Revell of Co. Wicklow
St. Kevin's, Dunganstown. Photo by Wiggy
Grace Revell was my 6x Great grandmother, born about 1707. She married in Ireland in 1726, probably in Dunganstown parish church, Co. Wicklow, to her first husband Aris Brass, my 6 x great grandfather. Soft Irish weather has long since eroded their shared gravestone in the same churchyard but thanks to old transcripts, I know it's there ... right next to a bunch of other Brass and Revell graves.
And therein started my quest! For several years I have beavered away at trying to understand how the different Revell's I have come across are all related to each other and how this knowledge can perhaps take me back to their origins in Ireland or elsewhere. Others have generously helped me so I would like to share what I've found too in the hope that more of the people puzzle can be solved. Here's what I think I know so far...
And therein started my quest! For several years I have beavered away at trying to understand how the different Revell's I have come across are all related to each other and how this knowledge can perhaps take me back to their origins in Ireland or elsewhere. Others have generously helped me so I would like to share what I've found too in the hope that more of the people puzzle can be solved. Here's what I think I know so far...
The Revell's were Protestant farmers who very much involved themselves in the business of Co. Wicklow in the 18th and 19th centuries. They intermarried with other prominent Protestant farming families in the county - Braddell, Brass, Manning, Sherwood to name a few. They took out leases on land and registered marriage settlements at the Registry of Deeds. Several of their descendants became men of medicine, men of law or men of the cloth, or their daughters married such men, often in what were perhaps fashionable "society" weddings in Dublin city parishes.
Their diaspora scattered across the Atlantic and to the Antipodes. When their time was done, they were laid to rest together in Co. Wicklow parish church yards - Dunganstown, Castlemacadam & Redcross - all close to each other in the south - and Newcastle to the north of the county. In fact, it was these clusters of graves that I spent most time untangling and came up with a broad family tree that sprang from the loins of John Revell of Ballymoney [1655-1740], whom I believe was Grace Revell's father.
Their diaspora scattered across the Atlantic and to the Antipodes. When their time was done, they were laid to rest together in Co. Wicklow parish church yards - Dunganstown, Castlemacadam & Redcross - all close to each other in the south - and Newcastle to the north of the county. In fact, it was these clusters of graves that I spent most time untangling and came up with a broad family tree that sprang from the loins of John Revell of Ballymoney [1655-1740], whom I believe was Grace Revell's father.
