Person in this family
Mary Cooney
This entry is about Mary Cooney (about 1886 – 29 August 1949). For other family members with the same first and family name, see Mary Cooney (Born 11 December 1884; death not recorded).
about 1886 – 29 August 1949
Mary Cooney was Andrew Joseph Farrelly's wife. The 1920 census names her, her daughter Helen Bridget's 1921 death record names her as the mother, and the censuses of 1930 and 1940 find her in Jersey City with Andrew and their daughters. Her own ages in those two censuses — 43 and 53 — put her birth about 1886 or 1887. **Whether she is the Mary Cooney born at Derrycriff, County Mayo, on 11 December 1884 is still not proved**, and it is the most consequential open question in this archive: if she is, the forty people of the Cooney family join it. She died at the Jersey City Medical Center on 29 August 1949.
Partly proved
Two civil records identify Andrew Farley’s wife as Mary and one names her as Mary Cooney; an Army card instead calls her Annie.
Born at Ireland Died at Jersey City Medical Center, 101 Jersey Ave (jurisdiction unverified)
Recorded as: Mary Farley, 29 AUG 1949, Jersey City Medical Center, 101 Jersey Ave
Death: From our family tree - no record found yet
How is this person related?
Andrew John Leahey’s great-grandparent
Gina D. Cacace’s spouse's great-grandparent (by marriage)
Abigail Ann Leahey’s great-great-grandparent
Marie C. Fitzgerald’s grandparent
Kevin Leahey’s spouse's grandparent (by marriage)
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:
Mary Cooney is your great-grandparent.
Life
The 1920 federal census records Andrew Farley as head of his own Manhattan household and names “Mary Farley,” age 34 and born in Ireland, as his wife. The record rules out the former hypothesis that the Farleys were live-in domestic staff. It also gives Andrew an arrival year of 1914, which conflicts with the 1902–1903 Jersey City directory candidates previously attributed to him.
A second civil record is more specific. New York City death certificate cn 15717 for Helen Bridget Farley, who died on 21 June 1921, names the infant’s father as Andrew J. Farley and her mother as “Mary Cooney,” both born in Ireland. Together, these civil records make Mary Cooney the record-supported reading for Andrew’s wife.
The evidence still conflicts. Sergeant Peter Cooney’s Graves Registration card says “Mrs. Annie Farley, Sister” and later “Mrs. A. J. Farley (sister).” The latter is certainly Andrew’s wife whatever her given name, but the card does not explain why the civil records say Mary. Islandeady registrations document separate sisters Mary Cooney, born 11 December 1884, and Anne Cooney, born 11 August 1888. No record yet proves that Andrew’s wife was either Derrycriff child, so this American Mary remains separate while the identification is tested.
A family-tree entry reports December 1885–29 August 1949 and Jersey City, but those details remain unverified and are preserved as claims rather than merged with the civil evidence.
How we know this: Strong civil evidence supports the name Mary Cooney, her marriage to Andrew, and the parentage of Margaret and Helen; her Irish family of origin and the Annie/Mary conflict remain unresolved. [1][2][3][4][5][6]
Family
Spouse
Children
See this family in the family treeWhere they lived
- 1920: New York City, New York
- 1930: Jersey City, Hudson County, New Jersey
- 1940: Jersey City, Hudson County, New Jersey
Use the place list first. The map below is optional.
Places listed on this page
- Ireland
- Jersey City, Hudson County, New Jersey
- New York City, New York
- New York
- United States
- Manhattan, New York City, New York
- Jersey City Medical Center, 101 Jersey Ave (jurisdiction unverified)
The map could not load. The complete place list is above it.
The pins show approximate places. The line only joins them in time order; it does not prove the route travelled. 3 of the places listed above are recorded only as a county or country, so they are not pinned. Cemetery and burial places have red pins.
Timeline
Born
The 1 August 2026 Geni export supplies this birth date; it has not been verified against a record.
From our family tree - no record found yet
Enumerated in Andrew Farley’s household
The federal census records “Mary Farley,” wife, age 34, born in Ireland, in the household headed by Andrew Farley in Manhattan Assembly District 22, ED 1449, sheet 30B, line 94. [1]
Proved by a record
Named as Helen Bridget Farley’s mother
New York City certificate cn 15717 names the infant’s parents as Andrew J. Farley and Mary Cooney, both born in Ireland. [2]
Proved by a record
Died
The 1 August 2026 Geni export supplies this death date; it has not been verified against a record.
From our family tree - no record found yet
What the records say
3 of 6 records transcribed.
Record exhibit
1920 United States census: Andrew Farley household
A census is a government list of the people who were living in a home.
