Family History of John and Bridget Creegan

 

Introduction

As a small part of the larger history of the Cregan-Gill family, here we look at the children of John and Bridget Creegan of Killyvehy, Mohill, County Leitrim, Ireland.

All those children can be found in our Cregan-Gill family tree: John Creegan, born c.1855, is the eldest child of Peter Creegan and Anne Creegan (nee Kiernan), so he is easily located in the tree.

John and Bridget had the following children (six boys and three girls), all born in Killyvehy:

  • John, born 18/12/1883
  • Anne, born 12/02/1885
  • Bridget (Bessie), born 15/09/1887
  • Michael, born 14/05/1889
  • Peter, born 26/11/1890
  • Kate (Kathleen), born 23/03/1893
  • Peter, born 27/04/1894
  • Matthew, born 10/09/1897
  • Hugh, born 28/05/1900

Of some of the children, we have very little knowledge, but of others we know quite a lot, and each such child has their own section on this page.

We note here that much of the information, and many of the photos, for John and Bridget's family comes from one of their American descendants, Kathleen Maloney. Some links to her work are listed at the end of this page.

 

Contents

 

John and Bridget Creegan (parents)

Most of what we know of John and Bridget Creegan is included in the larger Cregan-Gill Family History linked above. There is no clear date of death of either one. A death record exists for a John Creegan of Killyvehy on 05/02/1946, which appears to match up well except that it gives his age as 78, conflicting with his date of birth. It is possible, though, that that listed age is mistaken. We also know from the obituary of his sister Annie O'Rourke (nee Creegan), who died on 27/05/1937, that John Creegan lived beyond that date.

Similarly, we have a death record suggesting that Bridget died on 22/03/1931, all of its details matching well except for the given age.

 

John and Bridget's eldest son, John Junior, was born on 18/12/1883, but that is all we know of him.

 

We have little information for Michael Creegan. If the death record mentioned above for his mother, Bridget, is truly her then it lists Michael (son) as the informant. This would place Michael in Killyvehy in 1931. We have a death record with a date of death 18/11/1934 for a Michael Creegan of Killyhehy. Again, it is a reasonable match except for the given age, so it is questionable.

 

The first son Peter, as mentioned on our main page, died on 03/04/1893, at the age of just 2.

 

The second son Peter died on 23/11/1918 in Killyvehy, at age 24. Peter did not marry or have children.

 

The youngest child, Hugh, we understand remained in Killyvehy and became the postmaster in Cloone, or nearby town. He is recorded in 1946 as the informant for the death of his father, so he lived at least that long. However, we have no record of Hugh's death, nor of any marriage for him.

 

In the following sections, we discuss, in turn, the lives of Anne, Bessie, Kate, and Matthew Creegan, each of whom emigrated in the early 1900s to the USA, in particular, to New York city.

 

Click on any of the images below to open them in a new browser tab in their full size (usually that means larger).

 

Anne Creegan

Anne (Annie) Creegan (pictured opposite in New York c.1975) emigrated to the USA in 1903. She sailed on the S. S. Teutonic from Queenstown (now called Cobh) in County Cork and arrived in New York city on 09/04/1903.

Annie's immigration record and detention record indicate that she travelled with a relative - perhaps a second cousin - from the Mohill district, Catherine (Katie) Martin (born 03/06/1886), whose mother was a Creegan (Catherine Creegan). They had a contact in New York, possibly a cousin Lizzie Blooman (nee Creegan), who married a James (or John) Blooman in New York in February, 1903.

New York Census records from 1910 (row 6) and 1915 (row 32) indicate that Annie worked for a number of years as a domestic at the Holy Name of Jesus Catholic Church at 207 West 96th Street, New York.

Annie Creegan married James Lamb in The Bronx on 05/11/1924. Annie and James never had any children.

Annie Lamb (nee Creegan) died in September 1975 and was buried in St Raymond's Cemetery, The Bronx, New York alongside her younger sister Bessie.

 

 

 

Bridget (Bessie) Creegan and the Concannons

Bessie emigrated to the USA after 1901 and probably before 1911. There is conflicting information regarding the specific journey she took: none of the various Bridget Creegans recorded in US immigration arrivals (in New York or Boston) are great matches to Bessie. Even the US censuses and her death record disagree on her US arrival date.

In a 1915 New York census, Bessie is listed (row 33) as a patient of the City Hospital, which was located on Roosevelt Island. However, her permanent address was given as 207 West 96th Street, New York. Evidently, Bessie was working as a domestic, along with her sister Annie Creegan, at the Holy Name of Jesus Catholic Church.

Bessie married Joseph Gaston in Manhattan on 14/07/1918. They had one child: a daughter Mary Alice Gaston, born on 13/02/1919.

We do not know what became of Joseph Gaston, but Bessie re-married Frank Concannon just a few years later, although we have no record of this marriage.

