Person in this family
Peter Cooney
This entry is about Peter Cooney (About March 1854 – 29 December 1943). For other family members with the same first and family name, see Peter Cooney (possibly 16 October 1890 – 14 October 1918).
About March 1854 – 29 December 1943
Husband of Margaret Needham and father of the Derrycriff children; this adult has been merged in our family tree with both his son Peter and a New York World War I sergeant. Peter and Margaret married at Islandeady and registered at least six children at Derrycriff, where Peter’s recorded status changed from labourer to farmer. The repeated address makes this one of the best-documented Irish households in this branch.
Proved by a record
Peter Cooney, recorded as Peter Coony, married Margaret Needham in 1884 and was a farmer at Derrycriff, County Mayo, through at least 1894.
Born at Ireland Died at Derrycriff, Islandeady, County Mayo, Ireland
Recorded as: Peter Coony
Birth: From our family tree - no record found yet
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
Peter Cooney was a labourer and later a farmer at Derrycriff in the Islandeady area of County Mayo. His birth and death have not been found. The marriage register calls him “Full,” meaning of full legal age, rather than giving a number, and names his father as John Coony, a labourer.
On 26 February 1884 he married Margaret Needham at the Roman Catholic chapel of Islandeady. The register spells the couple’s names “Peter Coony” and “Margaret Needhan.” It describes Peter as a “Bachelor” and “Labourer,” Margaret as a “Spinster,” and her father Thomas Needham as “Dead” and a labourer.
Six civil birth registrations then place the family at Derrycriff. They record Mary on 11 December 1884, Bridget on 16 February 1886, Thomas on 15 February 1887, Anne on 11 August 1888, Peter on 16 October 1890, and Ellen on 1 August 1894. Across these entries Peter appears as “Peter Coony/Cooney” and is called a “Farmer.” The repeated address and parent names establish a well-documented household despite the spelling changes.
Our family tree has merged this man with both his son Peter and a New York sergeant who died in 1918. The soldier had already served with his regiment in 1898, so he cannot be the son born in 1890; this archive supplies no record identifying the soldier as this father either. Peter’s own later life and death remain untraced.
How we know this: Strong original evidence documents the marriage and Derrycriff household from 1884 to 1894; Peter’s birth, later life, and death remain unknown. [1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12]
Family
Parents
Spouse
Children
See this family in the family treeWork and occupation
- Landholder
- Farmer and Road Contractor
Where they lived
Use the place list first. The map below is optional.
Places listed on this page
- Ireland
- New York City, New York
- New York
- Westport, County Mayo, Ireland
- 37 West 50th Street, Manhattan, New York
- Islandeady, County Mayo, Ireland
- Derrycriff, Islandeady, County Mayo, Ireland
- County Mayo, Ireland
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
Married
Marriage row: “Twenty sixth February 1884,” “Roman Catholic Chapel of Islandeady,” groom “Peter Coony,” “Full,” “Bachelor,” “Labourer,” father “John Coony,” “Labourer”; bride “Margaret Needhan,” “Full,” “Spinster,” father “Thomas Needham,” “Dead,” “Labourer.” [1]
Proved by a record
Married at Roman Catholic Chapel of Islandeady, County Mayo, Ireland
Twenty sixth February 1884 ... Roman Catholic Chapel of Islandeady ... Peter Coony ... Margaret Needhan [8]
Proved by a record
Occupation
Six child registers repeatedly call him “Peter Coony/Cooney,” place him at “Derrycriff,” and give his occupation as “Farmer”: Mary 1884, Bridget 1886, Thomas 1887, Anne 1888, Peter 1890, Ellen 1894. [3]
Proved by a record
Married Margaret Needham at Islandeady
Married in the Roman Catholic Chapel of Islandeady, Registrar's District of Islandeady, Union of Westport, County Mayo. He is entered as of full age, a bachelor and a landholder, son of John Coony, labourer. Margaret Needham of Derrycriff was a spinster, daughter of Thomas Needham, landholder, deceased. [10]
Proved by a record
Occupation
Six child registers repeatedly call him “Peter Coony/Cooney,” place him at “Derrycriff,” and give his occupation as “Farmer”: Mary 1884, Bridget 1886, Thomas 1887, Anne 1888, Peter 1890, Ellen 1894. [3]
Proved by a record
Occupation
Six child registers repeatedly call him “Peter Coony/Cooney,” place him at “Derrycriff,” and give his occupation as “Farmer”: Mary 1884, Bridget 1886, Thomas 1887, Anne 1888, Peter 1890, Ellen 1894. [3]
Proved by a record
Occupation
Six child registers repeatedly call him “Peter Coony/Cooney,” place him at “Derrycriff,” and give his occupation as “Farmer”: Mary 1884, Bridget 1886, Thomas 1887, Anne 1888, Peter 1890, Ellen 1894. [3]
Proved by a record
Occupation
Six child registers repeatedly call him “Peter Coony/Cooney,” place him at “Derrycriff,” and give his occupation as “Farmer”: Mary 1884, Bridget 1886, Thomas 1887, Anne 1888, Peter 1890, Ellen 1894. [3]
Proved by a record
Occupation
Six child registers repeatedly call him “Peter Coony/Cooney,” place him at “Derrycriff,” and give his occupation as “Farmer”: Mary 1884, Bridget 1886, Thomas 1887, Anne 1888, Peter 1890, Ellen 1894. [3]
Proved by a record
Died at Derrycrieve
Peter Cooney died a widowed farmer aged 89 years 9 months; son Thomas informed. [9]
Proved by a record
Original records
Tap to open a larger copyCivil birth register, Anne Coony, 11 Aug 1888, Derrycriff
Civil registration means an official government record of a birth, marriage, or death. It matters on this page because it records information connected with Peter Cooney.
