Person in this family
Margaret Mahoney
Dates not recorded
Margaret Mahoney was the wife of John Leahey of Bayonne and, on the evidence of one baptism, the mother of James D. Leahey — which makes her Andrew Leahey's 2x-great-grandmother. Until 11 August 2026 she was not in this archive at all: her husband's page recorded no wife and their son recorded only a father. She was widowed within about sixteen months of the christening, John Leahey dying on 30 August 1887, and what became of her afterwards is not known.
Probable
Margaret Mahoney was the wife of John Leahey of Bayonne and, on the evidence of one baptism, the mother of James D. Leahey — which makes her Andrew Leahey's 2x-great-grandmother. Until 11 August 2026 she was not in this archive at all: her husband's page recorded no wife and their son recorded only a father. She was widowed within about sixteen months of the christening, John Leahey dying on 30 August 1887, and what became of her afterwards is not known.
How is this person related?
Andrew John Leahey’s great-great-grandparent
Gina D. Cacace’s spouse's great-great-grandparent (by marriage)
Abigail Ann Leahey’s great-great-great-grandparent
Marie C. Fitzgerald’s spouse's great-grandparent (by marriage)
Kevin Leahey’s great-grandparent
Worked out from the recorded parents and marriages. No sex is recorded for anyone in this archive, so the wording stays neutral.
How this person is related to Andrew:
Margaret Mahoney is your 2× great-grandparent.
Life
A written life story has not been added for this person yet.
References for this account: [1]
Family
Spouse
Children
See this family in the family treeWhere they lived
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Places listed on this page
- Bayonne, Hudson County, New Jersey
- St. Mary Star of the Sea, Bayonne, Hudson County, New Jersey
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Timeline
Named as the mother at her son's baptism
Entry 77 of the St. Mary Star of the Sea register: a son born 3 April 1886 and baptised eight days later to John Leahey and Marg't Mahoney. The sponsors are what identify the family — Denis Leahey and Anna Leahey. Dennis Leahey, the child's grandfather, was alive at Bayonne in 1886 and died in 1907; Anna E. Leahey, his daughter, was born in 1874. And the child was given the grandfather's name, which is what an Irish family did with a first son. [1]
The record itself
Tap to open a larger copySt. Mary Star of the Sea baptism register, Denis Leahey, 1886
Proved by a record
Original records
1 further record is shown in the timeline, beside the event each one documents.
What the records say
1 record transcribed.
Record exhibit
St. Mary Star of the Sea, Bayonne — baptism of Denis Leahey, 11 April 1886
This is an entry in a church book, often naming a child, parents, and godparents.
Proved by a record
Verbatim transcription currently held in this archive — reproduced in full.
77 | Denis Leahey | Apr 3 - 1886 | Apr 11 - 1886 | John / Marg't Mahoney | Denis Leahey, Anna Leahey
Historical context
These background articles explain the places, work, and events in this entry.
Bayonne and the Industrial Waterfront, 1870–1920
The Bayonne in these family records was a new city built around water, rails and heavy industry. Bayonne Township was formed only in 1861, uniting older settlements on Bergen Neck; it became a city in 1869. The…
What Sponsors and Witnesses Can Tell Us
Catholic registers often preserve the people standing just outside a family photograph. A baptism normally names the child, parents, date and sponsors or godparents; a marriage normally names the couple and wit…
What we still don't know
- [WHY SHE IS `probable` AND NOT `documented`] The baptism is unambiguous about a John Leahey and a Margaret Mahoney. Two steps after that are inference. First, that this is our John Leahey — supported by the sponsors, by the naming, and by his being a Bayonne Leahey of the right age, but not stated on the record. Second, that the child Denis baptised here is the man this archive calls James D. Leahey — an identification the archive already made before this page existed, on his own evidence, and which is not certain.
- [THE 'D' IN JAMES D. LEAHEY MAY BE DENIS] His page has long carried the puzzle that he looks like “the same child baptized Denis Leahey in 1886”. If so the initial is not a mystery: he was christened Denis, for his grandfather, and used James D. as an adult. Offered as a reading of the initial, not as proof of the identification.
- [NOTHING ELSE ABOUT HER IS KNOWN] No birth, no death, no parents, no second marriage. She was widowed at about 26 with an infant son. She is the only Mahoney in this archive. The St. Mary marriage register — not published online — would hold a Leahey–Mahoney wedding of about 1885, and that record would name her father and mother.