Thomas married Mary Mahon on 26 Apr 1827 at St Andrew's RC Church in Bagenalstown (aka Muine Bheag, in Newtown Townland), Carlow.

Thomas & Mary (with their 9 children) emigrated from their home in the tiny hamlet of Newtown, Carlow to Canada in 1847. They were escaping the Great Famine in Ireland (1845-1849), with mass starvation and tenants unable to pay their rents to the land owners. Ship voyages could last up to 3 months depending on wind and weather conditions. They came to be known as 'coffin ships' due to passenger death rates of 20-50%, which resulted from the quick spread of cholera and typhus in the ship's cramped and unsanitary conditions. Thomas & Mary lost 3 children during their voyage; James (an infant), Peter (age 3), and a third child whose name, gender and age is unknown (though indications are that he/she was also very young). Years later, the story of their loss was often repeated by their sister Elizabeth [Kelly] Carter to her children; one of her grandchildren (Carmel Burns) later wrote "Elizabeth told Mama that many of her fellow passengers, including some members of her own family, died of cholera and typhus on board the ship. Sandbags were tied to the bodies of the dead persons and they were dropped overboard. The reason for the sandbags was to ensure that the bodies would sink rapidly to the bottom of the ocean so that sharks would not have a chance to eat them. Elizabeth's mother would often cry for the loss of her three children."

Shortly after arriving in Canada, Thomas obtained a government grant for 60 acres of land in Huntley Twp, Ontario, a property now known as 649 Upper Dwyer Hill Road, Ottawa. The family built a log house there, and it still exists today (see photo, taken 2011), though it is now used for storage. The last inhabitants were Thomas & Mary's granddaughter Mary Anne Kelly and her husband Patrick Mantil (m. 1922). A 3g-grandson of Thomas & Mary still owns the property and lives there with his family (including a 4g-grandson and his family), in a new home built at the back of the property (as of 2022).

Thomas & Mary and their children attended St. Michael's RC Church in Corkery (in Huntley Twp), and several generations of their descendants attended as well. Thomas and all but one of their children were buried in the cemetery located directly across the road from the church. Mary died some time between the 1871-1881 Censuses of Canada, but no death or burial record has yet been found for her. Regardless, she was also Catholic and there is little question she was buried with her family.

No visible gravemarker has been found for Thomas (or Mary) at St Michael's RC Cemetery. However, their 3g-grandson who still owns their original property was also the volunteer caretaker of the cemetery. He reported that many of the earliest graves were dug up and moved to other areas of the cemetery long ago, when a 'road' was needed within the cemetery (likely after the cemetery vault was built, so horse & wagon could access it without riding over graves). It's possible Thomas & Mary's graves were among those that were moved.

The brother relationship between Thomas and Michael Kelly was discovered in the 1903 marriage record of their g-grandchildren (Michael's g-grandson Peter Burns to Thomas' g-granddaughter Sarah Carter). The record stated they had obtained a "dispensation of consanguinity in the third degree", meaning they were second cousins, with Michael and Thomas the only g-grandparents in common with the same surname. Further confirmation was found in the obituary of Michael's grandson William Kelly, which named two of Thomas's grandsons as his cousins. Both Michael and Thomas lived in Newtown, Carlow; they both baptized their children at St Andrew's RC Church in Bagenalstown; they both immigrated to Canada with their families in 1847 (likely together, though Michael was a widower by then); and they both settled near each other in Huntley Twp, Ontario (Michael's family on Lot 11, Concession 12, Thomas' on Lot 5, Concession 10). [H. Presley, 3g-grandson]

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St. Michael's RC Church Register

Corkery, Ontario, Canada

1880, p. 133

Thomas Kelly

On the twenty fourth of July one thousand eight hundred and eighty, we the undersigned Priest buried in the Cemetery of this parish the body of Thomas Kelly age Seventy five years, died on the 22 Instant, Witnesses to his burial were Mic Kelly & Thomas Kelly. [signed] A. O'Malley