McRedmond is the maiden name of one of our paternal great-great-grandmothers, Mary McRedmond (c.1834-1905) who married James Dwyer in 1856. The sequence of surnames in the four generations between us goes McRedmond-Dwyer-Dwyer-Dwyer-Dwyer.
The McRedmond and Redmond names derive from the Mac Réamoinn, a branch of the Burkes of Galway. McRedmond is a fairly rare form of the name, with Redmond being more common. McRedmond is mostly found in Offaly (Kings County), Laois (Queens County) and Wexford.
Our McRedmonds, as far as they are known, came from Kings County, but the exact location is uncertain.
Edward McRedmond and Jane Meagher are only known from the marriage record of their daughter Mary McRedmond. It is assumed that they were both natives of Kings County (Offaly) and were born between 1805 and 1815. Mary’s marriage record says that Edward was a farmer.
There is no Edward McRedmond mentioned in the Tithe Applotment Books, although there are a number of McRedmonds mentioned in the Kings County townlands of Ballyboy (in 1825), Drumcullen (in 1827) and Birr (in 1869). There is only one McRedmond listed in Griffiths Valuation, a James McRedmond in Ballygaddy.
It is doubtful that we will ever know much about Edward and Jane. They probably married in the late 1820’s or early 1830’s and had at least one child, Mary McRedmond, born around 1834. Both Edward and Jane may have died during or soon after the Famine, perhaps contributing to Mary’s decision to come to Victoria in 1854.