Cornelius O’Mealey/Conchubhar O Maille

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Jimbo
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Re: Cornelius O’Mealey/Conchubhar O Maille

Post by Jimbo » Sun Jul 29, 2018 10:01 pm

Hi Sheila,

I had to look up "Momento Mori" and have never even considered this when visiting a cemetery! Good job on finding the 15th January birth record for Patrick McNamara. If you look at his WWI Registration, he is an "Alien Declarant" to become a naturalized U.S. Citizen. Patrick hadn't been in the country that long, but for many immigrants there was a big push during this period for them to declare as U.S. citizens and thus become eligible for the WWI draft.

The naturalization record is a very useful record since it will typically include an arrival date and arrival place. From this information it easy to find the passenger list. I had a look for the naturalization record for your Patrick McNamara and thought this fellow was a good match: born in 1880 in County Clare, arrived in NY on 18 May 1912, declared in Boston. From the arrival date, this Patrick McNamara was on the ship Celtic and his birth location was Trough, Clare. His contract in Ireland was brother John McNamara of Cloontra, Oatfield, Clare. His contact in America was his cousin John Kirby of 363 W 12th Street, NY (two pages):

https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903 ... 9TH-G9BV-5

I looked up Trough and it appeared to be only about 18 minutes by bicycle from Derrymore. But then it all went wrong since I could find this Patrick McNamara on the Irish census. He is a 21 year old servant in Trough in 1901 and a 31 year old farm servant in Meanagh (Cloontra) in 1911. I believe his brother John McNamara was living in Cloontra East with his mother Mary in both 1901 and 1911. So obviously this couldn't be the Patrick McNamara who married Delia Mealey as you already found him in the Irish census along with his parents. But could this be a first cousin given that Trough is so close to Derrymore? Even this idea was squashed when I replaced Derrymore on googlemaps with Derrymore East to learn that it is a greater distance from Trough.

http://www.census.nationalarchives.ie/p ... h/1082769/
http://www.census.nationalarchives.ie/p ... gh/364707/
http://www.census.nationalarchives.ie/p ... st/364679/

In 1901 Patrick McNamara was a servant in the Bentley household of Trough House. This family is mentioned in the below link. Although the tragic events took place 20 years earlier, Patrick would likely have been on pins and needles when any of the brothers of James Bentley came to visit:

http://www.ourlibrary.ca/phpbb2/viewtop ... tley#p1612

Okay, this is more than you want to know! But perhaps this information and the below WWI Registration of this Patrick McNamara will be of interest to other researchers. For WWI, his nearest relative in Ireland was recorded as "John Leinnane" who resided in a very difficult to read location in County Clare.

https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903 ... 7-8BR5-T93
Attachments
Patrick McNamara of 47 Newton Boston WWI Rego.jpg
Patrick McNamara of 47 Newton Boston WWI Rego.jpg (118.9 KiB) Viewed 9066 times

Sduddy
Posts: 1826
Joined: Sun Sep 26, 2010 10:07 am

Re: Cornelius O’Mealey/Conchubhar O Maille

Post by Sduddy » Tue Jul 31, 2018 1:42 pm

Hi Jim

Thank you for trying to find out more about Patrick McNamara who married Delia Mealy. That you found such a near fit just shows how very many Patrick McNamaras there are in Co. Clare - and in the States.
The Patrick from Cloontra East, Kilseily parish, that you found so much information for, will be of interest to somebody, someday, I hope. I looked to see what the placename "Consiler" on the draft form could possibly be. It is Cloonsheerea, also in the parish of Kilseily, where there’s a family of Linnanes, including a John (in 1901 and 1911). The marriage of John’s father to Catherine Woulfe in 1888 gives the address as Conselrea. They were married in Trugh chapel.
It’s strange that John Linnane was picked as nearest relative – I think it means that John was his nearest relative/friend in the States, even though his address is given as Co. Clare.

Take no more trouble with Patrick from Derrymore East, Tulla parish, who married Delia – at least not for my sake – I now have a whole paragraph on Patrick Mealy and Sarah and their three daughters, and their son-in-law - 100% more than I ever expected to get – and I’m very happy with that.

Sheila

Jimbo
Posts: 591
Joined: Mon Aug 26, 2013 9:43 am

Re: Cornelius O’Mealey/Conchubhar O Maille

Post by Jimbo » Wed Aug 08, 2018 7:17 pm

Hi Sheila,

Please just one more sentence for your paragraph on the Patrick McNamara who married your Delia Mealey. Ending this string of posts in failure to find Patrick in the arrival passenger listings might discourage other Irish with common surnames from researching their lost cousins in America. And if we can't find Patrick in the 20th century, what hope is there of ever finding the missing Thomas McNamara of Glandree from the 1860's?

I skipped looking for Patrick's U.S. naturalization which would tell us when he arrived, and instead searched directly the passenger lists. He was in the 1911 Irish Census and registered for the WWI draft in 1918, so it is a fairly short window.

Patrick McNamara (age 26) was on the SS Arabic arriving in Boston on 24 July 1913 (see below). His nearest relative in Ireland was father Thomas McNamara of Derrymore, Kilkishen, County Clare. A perfect match. Patrick was going to join his cousin John Slattery of 21 Union Street, Boston.

This does beg the question how Patrick is related to John - but let's both agree to stop here! There are too many Slattery's in Boston to research in the US records. And I suspect the County Clare records would be equally challenging for you to ever discover the connection.

