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The following is a summary of my efforts to date [written about 1990] at tracing the early Farrell ancestors of my wife, Margaret (Schultz). The late Archie Lanigan who was a teacher on St Mary's Road wrote a genealogy of the Lanigans in 1978. This is the source of much of my information. (Most Lannigans now spell their name with two "n's" but in deference to Archie I'll use his version on this report.)
Terrence Farrell and his wife Ellen Condon arrived at Cascumpec, PEI from Kings County Ireland about 1821. At that time they had one daughter, Anne about five years old and probably a second daughter, Ellen. Archie says they "removed to Morell" and apparently Terrence died about then because records show an Ellen Condon married a Thomas Hackett at St Peter's (near Morell) in 1834.(I don't know why but this marriage is listed in the records of St Paul's Anglican Church.) Before he died Terrence had fathered three more child ren on the Island; William about 1823, Terrence about 1825 and John about 1831. So in 1834 in 1834 Ellen must have had at least five children, three fairly young to care for.
Thomas Hackett and Ellen next show up near Chatham New Brunswick where Ellen (or Mary Ellen) Hackett was born in 1836, Edward in 1842 and Augustine in 1845. Ellen's older daughter Anne Farrell married John Lanigan there at St Patrick's, Nelson/Miramichi on Jan.21,1836. John and Anne had eleven children, one whom, William had fifteen including my friend Archie. Another of the eleven, Michael was the father of a Nicholas Lanigan who I assume was the Nick who married Mary Farrell, the daughter of James Farrell and Mary O'Connor. John Lanigan had come to Chatham from Ireland (Kilkenny Tipperary as Archie put it) in 1820 via Newfoundland according to Archie.
I'd love to know why but John Lanigan and Anne, Ellen Farrell who married Nicholas Murphy, and William Farrell who married Catherine Murphy show up next in the Sturgeon/Cambridge area. A John Condon lived there but I have not found any connection. The Lot 63 (Cambridge) census for 1841 does not show any Farrells (William would have been about 18 then) but it does show John Lanigan with a wife(Anne Farrell?) and two small sons next to Nicholas Murphy and his wife(Ellen Farrell?). William Farrell appears on the 1861 census in the same area with 10 in the family all born on PEI. Among the 10 was James who was to marry Mary O'Connor, daughter of Henry O'Connor and Sarah Kearney and later establish a farm on St Mary's Road. The Ancestor Chart of Cecelia, James and Mary's daughter, is listed at the top of the page.
Some of the Farrells however remained in the Miramichi area with their mother and stepfather.
Later Thomas Hackett and Ellen Condon with Terrence and John Farrell and (Mary)Ellen Hackett, who had been born in NB moved to Sea Cow Pond near Tignish. Ellen Condon gave birth to two more Hackett children there; Edward b.1842 and Augustine b.1845. It is interesting that although the families lived on opposite ends of the Island one of William Farrell's sons, Philip b.1857 apparently spent much of his life the Tignish area near his grandmother but also is identified with the Sturgeon area. Philip Farrell was part of the ill-fated group that nearly all died after being caught by the ice flow crossing Northumberland Straights on the mail trip on Jan 27,1885. He survived but I think his arm was permanently damaged by the experience and he was given a Government job in Ottawa. (I'm not sure there is any connection between the event and the job.) Terrence Gavin, a Farrell descendant living in Tignish gave me a long poem written by Philip Farrell describing the ordeal on the ice floes.
Terrence Farrell married Honora Carroll in Tignish in 1854 and later (1874) Anne Gavin. John married Flora White in 1853. Meacham's 1881 Atlas shows them both living near the North Cape not far from Thomas Hackett. They both had sons named Terrence, one of whom(John's) was the Terrence Farrell of "Gracie Parker" fame. For those who don't know; there is a famous poem about this ship which was lost with all hands including Captain Terrence Farrell and his brother Bill.
In case anyone would like to pursue this branch any further I'll add a story with a personal connection. My mother, Catherine Mackie was an Islander and our family used to visit her homestead near Tignish. Her brother Merrill used to tell me of going out west for the harvest and how he always worked for a wheat farmer named Terrence Farrell who had migrated from Tignish. For some reason years ago I wrote down the name of the town, Biggar, Saskatchewan on an old atlas. I recently ran across that named and called information for the number of Terrence Farrell, figuring he would have named one his sons Terrence. He did, although the son goes by the name "Vincent". I got a lot of material from him but have not done much with it lately. If anyone is interested his address is: Vincent Farrell Box 912, Biggar, Saskatchewan SOK OMO.(Vincent is now deceased but his wife and his children live in the area.)
I have also been in contact with another descendant of this branch of the Farrells: William(Bill) Farrell of, 1315 Elgin Circle Oakville, Ont.L6H 2J9 and his nephew Jim Farrell of #210 1260 Marlborough Court, Oakville, Ont.L6H 3H5. They have collected an enormous amount of information on the Farrells.