General News
8 March, 2023
Kenna family reunited
MEMBERS of the Kenna family enjoyed a reunion in Noorat recently, all 350 of them.
MEMBERS of the Kenna family enjoyed a reunion in Noorat recently, all 350 of them.
Warrnambool’s Bev Kenna, wife to Noel of the Glenormiston Kennas, said it was no small task to organise the reunion.
“We had members of the family come from Queensland, Western Australia, South Australia and across Victoria,” she said.
“We also had some travel from overseas, with one family from Malaysia and another from Paris, France.”
The reunion was to be held in March 2020 but because of the COVID-19 pandemic had to be postponed.
As the reunion rolled around, the large gathering drew a diverse group of family members; the oldest being 93 year-old Clare Kenna and the youngest, Peggy Smith, just two weeks old.
“The last family reunion was held in 1994, so it was a wonderful opportunity to either reconnect or connect with family members for the first time,” Mrs Kenna said.
“There were a lot of people there who didn’t know they had so many relatives, so some quite interesting stories came out.
“It was fantastic they all came, and to have that many people there was really good.”
The family has traced its lineage from the original three Kennas (Patrick, Margaret and Cornelius) who arrived in the 1860s.
“Between the three they had 34 children, and from those 34 children there are now 5456 total descendants,” Mrs Kenna said.
“We have a family book which has listed the family tree from the three original Kennas, and has all the information on the family.
“The book is 312-pages long and includes all the data on members of the family which is a great historical record for not only the current generations, but for future generations to know where they came from.”