Tap to open a larger copyCivil birth register, Bridget Coony, 16 Feb 1886, Derrycriff
Civil registration means an official government record of a birth, marriage, or death. It matters on this page because it records information connected with Peter Cooney.
Tap to open a larger copyCivil marriage register, Peter Coony and Margaret Needhan, 26 Feb 1884, Islandeady
Civil registration means an official government record of a birth, marriage, or death. It matters on this page because it records information connected with Peter Cooney.
Tap to open a larger copyCivil birth register, Ellen Cooney, 1 Aug 1894, Derrycriff
Civil registration means an official government record of a birth, marriage, or death. It matters on this page because it records information connected with Peter Cooney.
Tap to open a larger copyCivil birth register, Mary Coony, 11 Dec 1884, Derrycriff
Civil registration means an official government record of a birth, marriage, or death. It matters on this page because it records information connected with Peter Cooney.
Tap to open a larger copyCivil birth register, Peter Coony, 16 Oct 1890, Derrycriff
Civil registration means an official government record of a birth, marriage, or death. It matters on this page because it records information connected with Peter Cooney.
Tap to open a larger copyCivil birth register, Thomas Coony, 15 Feb 1887, Derrycriff
Civil registration means an official government record of a birth, marriage, or death. It matters on this page because it records information connected with Peter Cooney.
Peter Cooney memorial and grave photographs
This old record gives information about the person or family named here. It matters on this page because it records information connected with Peter Cooney.
The full file is not saved on this site.
Original source (findagrave.com)
FamilySearch World War I draft-card image search
This old record gives information about the person or family named here. It matters on this page because it records information connected with Peter Cooney.
The full file is not saved on this site.
Original source (familysearch.org)
165th Infantry roster entry for Sgt Peter Cooney
This old record gives information about the person or family named here. It matters on this page because it records information connected with Peter Cooney.
The full file is not saved on this site.
Original source (museum.dmna.ny.gov)
Tap to open a larger copyPeter Cooney graves file: home and Mrs Andrew Farley emergency address
This old record gives information about the person or family named here. It matters on this page because it records information connected with Peter Cooney.
Open the larger document
Original source (catalog.archives.gov)
Tap to open a larger copy1919 Graves Registration letter to Annie Farley
This old record gives information about the person or family named here. It matters on this page because it records information connected with Peter Cooney.
Open the larger document
Original source (catalog.archives.gov)
Tap to open a larger copy1929 Graves Registration letter identifying Bridget Horan as Peter Cooney's sister
This old record gives information about the person or family named here. It matters on this page because it records information connected with Peter Cooney.
Open the larger document
Original source (catalog.archives.gov)
Tap to open a larger copy1929 Graves Registration letter identifying Annie Farley as Peter Cooney's sister
This old record gives information about the person or family named here. It matters on this page because it records information connected with Peter Cooney.
Open the larger document
Original source (catalog.archives.gov)
What the records say
10 of 12 records transcribed.
Record exhibit
Irish civil marriage register — Peter Cooney and Margaret Needham, 26 February 1884, Islandeady, County Mayo
Civil registration means an official government record of a birth, marriage, or death.
Proved by a record
Verbatim transcription currently held in this archive — reproduced in full.
