Cornelius Looney : Short Biography

Cornelius Looney was born in 1798 in Tulla, County Clare. He was an agricultural labourer. At St Mary's Catholic Church in nearby Feakle, Cornelius married Catherine Grady in 1825 and the couple set up home somewhere in Tulla. Catherine's father seems to have been a farm owner in Annagh and maybe buried in the Feakle cemetery under a simple metal sign "J. Grady". In Tulla, Catherine gave birth to 7 children some of whom were baptised in Tulla. How the family survived the Great Hunger of the 1840's is currently a mystery but two of the children, Susanna and Catherine (named after her mother), emigrated forever to Australia. The sisters appear to have embellished the details of their ages, claiming to be younger than they were. They each arrived in Melbourne in January 1854 aboard the Tudor along with about 200 other young Irish single women. At their arrival, they were already contracted as "domestics". Each married within a year of arriving in Melbourne; Susanna in the Catholic Church and Catherine in the Church of England. Three years passed by and their parents arrived from Clare to remain and die in Melbourne. The parents, Cornelius and Catherine were, and currently remain, buried in an unmarked grave in one of Melbourne's historic cemeteries. Susanna married John Dwyer in September 1854. John Dwyer was the son of a butcher from Tulla. Susanna and John Dwyer had four children, 3 girls and a boy. Two girls remained unmarried and childless whilst their siblings married and went their own ways. Susanna died in 1923 aged in her 90s and, like her parents, was buried with both of the unmarried daughters but without any recognition on the grave. The story of her life is still being written but there are no known photographs. Susanna (also known as "Susan") was my great great grandmother and her only son, my great grandfather. The death and burial of John Dwyer, Susanna's husband, currently remains a mystery.