O'Malleys of Cloonfoher

 The O'Malleys

The O'Malley family, at one time, lived near the townland of Cloonfoher, north of Newport and Westport in County Mayo. Cloonfoher, Newport, and Westport are all in the same area of the west coast of County Mayo in rural western Ireland. Grandma had said they were from Westport and we assume this was because it was the largest town near them to be found on a map.

Beautiful Burrishoole Abbey is on the road from Newport towards Cloonfoher. We believe some ancestors are buried here.

The Townland History from Burrishoole Parish provides a very general  background to part of the family history.

Below is the Griffith's Land Valuation of 1846 showing Peter Malley, born roughly around 1800, was both a tenant and landlord. Peter's landlord was the infamous Sir Roger Palmer who owned 90,000 acres in County Mayo. In 1848, at the height of the famine, Palmer sent his thugs in with crowbars to pull down homes of tenants who couldn't pay rent. Our Peter Malley somehow managed to hang onto his property.

You can see that Peter lived at property "f" and leased property "g" to Peter Joyce. John and James Malley, in properties "a" and "l",  are assumed to be Peter's brothers.

We just found this spot on the earth in the Spring of 2015. Until this time, we had no idea exactly where they were from. In this image from Google Satellite, the ruins of the homestead are still visible. Peggy O'Malley-Dean was able to walk the land in July, 2015 and met neighbors who knew and played with our cousins. This is the land and buildings as they stand today. 

Peter Malley had four sons. His eldest, Peter was born in 1830 (our great grandfather). John was born in 1835, James 1837, and Martin in 1840. (Martin's grandson, Michael John Fahey will be the cousin our grandfather Michael stays with when he emigrates to America.) Peter Junior married Rose McDonnell around 1860 (this is the family who remained on the Cloonfoher property until  approximately 1960 when the children went to England).

Peter and Rose (our great-grandparents) had five children born and we believe lived in Cloonfoher: Mary born in 1866, Michael Patrick in 1868 (our grandfather), Peter in 1870, Anthony in 1872, and Sarah in 1875. 

Mary emigrated to Chicago in 1886 when she was 20 years old. She married Joseph Williamson, a Canadian immigrant who worked in Real Estate. Mary and Joseph had no children. She died in 1943 and is buried in Calvary Cemetery although there is no headstone.

Sarah, the youngest, emigrated in 1894 with two of her friends from Newport, Mary Cusick and Maryanna Coyne, to work as domestics at 62 East Huron in Chicago. Sarah married John Delaney in 1900. Sarah Delaney died very young in 1931 and was the first O'Malley sister to be buried in Calvary.




About the same time Sarah emigrated in 1894, her brother Michael moved to Glasgow. He found work as a bricklayer's laborer and also met and married Elizabeth Masterson. (O'Malley's Set Sail)

While the girls and Michael left Ireland, Anthony and Peter stayed near home.

Their father, Peter, was quite a curmudgeon as seen in this 1896 newspaper article about a case from Petty Court. 

Peter takes his son and wife to court 

Anthony married Lisabeth in 1898 and they had two girls, Rose born in 1902 and Sarah born in 1904. 

The senior Peter passed away in 1899 and Peter and his mother appear in the 1901 census. They both spoke Irish and English. 

Peter married Bridget Grady in 1902 and they had five children: Mary, James, Rose, John, and Sarah was born in 1916.  

Bridget died in 1931 as a young woman and she is buried in Burrishoole Abbey cemetery. The family remained on the Cloonfoher property until about 1960.

Lord have mercy on the soul of Mrs. Bridget O'Malley of Cloonfoher

Lord have Mercy on the soul of Peter O’Malley of Cloonfoher 
died 12th March 1955 aged 84 years

John O'Malley moved to London where his children and their families still reside.

Sarah married Edward Moore and also emigrated to the Chicago-area. 

To America

The farm in Newport could not support all these young men with new families so Anthony, Lisabeth and their two infant daughters sailed for America in 1905. By 1910, Anthony is working in building construction in Chicago and another daughter has arrived, Lizzie, born in 1907. 

Michael followed his brother Anthony and sailed to Chicago on April 25, 1906. He left Elizabeth in Glasgow, returned to Ireland, and sailed from Queenstown. He listed his profession as a laborer and was 35 years old. He was going to stay with someone he listed as his nephew, Michael John Fahey, who lived at 57 Superior St in Chicago. Michael John was actually his cousin, Maria O'Malley Fahey's son. Maria's father, Martin and Peter were brothers, all growing up in the same townland of Cloonfoher. Michael John had emigrated a few years after his cousin Sarah.