The facts of history record that the Kennedys have been located in Lower Ormond, County Tipperary, for a thousand years. The inclusion of the Kennedy name and its variants in a considerable range of documents over a millenium has allowed the collection and assembly in this book of records that appear in those documents. The Irish annals have records of their presence in the ancient Dalcassion territory of Múscraige Tire, later named Lower Ormond.
Many Ormond Deeds dating back as far as 1336 record agreements between the Kennedys and the descendants of the Norman invaders concerning the Kennedys rights to their native soil. The Civil Survey records that, in 1641, 39% of all of the recorded land in Lower Ormond was owned by Kennedys. In the nineteenth century alone, records of almost two thousand Kennedy baptisms in the Roman Catholic parishes of Lower Ormond attest to their continued presence.
The Kennedys have made a significant contribution to the development and growth of the barony of Lower Ormond. The circumstances surrounding the history of the Kennedy family in Lower Ormond and other areas deserve to be recognised and celebrated in appropriate ways. It is proposed that this book, together with the other books about the Irish Kennedys, should promote that recognition and celebration.