Twenty sixth February 1884 | Roman Catholic Chapel of Islandeady | Peter Coony, | Full, | Bachelor, | Labourer | John Coony, | Margaret Needhan, | Spinster | Thomas Needham, | Dead, | Labourer. | Party 1 Name: Peter Coony, | Party 2 Name: Margaret Needhan, | Date of Event: 26/02/1884, | SR District/Reg Area: Westport. | Island Eddy. | Derrycriff | Margaret Cooney formerly Needham | Twenty sixth February 1884, | Roman Catholic Chapel of Islandeady, | Dead. | Labourer, | Spinster, [RECORD] “Twenty sixth February 1884 | Roman Catholic Chapel of Islandeady | Peter Coony | Full | Bachelor | Labourer | John Coony”; “Margaret Needhan | Full | Spinster | Thomas Needham | Dead | Labourer.”
Record exhibit
Civil index
An index is a list that points to where the full record can be found.
Partly proved
Verbatim transcription currently held in this archive — reproduced in full.
Twenty sixth February 1884 | Roman Catholic Chapel of Islandeady | Peter Coony, | Full, | Bachelor, | Labourer | John Coony, | Margaret Needhan, | Spinster | Thomas Needham, | Dead, | Labourer. | Party 1 Name: Peter Coony, | Party 2 Name: Margaret Needhan, | Date of Event: 26/02/1884, | SR District/Reg Area: Westport. | No results found. | Twenty sixth February 1884, | Roman Catholic Chapel of Islandeady, | Dead. | Labourer, | Spinster,
Record exhibit
register image, row 112
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.
Eleventh December 1884, | Derrycriff, | Mary, | Peter Coony, | Margaret Coony formerly Needham, | Farmer. | Sixteenth February 1886, | Bridget, | Fifteenth February 1887, | Thomas, | Eleventh August 1888, | Anne, | Sixteenth October 1890, | Peter, | First August 1894, | Ellen, | Peter Cooney, | Margaret Cooney formerly Needham, | Company M, 165th Infantry, | 37 W. 50th St., New York City.Show the full recordHide the full recordFull record, about 100 words
| serial/service number, | place of birth, | 37 W. 50th St., New York City | Mrs Annie FARLEY, W 50th St, NYC. | 15 Apr. 1867 to 30 Mar. 1881. | his mother died in Ireland in 1921 date 1921-06-02. | Eleventh December 1884 … Mary … Peter Coony … Margaret Coony formerly Needham. | Peter Coony/Cooney, | Farmer
Record exhibit
register image, row 37
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.
Eleventh December 1884, | Derrycriff, | Mary, | Peter Coony, | Margaret Coony formerly Needham, | Farmer. | Sixteenth February 1886, | Bridget, | Fifteenth February 1887, | Thomas, | Eleventh August 1888, | Anne, | Sixteenth October 1890, | Peter, | First August 1894, | Ellen, | Peter Cooney, | Margaret Cooney formerly Needham, | Peter Coony/Cooney, | Farmer
Record exhibit
register image, row 179
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.
Eleventh December 1884, | Derrycriff, | Mary, | Peter Coony, | Margaret Coony formerly Needham, | Farmer. | Sixteenth February 1886, | Bridget, | Fifteenth February 1887, | Thomas, | Eleventh August 1888, | Anne, | Sixteenth October 1890, | Peter, | First August 1894, | Ellen, | Peter Cooney, | Margaret Cooney formerly Needham, | Peter Coony/Cooney, | Farmer
Record exhibit
register image, row 373
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.
Eleventh December 1884, | Derrycriff, | Mary, | Peter Coony, | Margaret Coony formerly Needham, | Farmer. | Sixteenth February 1886, | Bridget, | Fifteenth February 1887, | Thomas, | Eleventh August 1888, | Anne, | Sixteenth October 1890, | Peter, | First August 1894, | Ellen, | Peter Cooney, | Margaret Cooney formerly Needham, | Peter Coony/Cooney, | Farmer
Record exhibit
register image, row 157
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.
Eleventh December 1884, | Derrycriff, | Mary, | Peter Coony, | Margaret Coony formerly Needham, | Farmer. | Sixteenth February 1886, | Bridget, | Fifteenth February 1887, | Thomas, | Eleventh August 1888, | Anne, | Sixteenth October 1890, | Peter, | First August 1894, | Ellen, | Peter Cooney, | Margaret Cooney formerly Needham, | was out with the regiment in ’98. | Peter Coony/Cooney, | Farmer
Record exhibit
register image, row 128
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.
Eleventh December 1884, | Derrycriff, | Mary, | Peter Coony, | Margaret Coony formerly Needham, | Farmer. | Sixteenth February 1886, | Bridget, | Fifteenth February 1887, | Thomas, | Eleventh August 1888, | Anne, | Sixteenth October 1890, | Peter, | First August 1894, | Ellen, | Peter Cooney, | Margaret Cooney formerly Needham, | Island Eddy. | Roman Catholic Chapel of Islandeady | Derrycriff | Margaret Cooney formerly Needham | ISLAND EDDY | First August 1894 | Peter Coony/Cooney, | Farmer
Record exhibit
Irish civil death — Peter Cooney, 29 December 1943
Civil registration means an official government record of a birth, marriage, or death.
