The Mouse is Irish! -- Disney's Genealogy
Arundel Disney was born in County Kilkenny, Ireland in 1804. He later married a fetching (and fecund) Irish lass named Maria Swan, who would bear him 16 children. Their eldest child, a boy they named Kepple, was born in Dublin on November 2, 1832. Two years later, Arundel decided to seek the family fortune in America, and made the journey with his brother, Robert. They sailed from Liverpool, England and arrived in New York on October 3, 1834.
Canada caught Arundel's eye, and he settled in Ontario and sent for his family. They joined him as he forged a living in the rugged northern country, trying everything from drilling for oil to manufacturing salt.
Kepple married Irish immigrant Mary Richardson on March 18, 1858 and began his own family. Their eldest son, Elias, was born February16, 1859. In 1878, Kepple set out for the California gold fields but was persuaded to buy 200 acres of railroad land near Ellis, Kansas, and settled his family there instead.