# Are there Kennedys who are not Catholic? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [November 27, 2014, 12:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-kennedys-who-are-not-catholic/705758 "2014-11-27T12:45:14Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![fighting\_ignorant](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ac8455/32.png) [@fighting\_ignorant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fighting_ignorant)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2014, 2:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-kennedys-who-are-not-catholic/705758/21 "2014-12-01T02:29:58Z")
> [@Leo\_Bloom](#): > > You know about Sam Rose, Henry Wise, and Sean Fergesen? Nope! But now I’m curious 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![runningdude](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e9c0ed/32.png) [@runningdude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/runningdude)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2014, 3:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-kennedys-who-are-not-catholic/705758/22 "2014-12-01T15:12:26Z")
There is a protestant minister in my town who is a Kennedy, and I knew a protestant Kennedy in college. I would assume both came from historically protestant families. ---
**Author:** ![robert\_columbia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e79b87/32.png) [@robert\_columbia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/robert_columbia)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2014, 5:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-kennedys-who-are-not-catholic/705758/23 "2014-12-01T17:10:40Z")
> [@Donnerwetter](#): > > … > Note that this is about a general, historical perspective, not about individuals whose faith may have lapsed or who have converted to other religions or denominations for personal reasons. For instance, are there Kennedys in Ireland who for generations have been members of the Church of Ireland? This is an interesting condition. If an individual Catholic Kennedy converts to another faith, you claim that the person still counts as Catholic. But if that person had a kid and raised the kid as a non-Catholic with the name Kennedy, would the kid count as a non-Catholic Kennedy? If not, would that kid’s kids be considered such if they were raised non-Catholic with the name Kennedy? How many generations are required to “wash the Catholicism away”? Three? Four? Sixty? ---
**Author:** ![robert\_columbia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e79b87/32.png) [@robert\_columbia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/robert_columbia)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2014, 5:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-kennedys-who-are-not-catholic/705758/24 "2014-12-01T17:17:51Z")
> [@APB](#): > > Not all Kennedys are of Irish descent - it is also a Scottish name. That Scottish family is particularly associated with Ayrshire, an area that historically had a reputation for being strongly Protestant, and the heads of the senior branch, the Earls of Cassillis and Marquesses of Ailsa, have mostly been Protestant. A lot of names that derive from the Gaelic language are found in both Ireland and Scotland. Connell is another good example. Curry is another. ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2014, 5:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-kennedys-who-are-not-catholic/705758/25 "2014-12-01T17:18:25Z")
Back in Hawaii, a fellow student was a Dutchman named Kennedy. Really. I feel certain he was not a Catholic. ---
**Author:** ![Donnerwetter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b2d939/32.png) [@Donnerwetter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Donnerwetter)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2014, 5:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-kennedys-who-are-not-catholic/705758/26 "2014-12-01T17:48:35Z")
> [@robert\_columbia](#): > > This is an interesting condition. If an individual Catholic Kennedy converts to another faith, you claim that the person still counts as Catholic. But if that person had a kid and raised the kid as a non-Catholic with the name Kennedy, would the kid count as a non-Catholic Kennedy? If not, would that kid’s kids be considered such if they were raised non-Catholic with the name Kennedy? How many generations are required to “wash the Catholicism away”? Three? Four? Sixty? The expressions “historically Catholic” or “historically Protestant” pretty much nail it. I just wanted to exclude individual religious choices that were/are of a more random nature. What I had in mind are for instance the (Protestant) Kennedys of Scotland which have already been mentioned. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Pig](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c57346/32.png) [@Little\_Pig](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Pig)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2014, 9:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-kennedys-who-are-not-catholic/705758/27 "2014-12-02T09:10:32Z")
If their last name is Kennedy, and they are male… yeah… [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-kennedys-who-are-not-catholic/705758.md?page=1)