Proved by a record
Verbatim transcription currently held in this archive — reproduced in full.
[RECORD] “Twenty Ninth December Derrycrieve Islandeady | Peter Cooney | Widower | 89 yrs 9 mos | Farmer”; “Thomas Cooney son of deceased present at death Derrycrieve.”
Record exhibit
Irish civil marriage register, Peter Cooney and Margaret Needham, 26 February 1884, Islandeady, Co. Mayo
Civil registration means an official government record of a birth, marriage, or death.
Partly proved
Verbatim transcription currently held in this archive — reproduced in full.
Marriage No. 11, 26 Feb 1884, Roman Catholic Chapel of Islandeady, Registrar's District of Islandeady, Union of Westport, County of Mayo. Peter Coony, full age, Bachelor, Landholder; father John Coony, Labourer. Margaret Needham, spinster, residence Derrycriff; father Thos Needham, Landholder, deceased.
Record exhibit
Peter Cooney household, 1901 census of Ireland, Derrycreeve, Islandeady, County Mayo
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
Peter Cooney household, 1911 census of Ireland, Islandeady, County Mayo
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.
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What we still don't know
- Find Peter and his household in the 1901 and 1911 Irish censuses.
- Obtain Peter’s death record and a record giving his age or birth.
- His approximate 1860 birth is only a search estimate, not a documented date.
- [FROM THE REGISTER] His marriage entry of 26 February 1884 gives him as of full age, a bachelor and a **Landholder**, son of **John Coony, Labourer** — **who is not marked deceased**, so John was very likely still alive in 1884. Peter **signed with his mark**; his bride signed her own name.
- [NEW, AND UNEXPECTED] The 1901 census puts his **mother, Bridget Durkan, aged 90 and widowed**, in the house. She was not in this archive at all, and she pushes the Cooney line back to a woman born about 1811.
- [AN OBSERVATION, NOT YET A PROBLEM] The 1901 household holds only **four** of the children this archive assigns to him and Margaret — Mary 17, Thomas 14, Peter 10 and Ellen 7. **Bridget (b. 1886), Anne (b. 1888) and Helen (b. 1895) are absent**, and at fifteen, thirteen and six they might be expected at home. They may be in service, with relatives, dead, or wrongly attached here. The census image, and the 1911 sheet, would show which.
- Find the household in the Irish censuses and obtain Peter’s death; his c. 1860 birth is only a search estimate because the marriage record gives his age merely as “Full.”
- [CONFLICT] Islandeady, County Mayo, is explicit and must not be replaced by Island Eddy, Galway. The records do not prove that this Derrycriff father was father of the Army sergeant or the Army correspondents Bridget and Annie.
- [CONTROLLED NEGATIVE — AND A LIMIT WORTH KNOWING] With the Catholic parish registers now known to be searchable, his baptism was looked for: a Peter Cooney of about 1854 with a father John and a mother **Durkan**. **Nothing.** The same search for Margaret Needham's baptism returns nothing either. The indexed register set that produced six Condon baptisms in Cork and a Fitzgerald baptism in Kerry appears **not to cover Islandeady in Mayo**. So the collection is a real unlock but an uneven one, and coverage must be tested diocese by diocese rather than assumed.
References
- [1] Irish civil marriage register — Peter Cooney and Margaret Needham, 26 February 1884, Islandeady, County MayoBack to citation 1a Back to citation 1b
- [2] Civil indexBack to citation 2
- [3] register image, row 112Back to citation 3a Back to citation 3b Back to citation 3c Back to citation 3d Back to citation 3e Back to citation 3f Back to citation 3g
- [4] register image, row 37Back to citation 4
- [5] register image, row 179Back to citation 5
- [6] register image, row 373Back to citation 6
- [7] register image, row 157Back to citation 7
- [8] register image, row 128Back to citation 8a Back to citation 8b Back to citation 8c Back to citation 8d
- [9] Irish civil death — Peter Cooney, 29 December 1943Back to citation 9a Back to citation 9b
- [10] Irish civil marriage register, Peter Cooney and Margaret Needham, 26 February 1884, Islandeady, Co. MayoBack to citation 10a Back to citation 10b
- [11] Peter Cooney household, 1901 census of Ireland, Derrycreeve, Islandeady, County MayoBack to citation 11
- [12] Peter Cooney household, 1911 census of Ireland, Islandeady, County MayoBack to citation 12