The Dulanys of Maryland

My brother, Don Dulaney, is working very hard to organize and define the Dulaney family tree in our line back to the oldest known Dulaney/Dulanys. His research has taken him in so many directions that I can't begin to make sense of it all. He, Mona Robinson Mills and Mike Mills have worked very hard over the past years and have compiled an astonishing amount of data.

He recently asked me to start at the "other end" of our family line and place into this blog my findings. He loaned me a book titled "The Dulanys of Maryland" by Aubrey C. Land. This book is the joint biography of Daniel Dulany the elder and his son Daniel Dulany of Maryland.

Upon opening the book and glancing over the first few pages, it occurred to me just how expansive these postings may become. With that in mind, I ask for your patience. The vast majority of what I place here will be direct quotes from the book simply because I cannot begin to do Mr. Land justice by putting what I read into my own words. I am in awe of the detailed research that was conducted in the writing of this book.

In the spring of 1703, the three sons of Thomas Dulany; William, Joseph and Daniel arrived in Maryland. Thomas Dulany had raised his sons in the lush meadows and bog lands of Queen's County, Ireland. According to Mr. Land, they were settled principally in the Baronies of Ossory, Upp Osssory, and Maryborough. It is reported that a great number of Dulanys, Dulaneys, Delaneys, resided in and around Kilkenny Ireland and to this day, if you zoom in with Google Earth on your computer, you can scan around and find Dulany land just north of Kilkenny and elsewhere.

According to Mr. Land, the family was a social and political force in Queen's County, and is very ancient. He states, "Peat fires had warmed Dulaney hearthstones since the twelfth century, when Felix O'Dullany flourished as Bishop of Ossory. In Queen's County, in the poverty of an Ireland defeated and ravaged by Cromwell's Ironsides, Daniel Dulany was born in 1685."

"Thomas Dulany had few resources but still he raised his sons in a tradition of letters. Daniel began his formal study at the University of Dublin with the slender means that his father could supply. There he enjoyed the friendship of a lively cousin, Patrick, who later became a distinguished doctor of divinity and a crony of Jonathan Swift."

Jonathan Swift was a key player in Irish history. It is important to note that a large portion of the book "Ireland, A Concise History..." is dedicated to the activities of Mr. Swift.

If it is in any way possible, I hope to find the name of Thomas Dulany's father, but for now, I will attempt to place into this blog the points that I think are most interesting in the tale of the first two known Dulanys to reach the American Colonies, Daniel the elder and his son Daniel Dulany.

I find it very interesting that our family, among others, have been in what we call the United States for over 306 years as of last month, February 2009.