Mary A Connolly : Short Biography

Mary A (Nee) Connolly (1843, Oughterard, Kilcummin, Galway – 19?? Boston, Suffolk, Massachusetts)

Oral History: My wife's Aunt Mary, Mary J. Connolly, (Mary (Nee) Connolly's granddaughter). Essentially, my wife's Aunt Mary provided the bulk of the information which I validated.

Web Sites: Ancestry, Ireland, Catholic Parish Registers; National Library of Ireland, Catholic Parish Registers; Ancestry, Massachusetts Passenger and Crew Lists; Ancestry, Boston City records; Ancestry, US Censuses 1900, 1910, 1920, 1930 and 1940; and Ancestry Public Member Trees.

Please note that the US Censuses for 1910 – 1940 provided information on her children’s immigration and naturalization.

Mary A (Nee) Connolly is only in the Census of 1900.

Mary Nee in Ancestry Ireland, Catholic Parish Registers, 1655-1915

Name: Mary Nee
Baptism Age: 0
Event Type: Baptism
Birth Date: 1843
Baptism Date: 3 Sep 1843
Baptism Place: Oughterard, Galway, Ireland
Parish Variants: Kilcummin
Diocese: Galway
Father: Patt
Mother: Margaret

Please note that the transcriber erred. Her mother's name on the Register Image was Nora (short for Honorah).
Also, I believe based on the Catholic Parish Registers that Honorah was Honorah Connolly, the daughter of Martin Connolly and Catherine Walsh.

In addition, please note that the priests at Immaculate Conception Roman Catholic Church consistently recorded the Connolly surname as Conneely. I have no idea why!

Mary Nee in the National Library of Ireland, Catholic Parish Registers:

19 Feb 1865, marriage of Peter Conneely to Mary Knee of Lian (which I interpreted as the Priest's shorthand for the townland of Killian).

Mary Connelly in the Massachusetts, Passenger and Crew Lists, 1820-1963

Name: Mary Connelly
Gender: Female
Age: 36
Nationality: Irish
Birth Date: abt 1847
Departure Place: Galway, Ireland
Arrival Date: 2 May 1883
Arrival Place: Boston, Massachusetts, USA
Ship: Austrian

Please note that all Connolly surnames were recorded as Connelly when they arrived in Boston.

Also, please note that I have no idea when Mary A (Nee) Connolly’s surname was changed to Connolly.

In addition, please note that Mary A Nee and all her children were born in Galway.

Finally, when she left Ireland, I believe that she left her 9 children there when she went to Boston. Eventually, 8 of her 9 children joined her in Massachusetts. Her eldest child Bridget stayed in Ireland.

Mary A Connolly in the 1900 United States Federal Census

Name: Mary A Connolly
Age: 51
Birth Date: Jul 1848
Birthplace: Ireland
Home in 1900: Boston Ward 23, Suffolk, Massachusetts
Ward of City: 23
Street: Jamaica
House Number: 87
Sheet Number: 7A
Number of Dwelling in Order of Visitation: 68
Family Number: 107
Race: White
Gender: Female
Immigration Year: 1883
Relation to Head of House: Head
Marital Status: Widowed
Father's Birthplace: Ireland
Mother's Birthplace: Ireland
Mother: number of living children: 9
Mother: How many children: 9
Years in US: 17
Can Read: Yes
Can Write: No
Can Speak English: Yes
House Owned or Rented: R
Farm or House: H
Neighbors: View others on page
Household Members: Name Age
Mary A Connolly 51
Daniel Connolly 23
Mary A Connolly 20
Peter Connolly 20

Please note that in the 1900 US Census, Mary was listed as a widow. It is possible that she was a widow when she immigrated to Boston. She had nine children and all nine were living. Two of her sons were married in Jamaica Plain and lived in Jamaica Plain.

Also, please note that the Census taker misspelled her street address. Mary lived at 87 Jamaica Street, Jamaica Plain, with her daughter Mary A and sons Daniel and Peter.

In addition, she is enumerated as Mary A born July 1848. She was actually 5 years older. Finally, the census indicates that she (and her children Daniel, Mary and Peter) immigrated in 1883. From the 1900 – 1940 censuses where her children were enumerated, immigration dates differ. I believe that she was the only one who immigrated in 1883.