Proved by a record
Verbatim transcription currently held in this archive — reproduced in full.
Manhattan Assembly District 22, ED 1449, sheet 30B, line 94, NARA T625 film 1225: Andrew Farley, Head, 40, born about 1880 Ireland, married, arrival 1914; Mary Farley, Wife, 34, Ireland; Margaret Farley, Daughter, 6 months, New York.
Record exhibit
New York City Municipal Deaths: Helen Bridget Farley
This old record gives information about the person or family named here.
Proved by a record
Verbatim transcription currently held in this archive — reproduced in full.
Helen Bridget Farley, born 19 June 1921 Manhattan; died 21 June 1921, aged two days; certificate cn 15717; father Andrew J. Farley, birthplace Ireland; mother Mary Cooney, birthplace Ireland.
Record exhibit
Andrew Farrelly naturalization petition, New York, 1919 (certificate 92181)
This old record gives information about the person or family named here.
Partly proved
Verbatim transcription currently held in this archive — reproduced in full.
New York, County Naturalization Records, 1791-1980: Andrew Farrelly, born 3 July 1880, Ireland; naturalised 1919, New York. **Certificate number 92181.** Volume: *Petitions for naturalization and petition evidence 1919, vol. 372, nos. 92101-92348.* Spouse given only as "Mary".
Record exhibit
Andrew Farley household, 1930 census, Jersey City
A census is a government list of the people who were living in a home.
Partly proved
Verbatim transcription currently held in this archive — reproduced in full.
The exact words from this record have not been typed out yet.
Record exhibit
Andrew J Farley household, 1940 census, Jersey City Ward 10
A census is a government list of the people who were living in a home.
Partly proved
Verbatim transcription currently held in this archive — reproduced in full.
The exact words from this record have not been typed out yet.
Record exhibit
Andrew Farley household, 1950 census, Jersey City
A census is a government list of the people who were living in a home.
Partly proved
Verbatim transcription currently held in this archive — reproduced in full.
The exact words from this record have not been typed out yet.
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…
Sgt. Peter Cooney and the Fighting 69th
The Peter Cooney buried in France was a sergeant in Company M, 165th Infantry—the wartime number of New York’s celebrated 69th Regiment. His unit belonged to the 42nd “Rainbow” Division, assembled from National…
Reading Irish Civil Registration
The year 1864 is the dividing line in this family’s Irish paper trail. Civil registration began in 1845 for non-Catholic and civil marriages, but from 1 January 1864 the law required registration of all births,…
The Irish Road to Ipswich, Queensland
Most branches on this site point toward New York or New Jersey. The Hickey–McGreevy–McGuire cluster points in the opposite direction, to Ipswich, Queensland. The Australian evidence is uneven: cemetery records …
What we still don't know
- Resolve why the Army file says Annie while two civil records say Mary.
- Determine whether she was Mary Cooney born at Derrycriff on 11 December 1884, Anne Cooney born there on 11 August 1888, or another Cooney woman.
- Obtain a marriage record and records naming her parents.
- [NARROWED, NOT SETTLED] Whether she is **Mary Cooney born at Derrycriff on 11 December 1884**. Her own ages now carry real weight: 43 in 1930 and 53 in 1940 both point to about **1886–87**, which is a year off the archive's December 1885 and about **two years** off the Derrycriff birth. Two censuses agreeing is not nothing, but self-reported ages drift and two years is well within the drift. The identification stays open — and note that if it were ever made, forty people join this family.
- Andrew is entered as **widowed** in the census of April 1950, which independently corroborates her death in August 1949.
- [EXCLUDED] It is **not** `mary-cooney-1880`, the Mary said to be born about 1880. That woman would have been 50 in 1930 and 60 in 1940, where this one is 43 and 53. Seven years is not census drift.
- Sergeant Peter Cooney's Army file calls Mrs A. J. Farley **Annie** where the civil records say Mary. Whether that is an error, an alternate name, or a different woman is still unresolved.
- New Jersey state file 29315 — her 1949 death certificate — remains the document that would name her parents and end this.
- Her marriage to Andrew Farrelly, which has not been found in the free New York City index.
References
- [1] 1920 United States census: Andrew Farley householdBack to citation 1a Back to citation 1b
- [2] New York City Municipal Deaths: Helen Bridget FarleyBack to citation 2a Back to citation 2b
- [3] Andrew Farrelly naturalization petition, New York, 1919 (certificate 92181)Back to citation 3
- [4] Andrew Farley household, 1930 census, Jersey CityBack to citation 4
- [5] Andrew J Farley household, 1940 census, Jersey City Ward 10Back to citation 5
- [6] Andrew Farley household, 1950 census, Jersey CityBack to citation 6