During the great famine in Ireland in the middle of the 19th century, many Irish people immigrated to America. Sean O'Kelley, born 1839, was one of them. He was only 8 years old when he and his family emigrated from somewhere around Cobh, Ireland, to Michigan in USA. Sean O'Kelley is the great-grandfather of the "The Kelly Family". In USA, they changed the name O'Kelley to Kelly, to sound more American.
 Sean O'Kelley
Sean grew up to be a well-known violin player and musician in the Irish community where they lived. He married a woman and they got children, one of them was John (Papa Kelly's father). John married Caroline, and they got 10 kids. 8 boys: Edward William, Ray, Jack, Joe, Henry Lawrence, Bob, Jim and Daniel Jerome. And 2 girls: Margareth and one more. For further family tree information, please check the following page from Luna and Shamrock!!
Daniel Jerome, Dan for short, was born 11th of October 1930 in Michigan, USA. He grew up to be a teacher and professor in math, Lateen and philosophy. He also owned an antique shop.
 This is proberly Joanne
 Danny  Caroline  Kathy  Little Paul
Dan married Joanne in 1957, and they got 4 children, Danny (1961), Caroline (1962), Kathy (1963) and Paul (1964). Danny was retarded.
In USA they family lived a modern life with TV, radio and two cars. But Dan got sick of the "American Life". He wanted his kids to grow up in a safe environment, which he meant they wouldn't find in the US. May 1965 they moved to Europe and Spain.
 L to R: Sayd to be a Spanish Nanny, then little Paul, Danny, Caroline, Kathy and Dan.
 Kathy, the Spanish Nanny (?) and Caroline
In Spain they had no electricity, no car, but they were happy. Dan opened an antique shop in Talavera. One of his employers was Barbara Ann Suokko, and the other was her best friend Linda. It is sayed that Barbara and Linda also helped Joanne in the household, and with the children. Soon Dan and Barbara fell in love, and on the 6th of November 1970, they got married in New York. The only thing we know about Joanne is that she went back to the USA after a while and joined a convict.
In 1967 Dan and Barbara's first child, John, was born in Talavera. They moved to a little village outside of Toledo, called Gamonal. There Patricia came in 1969, Jimmy in 1971 and Joey in 1972.
At this time the oldest kids started to sing together for family and friends, just as a hobby. They sang for fun, to entertain themselves. They started to learn some instruments, and some of them took ballet lessons.
The kids didn't go to school, but were taught by their parents and their uncle Jim. Once a year they took a test from an international school to be sure they weren't missing anything.
In 1974 they played together for the first time as a band called "The Kelly Kids". The band consisted of Kathy, John, Paul and Caroline. At the picture you can also see Patricia and a friend of them, both with a gitar. They played at Christmas, birthday and village parties. People wanted them to play everywhere and they got a few fans in their little village.
In 1975 they performed at a Spanish TV-show for kids. They got famous over night and that was the beginning of their carrier. They took part in many TV-shows and they also sang at a circus.
The same year Barby was born. She was born when they were touring the streets in Spain, in a little town called Belascoain.
It was only the oldest kids who were singing on the streets, but little Patricia also wanted to come along. Her father said that she was too young, but if she learned to play the guitar on all the songs within two weeks she could join them. Patricia sat down with the guitar and two weeks later she was singing on the street with the rest of the family, playing the guitar.
They opened an artist's pub in Belascoain/Pamplona called "La Viana".
Mama Kelly gave them ballet and dance lessons at home, and a music teacher gave them music lessons in the city of Talavera.
In 1976 they went on their first trip to Italy, which was the start of an extensive European tour. They toured around in Europe, mostly Germany, Italy and Holland.
In 1977 they went to Ireland where Paddy was born. They played at some TV-shows and collected money for a children hospital. They stayed for 5 months, before they moved back to Spain.
 In Ireland in a hospital, at a tv show around christmas, playing Jingle Bells
In 1978 they bought a double Decker bus in USA, which have become one of their trademarks. They went on tour around with their bus in Spain and Germany.
In Germany they played at a circus called Roncalli and they also played on the streets. A producer discovered Kathy and John one day they were singing on the street. He wanted to make a LP with them and short time after they released their first single called "Danny Boy". This was a great hit in Germany and Holland. They got more and more fans around in Europe.
In 1979 Maite was born in Berlin. At the same time they recorded their first LP called "The Kelly Family". Later that year they found out that Mama Kelly had cancer. They knew now that she was sick, but they discovered it at an early time.
In 1980 they had their first nr.1 hit on the lists in Holland and Belgium, with the song "Who'll Come With Me" (David's Song) sung by 12-year-old John. They played at over 40 TV-show in a few months, and they got more and more famous. At this time they settled in Amsterdam, Holland.
 Holland, with klomps (original Dutch shoes)
In 1981 their mother got worse and they moved back to Belascoain in Spain. Late this year her last child came into the world with a caesarean. His mother was too sick to have a normal birth. They thought he looked like an angel and therefore called him Angelo Gabriele.
Her last wish was to make a Christmas video with all her children. The last shot was taken 2 weeks before she died in November 1982. Every night the weeks before she died, the family was gathered around her bed and they were preparing the children on their mother's death. Her last words were "Keep on singing", and these words symbolize a promise for The Kelly Family.
Mama Kelly lays berried in Belascoain and on her grave there are 14 handprints, one of all the 12 children and 2 from the children of her best friend Linda. The children also wrote they're own name. It is also a saying from Papa Kelly: "All my sufferings of my whole body to her as a sacrifice". After her death they had a year they didn't play that much, but they still remembered her last words.
In 1981 they also started their own company called "Kel-life". Dan wanted to have control over all the LP's The Kelly Family made; they were tired of being pushed around with.
In 1983 they moved to Paris and started to sing in the French Metro. At this time Caroline had left the familyband and Paul was next. Caroline went to the US and she had taken Danny with her. Today he lives with his uncle Jim. In Paris Paul started working as a cook.
In 1984 the stayed on a farm called: "Huberhoff" in Siegharting.
It was in France the boys let their hair grow long. Jimmy was the one who started what would be one of The Kelly Family's trademarks in the future.
In 1985 they took part in a French TV-show
and released a single called "Une Familie C'est Une Chanson".
In 1987 they went to America and performed in the streets of twenty different US cities, before returning to Germany in 1988 and a new home on the riverboat "Sean O'Kelley", moored on the Rhine River in Cologne. 
In 1988 they rented a tent with the capacity to room 6000 people. It was a big risk, because they didn't know how many people who would show up on the two concerts. It was a big success and they were sold out on both concerts.
In 1990 another family tragedy struck: their father Dan suffered a stroke, his right side was paralysed, and he was confined to his bed. For the first time ever, the siblings went on tour alone. Thanks to his iron will and discipline, Dan Kelly recovered from his stroke
By this time, The Kellys had already performed in nearly every European country, and their formerly green, later red double-decker bus with the big "The Kelly Family" sign was known everywhere and had become something of a trademark.
December 14th 1992 Kathy gave birth to her son, who got the name Sean after their ancestor. Sean's father is Vincent Van Hille who Kathy met in France 1987. They got married in Paris in 1990. The little family lived on a little boat next to the big houseboat.
In 1993 the album WOW was released. It was the starting point of a new era. The streets and tents no longer offered enough space for audiences at the performances by the successful family of musicians.
From now on, they're not really Kelly-kids anymore, so here is where my history about the Kelly kids ends.
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