Person in this family
Michael Cawley
This entry is about Michael Cawley (Born about 1884; death not recorded). For other family members with the same first and family name, see Michael Joseph Cawley (5 March 1911 – 5 August 1921).
Born about 1884; death not recorded
Michael Cawley was born in Ireland about 1884, at a place his marriage record calls "Bofeenern Parish, Connacht" — almost certainly Bofeenaun in County Mayo — the son of John Cawley and Margaret Rowan. He came to America in 1904 and on 5 November 1910, aged twenty-six, he married Anna Cooney at Manhattan; she was twenty-one and from Islandeady, the next thing to a neighbour at home. They stayed in Manhattan. The 1930 census finds eight of their children under one roof there and the 1940 census nine, at the same address they had held since at least 1935. At least eleven are now known, and two of them died as children.
Proved by a record
Our family tree names Michael Cawley and records family relationships, but supplies no dates or independent evidence.
How is this person related?
Andrew John Leahey’s no relationship found in this archive
Gina D. Cacace’s no relationship found in this archive
Abigail Ann Leahey’s no relationship found in this archive
Marie C. Fitzgerald’s no relationship found in this archive
Kevin Leahey’s no relationship found in this archive
Worked out from the recorded parents and marriages. No sex is recorded for anyone in this archive, so the wording stays neutral.
Life
Michael Cawley appears only in our family tree, which names Andrew Cawley, Marty Cawley, and Peter Cawley as children. This archive supplies no dates, places, occupation, or independent record, so nothing further is currently known.
How we know this: Very weak: the person is represented only by an unsourced family-tree entry. [1][2][3][4]
Family
Parents
Spouse
Children
See this family in the family treeWhere they lived
- 1911: New York City, New York
Use the place list first. The map below is optional.
Places listed on this page
- Islandeady, County Mayo, Ireland
- New York City, New York
- County Mayo, Ireland
- Ireland
- New York
- United States
- Manhattan, New York City, New York
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. 4 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
Came to America
The 1930 census gives his arrival as 1904, six years before he married.
Proved by a record
Married Anna Cooney at Manhattan
He was 26 and single, born Bofeenern Parish, Connacht, son of John and Margaret Rowan. She was 21, born Islandeady parish, Mayo. Certificate cn 24055.
Proved by a record
Manhattan, with eight children at home
Sheet 2B, line 73: Peter 16, Thomas 15, James 12, Andrew 11, Margaret 8, Anna 6, Walter 5 and Vincent 3, every one born in New York.
Proved by a record
Manhattan, nine children at home and Martin among them
Assembly District 16, ED 31-1441, sheet 5B. Michael 59, Annie, and nine children — Peter 26, Thomas 25, James 23, Andrew 21, Martin 19, Margaret 18, Anna 16, Walter 15 and Vincent 13. The family had been at the same address in 1935. Every age has advanced exactly ten years since 1930, which is what makes Martin's absence from the 1930 list look like a dropped line rather than a different family.
Proved by a record
Manhattan, three sons still at home
ED 31-1510, page 11. Michael 65, Anne 59, and James, Walter and Vincent. This is the last record of him the archive holds.
Proved by a record
What the records say
4 records transcribed.
Record exhibit
Michael Cawley and Anna Cooney marriage, Manhattan, 5 November 1910
This old record gives information about the person or family named here.
Partly proved
Verbatim transcription currently held in this archive — reproduced in full.
Michael Cawley, 26, single, born Bofeenern Parish, Connacht, Ireland; father John, mother Margaret Rowan. Anna Cooney, 21, single, born Islandeary Parish, Nerryrive, Mayo, Ireland. Married 5 November 1910 at Manhattan. Certificate cn 24055. Also on the record: Peter, and Margaret Necoham.
Record exhibit
Michael Cawley household, 1930 United States census, Manhattan
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.
Manhattan, sheet 2B, line 73. Michael Cawley, head, 45, born Ireland, arrived 1904, both parents Irish; Annie, wife. Children: Peter 16, Thomas 15, James 12, Andrew 11, Margaret 8, Anna 6, Walter 5, Vincent 3, all born New York.
Record exhibit
Michael Cawley household, 1940 United States census, Manhattan
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.
Assembly District 16, Manhattan, ED 31-1441, sheet 5B, line 70. Michael Cawley, head, 59, born Ireland; residence in 1935 the same place. Annie Cawley, wife. Children: Peter 26, Thomas 25, James 23, Andrew 21, Martin 19, Margaret 18, Anna 16, Walter 15, Vincent 13, all born New York.
Record exhibit
Michael Cawley household, 1950 United States census, Manhattan
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.
New York City, ED 31-1510, page 11, line 7, enumerated 26 April 1950. Micheal Cawley, head, 65, born Ireland, a citizen. Anne Cawley, wife, 59, born Ireland. Sons at home: James 33, Walter 25, Vincent 23.
Historical context
These background articles explain the places, work, and events in this entry.
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,…
Islandeady and Derrycriff, County Mayo
Islandeady is not an island off Galway. It is a rural parish between Castlebar and Westport in County Mayo, set among lakes and low hills in the shadow of Croagh Patrick. That distinction solves a long-standing…
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
- Dates and places of birth and death
- Occupation and residences
- Independent confirmation of the listed identity and relationships
- "Bofeenern Parish" is the clerk's spelling and is not a modern place name. Bofeenaun, County Mayo, is the obvious reading and would put him within a few miles of his wife's Islandeady, but it is not confirmed. His death is unrecorded; the FamilySearch tree shows 1952, which is not verified here.
- [NEGATIVE CONTROLLED] His death is not findable in the free indexes, and the reason is a gap rather than an absence. He was alive on 26 April 1950. The New York City Municipal Deaths index ends at 1949, and the New York State Genealogical Research Death Index begins at 1957 — so a death between 1950 and 1956 falls between the two and cannot be searched for free at all. [REJECTED] A Michael Joseph Cawley Sr, born 15 July 1885 and died 24 May 1952, is on Find a Grave — the birth year and the FamilySearch tree's death year both match. He is buried at Calvary Cemetery, Charleroi, Washington County, PENNSYLVANIA. Nothing connects this family to Pennsylvania; Michael was a Manhattan man with eleven children there two years earlier. He is not attached. The tree's own 1952 may simply be copied from this same memorial, which would make the agreement circular rather than corroborating.
References
- [1] Michael Cawley and Anna Cooney marriage, Manhattan, 5 November 1910Back to citation 1
- [2] Michael Cawley household, 1930 United States census, ManhattanBack to citation 2
- [3] Michael Cawley household, 1940 United States census, ManhattanBack to citation 3
- [4] Michael Cawley household, 1950 United States census, ManhattanBack to citation 4