Kilmacrenan

You don?t say what the denomination was but I?ll assume RC. There are very few records for Donegal for the 1700s, and so research in that period is next to impossible. The local RC parish records do not start till 1862.

The surname Swaney is occasionally found in Donegal (there?s 1 in the 1901 census) but other spellings are more common eg Sween(e)y, Sweenie, Sweenly. There?s 2595 of them in Donegal in the 1901 census.

Looking at the parish of Kilmacrennan only, in Griffiths Valuation for 1858, there were 21 Sweeney and 2 Sweeney households.(No Swaney).

http://www.askaboutireland.ie/griffith-valuation/index.xml?action=nameSearch

Not everyone was listed in Griffiths. It was primarily people with land which could be taxed. So only heads of household. Servants, visitors and anyone with no land or land of so little value as not to be worth taxing are excluded. But if you have no other leads it does at least give you a hint as to where your ancestors might have lived.  But the reality is that there is a gap of 50 years between your ancestors departure and any useful records for that area. That may not be the news you want to hear but it is the reality. This website may give you some background  information:

http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~donegal/

Elwyn

I expect they were Roman Catholic and wouldn't be surpirsed if it was Sweeney while in Ireland. I really didn't expect much, but thought it was worth a try.Thank you very much for your input. 

The only birth/baptism record for John Swaney around 1763 on www.rootsireland.ie/ is John Sweeney 1765 Antrim parish Blaris but C of I!
There are 2 R C marriages of John Sweeny to a Bridget:
1805 Charleville Cork to Bridget Mahony
1810 Tuam Galway Bridget Rafferty
There are 2 public member trees on ancestry which have Bridget as Bridget McGee born 1770 but I couldn't find this marriage; there are 3 baptism records for Bridget: 1763, 64 & 68 all in Dublin.
There is a Sara Harkins baptism 20 Feb 1785 BLARIS C of I Co Antrim father Daniel 7 another Sara Harken 1792 LIFFORD R C Donegal
Couldn't find Alexander or Morgan.
Col

According to the tutor at my Irish language class, who spent a session on the origins of Irish names, the Sweeneys of northwest Ireland including Co. Donegal, originally came from the Western Isles of Scotland, along with the Campbells and McLoughlins, and were encouraged to move to Ireland around the 1300s or 1400s as mercenaries, or gallowglass as they are often called here. To fight for the local chiefs, in return for which they were given land.

I have no idea how accurate that is in your particular case (though the fact that mercenaries were brought in from Scotland is common knowledge). Thought you might find that interesting.

Have you found any more information about this family? I have a Swaney family I'm trying to trace back. I've got back as far as an Alexander Swaney born in either 1798 or 1805 in either Indiana or Ohio, who married a Sarah Tice. I've seen a reference to Kilmacrenan in other people's trees, but no docs to support it, and I'm trying to make the connection.