Kenealy suffered from diabetes and an erratic temperament has sometimes been attributed to poor control of the symptoms. In 1850 he was sentenced to one month imprisonment for punishing his six-year-old illegitimate son with undue severity. He married Elizabeth Nicklin of Tipton, Staffordshire in 1851 and they had eleven children, including novelist Arabella Kenealy (1864–1938). The Kenealy family lived in Portslade, East Sussex, from the 1852 until 1874. Edward Kenealy commuted to London and Oxford for his law practice but returned at weekends and other times to be with his family. He also published a large amount of poetry in journals such as "Fraser's Magazine". He published translations from Latin, Greek, German, Italian, Portuguese, Russian, Irish, Persian, Arabic, Hindustani and Bengali. It is unlikely that he was fluent in all these languages.