Are there Kennedys who are not Catholic?

[fighting_ignorant]

@Leo_Bloom

You know about Sam Rose, Henry Wise, and Sean Fergesen?

Nope! But now I’m curious

[runningdude]

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.

[robert_columbia]

@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?

[robert_columbia]

@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.

[Siam_Sam]

Back in Hawaii, a fellow student was a Dutchman named Kennedy. Really. I feel certain he was not a Catholic.

[Donnerwetter]

@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.

[Little_Pig]

If their last name is Kennedy, and they are male… yeah…