More About NZ 'First European Settler':

Hi Marty

An interesting tale!  I wonder if Cavanagh and Kavanagh are just common spelling errors of the time?

 Interestingly, April’s great grandfather, Charles Joseph Maria de Malmanche, was the first white child born in Canterbury (19 October 1840) at Akaroa in a tent on the beach, his parents having landed from France on 17 August.  My mother’s side landed in Dunedin from Scotland in 1858, and my father’s side arrived from Ireland about 1906.  We are all bloody immigrants, eh!  Still, my grandkids are 7^th generation Kiwis!

 Cheers Rod

 

Yo, Good Morning Young Rod,
I'm hoping that it's not just you and me that found that post interesting eh! Yeah - YOUR families were well early arrivals here. - MY best personal claim nowadays is that I've lived longer in NZ
than I did in UK.

Yes - the basic Irish name KAVANAGH has hundreds of spelling variations - it is an anglised version of the Gaelic (Caomhanach ). - Caomhan = St. Kevin .

The 12th century King of Leinster, Diarmuid MacMurrough sent his son Donal to be educated in 'Kill Caomhan' (St. Kevins Church)Wexford and from that point on that branch of the MacMurroughs was known as Kavanagh - which roughly means "of Kevin" .

I regularly notice on THE SIMPSONS cartoon credits, the American name 'Julie CAVENER'
Just to amuse/bore you further - the Caomhan (Kevin) bit means 'handsome by birth' - but I'm sure that you will have noticed that bit already anyway eh !!

________

I am further intrigued noticing that our New Zealand early settlers dates are far more recent than the dates for American settlers. The well known American "Pilgrims" date from 1620  - but 'Columbus' was 1492 -  and groups such as The Clovis Culture are dated as far back as 11,000 years before present.

Regarding USA - I have been looking at my family history in recent months and it seems that my father was one of fourteen siblings born (1908) in 'Stramoore', Roundwood, Co.Wicklow around the 1900 turn-of-the-century and there are likely more relations in USA than there are in Ireland - including one group now named 'Kavanaugh'.

 

Mart K.