shea was probably b. ~1830s. If Timothy 1820 fathered her, he'd have been ~15-20 at her birth — physically possible. If he was her grandfather, he'd have been ~50+ at her birth — too early in his life. Held at moderate plausibility. (c) **John Shea (father of the 1820 baptism) = the John Shea named as Margaret Shea's father on the 1865 Lyne-Shea marriage cert?** Plausible — common name, same region. **PLACENAME**: Rusacussane is a townland near Kenmare. Modern Irish spelling unverified — could be "Rosacosane" or similar. Likely on the Kenmare Bay shoreline.

Parties named in the record

• baptized
  Timothy Shea(= Timothy Shea (bapt. 16 July 1820 Rusacussane, Kenmare; m. Margaret Sullivan 1838 Allihies; father of Margaret Shea in the family tree))75
• father
  John Shea(= John Shea (Kenmare Kerry; father of Timothy Shea b.1820))25
• mother
  Margaret Shea(= Margaret Shea (married name; m. John Shea; mother of Timothy Shea b.1820))25

People — link detail

• Timothy Shea (bapt. 16 July 1820 Rusacussane, Kenmare; m. Margaret Sullivan 1838 Allihies; father of Margaret Shea in the family tree)(as printed: Timothy Shea)
  role: baptized · family confidence: 75 strong

  Early-19th-century Beara/Kerry Shea family. Held at low confidence pending Annals of Beara / Shea-line corroboration. Possibly = the same Timothy Shea who m. Margaret Sullivan 1838 Allihies, OR the father/grandfather of Margaret Shea Lyne (m. Myles Lyne 1865), OR neither. [2026-10-03: merged on the user's instruction with the Timothy Shea of the 1838 Allihies marriage and the family tree's Timothy Shea (b. 1820 Kenmare, father of Margaret Shea); confidence raised from 25 to the merged record's 75.]

• John Shea (Kenmare Kerry; father of Timothy Shea b.1820)(as printed: John Shea)
  role: father · family confidence: 25 candidate

  Father of Timothy Shea b. 1820. Possibly = the John Shea named as Margaret Shea's father on the 1865 Lyne-Shea marriage cert. Pending corroboration.

• Margaret Shea (married name; m. John Shea; mother of Timothy Shea b.1820)(as printed: Margaret Shea)
  role: mother · family confidence: 25 candidate

  Mother of Timothy Shea b. 1820. Maiden name not recorded in this abstract.

Also mentioned

• Timothy Shea · sponsor_godfather

  Likely paternal uncle or older relative — baby named after him per the standard Irish naming pattern.

• Mary Leyne · sponsor_godmother

  = Mary Lyne. The Lyne-Shea family-by-marriage tie shows up here 45 years before the 1865 Myles Lyne + Margaret Shea marriage — same family clusters were already related socially or by marriage in 1820 Kenmare.

Places

• Kenmare, Co. Kerry (primary)
• County Kerry (primary)
• Rusacussane (townland near Kenmare) (primary)
• Ireland (primary)

Themes

• Irish American community

Story threads

• The Pat-and-Ellen Murphy household — Butte 1887 to LA 1980

Tags

• #Source secondary family
• #Candidate family
• #Pending corroboration

Related sources

• 1838-02-09 — Irish Family History Foundation — Cork South West Roots Ireland — 1838 Shea-Sullivan marriage at Allihies (Beara peninsula)
• 1865-06-09 — Marriage Returns, Superintendent Registrar's District of Castletown — Marriage of Myles Lyne (widower) and Margaret Shea alias Sullivan (widow) of Ardgroom, 9 June 1865

Open questions

• Is the 1820 Timothy Shea = 1838 Timothy Shea Allihies = an ancestor of Margaret Shea Lyne (m. 1865)? Strong circumstantial Shea-Lyne-Kenmare/Beara cluster but no proven kinship chain. Needs Annals of Beara / Kerry Shea-line corroboration.
• Rusacussane modern Irish placename — possibly Ros a' Cosáin or similar. To verify against OSI Kerry townland list.
• Mary Leyne the 1820 godmother — earliest known archive reference to a Lyne. Was she from the Beara Lyne family (Myles Jr's ancestral line) or a Kerry Lyne family? Could be a great-aunt of the 1872-d. Myles Lyne Sr.