Some historical trivia...when Patrick McNamara went to visit his cousin in 1913, he would have passed right by Faneuil Hall as 21 Union Street is just two buildings away - to the left of the below postcard scene from 1910. Faneuil Hall is one of the most famous buildings in America and is associated with the Boston Tea Party of 1773.

10 or maybe 20 years later this same postcard scene would be very different. All the horse carriages in front of Faneuil Hall would be replaced by automobiles. Interesting to think about how many advances in technology a person like Patrick McNamara who lived from 1885 to 1950 would experience during their lifetime.
Attachments
Patrick McNamara of Kilkishen on SS Arabic to Boston 24 July 1913 page 1.jpg
Patrick McNamara of Kilkishen on SS Arabic to Boston 24 July 1913 page 1.jpg (213.47 KiB) Viewed 8992 times
Patrick McNamara of Kilkishen on SS Arabic to Boston 24 July 1913 page 2.jpg
Patrick McNamara of Kilkishen on SS Arabic to Boston 24 July 1913 page 2.jpg (217.52 KiB) Viewed 8992 times
Faneuil Hall, Boston MA around 1910.jpg
Faneuil Hall, Boston MA around 1910.jpg (307.75 KiB) Viewed 8992 times

Sduddy
Posts: 1826
Joined: Sun Sep 26, 2010 10:07 am

Re: Cornelius O’Mealey/Conchubhar O Maille

Post by Sduddy » Thu Aug 09, 2018 9:32 am

Hi Jim,

Thank you for that extra bit, which will indeed be added to the Patrick Mealy paragraph. And for the “passing’ connection between Patrick and Faneuil Hall. And thanks for that postcard from 1910 showing what it would have looked like to Patrick.
The Midnight Ride of Paul Revere (“Listen, my children, and you shall hear of the midnight ride of Paul Revere”) was in our schoolbooks when I was young. Maybe it was in Patrick’s schoolbook too.

Sheila

Jimbo
Posts: 591
Joined: Mon Aug 26, 2013 9:43 am

Re: Cornelius O’Mealey/Conchubhar O Maille

Post by Jimbo » Thu Aug 09, 2018 6:49 pm

One of the great inventors of this era was Thomas Edison whose inventions included the motion picture camera in 1891. His film studio made about 1,200 short films. The Library of Congress has this short movie clip of the St. Patrick's Day Parade in Lowell taken about 1905. The Mealey sisters, if they could get off from work, would most certainly have been spectators:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mKzcjKDgxHY

Sduddy
Posts: 1826
Joined: Sun Sep 26, 2010 10:07 am

Re: Cornelius O’Mealey/Conchubhar O Maille

Post by Sduddy » Fri Aug 10, 2018 8:53 am

Thanks for that film of St. Patrick’s Day in Lowell about 1905. Very impressive indeed. If the Mealy sisters missed it, they were very “slack” as we say here.

Sheila

Jimbo
Posts: 591
Joined: Mon Aug 26, 2013 9:43 am

Re: Cornelius O’Mealey/Conchubhar O Maille

Post by Jimbo » Sat Aug 18, 2018 10:39 pm

Hi Sheila,

I realize you have more than enough information on Patrick Mealey and his three daughters & son-in-law. But today you expressed an interest on the contents of American obituaries on the thread for the Maley's of California, which does highlight the fact that you have not obtained the Mealey / McNamara obituaries in Lowell.

Despite McNamara being a common name it is not that difficult. Simply do a google search of: Delia Mealey McNamara Lowell (without any quotations)

After taking note of the date of the deaths of Patrick McNamara, Delia McNamara, Catherine Mealey from their common headstone, find the search result whose description includes dates that are a few days after their date of death.

Typically, this will take you to a website of a newspaper archive that requires a paid subscription to zoom into the article and actually be able to read it. But in an effort to get you hooked on their service, you have one free opportunity. If you fail you might get a second chance in a week or so, I'm not sure.

The obituary should tell you of any surviving relatives of the deceased. And you also don't know what Catholic parish the McNamara / Mealeys attended in Lowell. Obviously, an Irish parish but there were two in Lowell.

Good luck.

Sduddy
Posts: 1826
Joined: Sun Sep 26, 2010 10:07 am

Re: Cornelius O’Mealey/Conchubhar O Maille

Post by Sduddy » Mon Aug 20, 2018 10:15 am

Hi Jim

Thank you very much indeed for that help. When I googled Delia Mealey McNamara, I got the notice for Patrick in the Lowell Sun of Aug. 30, 1960 (Newspaperarchive.com). It said that he had been a resident of Lowell for 35 years, that he had been an employee of Alexander Woolen Co., and that he left a wife, Delia Mealey McNamara, and a sister, Mrs. Lena O’Loughlin*. I didn’t get a notice for Delia herself, but when I googled Catherine Mealey, I got one for her (1959), which said that she was born in Co. Clare, the daughter of the late Patrick and the late Sarah (O’Malley) Mealey; that she had come to the US over half a century before, and that she was survived by a sister, Mrs. Delia McNamara of Lowell. That tells me that Mary Anne, the third sister, had died by then - if not long before. And that ended my free trial, but I was pleased to get those notices.

*Patrick McNamara’s sister, Lena, married Thomas O’Loughlin, also of Derrymore, son of William O’Loughlin, on Feb. 04, 1931, in Tulla Church.

Sheila

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