Mary A (Nee) Connolly’s children were:
 Bridget, Born 11 Oct 1865
 Patrick, Baptized 9 March 1867, immigrated in 1885, naturalized in 1890, married Mary McGuiness in 1899
 Michael, Baptized 13 Mar 1869
 Thomas E, Born 28 May 1871, immigrated 1890, naturalized 1895, married Bridget McGuiness (Patrick’s sister-in-law) in 1900, 6 children
 Barbara T, Baptized 14 Jan 1873, married Peter Aloysius Connolly in 1903, 6 children
 Daniel, Born 19 May 1875, immigrated 1894, naturalized 1904, married Mary A Morgan in 1900, 9 children
 Mary A, Born 10 Oct 1878, immigrated 1900 , naturalized 1904, married John Arthur Balam in 1903, 2 children
 Peter J, Born Apr 1880, immigrated 1894, naturalized 1901, married Clara M Moulton in 1911, 3 children
 Honora (Nora) M, Born 1882, immigrated 1890, naturalized 1915, married Walter J. Burke of Great Barrington, Berkshire, Massachusetts. I can’t find a marriage record for her.

Please note that immigration and naturalization years are from Ancestry, US Censuses from 1910 – 1930. I can’t validate the years using Ancestry, Massachusetts Passenger and Crew Lists and Massachusetts and Federal Naturalization records.

Also, please note that an Ancestry Family Tree identifies daughter Mary A as Mary Agnes. I can’t validate it.

Finally, six children were married in Boston. Most of the early marriages were at St Thomas Aquinas Church in Jamaica Plain, Boston, Suffolk, Massachusetts. One could see the Parish buildings from Mary A (Nee) Connolly’s house on Jamaica St in Jamaica Plain. My wife’s aunt and her siblings attended St Thomas Aquinas Parish Schools. My wife and her siblings all attended St Thomas Aquinas Elementary School. My wife, her sister and I graduated for St Thomas Aquinas High School. Also, my brothers graduated from St Thomas Aquinas High School, commuting each day from Dedham.

Joseph F. Petrie, AB (Economics and Business – St. Anselm College, 1962)
MA (Economics – Boston College, 1967)
Graduate Assistant, (Economics – Boston College, 1962 – 1963)
Teaching Fellow, (Economics – Boston College, 1963 – 1965)
Doctoral Program, (Economics – Boston College, 1963 – 1967)
Adjunct Teaching: UMass Boston, Boston, MA; Fisher College, Attleboro, MA and MassBay Community College, Wellesley, MA
Founding Member, Friends of Irish Research (FIR), Brockton, MA
Faculty, Friends of Irish Research School of Irish Genealogy, Brockton, MA
Member, Cape Breton Genealogy and Historical Association (CBGHA), Sydney, NS
Member, Family History Society of Newfoundland and Labrador (FHSNL), St John’s, NL
Member, Association of Professional Genealogists (APG), Wheat Ridge, CO
Member, New England Historic Genealogical Society (NEHGS), Boston, MA
Member, Ireland Reaching Out, Loughrea, Galway, Ireland
Volunteer Research Correspondent, Cape Breton Genealogy and Historical Association (CBGHA)
Member, Friends of Morrill Memorial Library, Norwood, MA
Resident Genealogy Volunteer, Morrill Memorial Library, Norwood, MA
Genealogy Volunteer, History Department, St Anselm College, Manchester NH
Genealogy Volunteer, Fiske Library, Wrentham MA
Genealogy Volunteer, Irish Cultural Centre of New England, Irish Fest, 2016 and 2017, Canton MA
Genealogy Volunteer, Irish Cultural Centre of New England, Genealogy Library, for the Friends of Irish Research

Please note that Friends of Irish Research is the repository for my published genealogy articles in the Newfoundland Ancestor; and in EZINE, the electronic magazine of the Cape Breton Genealogy and Historical Association. (See friendsofirishresearch.org; specifically the Tabs for Publications and Joe’s Free Web Sites. I am the author of the Genealogy Basics Series.

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Comment from Ireland XO Member regarding this Chronicle:

"The name Conneely was often written as Connolly rather than the other way round as suggested and often was changed to Connolly on entering the USA.

Two, the town land as Lian could also be Leam which is a few miles west of Oughterard."