Bessie and Frank had four further children (three boys and one girl):

  • Catherine, born 31/10/1922
  • Walter Joseph (Connie), born 21/05/1923
  • (Francis) Edwin, born 15/07/1929
  • Matthew, born 02/06/1933

A New York census from 1925 shows the Concannon family, with three children at that time, living in an apartment at 230 East 80th Street, Manhattan.

A later New York census from 1930 shows that the Concannons had moved to another apartment at 537 West 158th Street, Manhattan.

Sadly, Bessie did not survive giving birth to her last-born, Matthew. She died on 02/06/1933 at Lincoln Hospital in The Bronx.

The following year, 1934, Bessie's husband, Frank Concannon, also died. We have no details on his death, though he was buried in St Mary's Cemetery in Clinton, Oneida County, in upstate New York. This death left Bessie and Frank's five children, including the eldest, Mary, from Bessie's first marriage, orphaned.

 

After the death of her parents, Mary moved to Connecticut, where she worked as live-in domestic for a family. In 1950, in Manhattan, Mary Alice Gaston Concannon married Lawrence Edward O'Hara. Lawrence died in Alexandria, Virginia, on 16/02/1988. Mary died also in Alexandria on 11/01/2004. We have no clear information on any children that Mary and Lawrence might have had. However, we think that they had two sons, one named Thomas (Tommy) O'Hara, and he is pictured with his great Aunt Annie Lamb (nee Creegan) in New York in the early 1950s. Mary Alice O'Hara (nee Gaston) is pictured opposite in her later years.

 

Catherine Concannon, like her sister, Mary, became a live-in servant for a family in Connecticut after 1934, when her father died. She married Walter Francis Parmelee on 30/04/1948 in Winchester, Connecticut. They moved to New York city soon after marrying. Catherine and Walter had one child, a son Jeffrey Matthew, born on 09/02/1951.

Jeffrey Parmelee fought in the Vietnam War and was killed in action on 25/03/1971. He was buried at the Long Island National Cemetery at East Farmingdale on Long Island. A newspaper obituary sheds more light on Jeffrey's life.

Catherine, Jeffrey, and Walter Parmelee are pictured opposite. We have another photo of Catherine from 1975 in Manhattan.

Catherine Parmelee died on 05/05/2009 and was buried at the Saint Brendan the Navigator RC Church Columbarium, Shallotte, North Carolina. Walter Parmelee died on 25/07/2018 and was buried alongside Catherine.

 

 

Walter Joseph (Connie) Concannon was 11 years old when his father died. Orphaned, he was sent to the Lincolndale Agricultural School in Lincolndale, upstate New York.

Walter fought in WWII and was held as a prisoner of war by the Germans.

Walter died in Los Angeles, CA, on 06/06/1977. He was buried at the Long Island National Cemetery, East Farmingdale, NY. It seems that Walter did not marry or have children. A picture of Walter is opposite.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

As a young orphan in 1934, Edwin Concannon was sent to the Holy Angel's Orphanage in New York city. Opposite is a photo of Edwin and his sister Catherine outside the orphanage about 1936. Catherine lived in Connecticut at the time but would make regular trips to New York so see her young brother. Later, in his teens, Edwin lived with several foster families in the New York area.

Edwin Concannon married Patricia Naughton in Manhattan in 1958. They had two daughters: Eva Marie, born on 14/10/1960, and Kathleen, born on 21/10/1961. The family lived for many years in New Jersey, close to New York city.

Eva Marie Concannon died on 05/07/1996 at the age of 35. Kathleen Concannon married Joseph Patrick Maloney in 1988.

Patricia Concannon (nee Naughton) died in 1989. Edwin Concannon died on 27/05/2001. He was buried at the Madonna Cemetery in Fort Lee, New Jersey, alongside his wife Patricia and daughter Eva. We have a photo of their tombstone. A newspaper obituary provides some details of Edwin's life.

 

Matthew Concannon was still a baby when he was orphaned at the death of his father in 1934. He was adopted by his uncle Matthew Creegan from Killyvehy, County Leitrim, who had immigrated to the USA some years earlier in 1915. Young Matthew thenceforth took the surname Creegan. Matthew Junior is pictured opposite in Manhattan c.1943. Further details for Matthew Junior follow below in the section on Matthew Creegan Senior.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Kate (Kathleen) Creegan and the Newmans

Kate Creegan immigrated to the US in March, 1909, arriving in New York city aboard the S. S. Caledonia. Slight doubt on this record exists, however, since her father John Creegan is listed as living in Carrigallen, the barony to the east of Mohill barony. So this might be a different Kate Creegan. Nevertheless, Kate Creegan did arrive in the USA between 1901 and 1911.

Kate was working as a domestic for a family in Slocum Street, New Rochelle, NY, according to the 1910 census.

Kate Creegan married Louis Joseph Newman in New Rochelle on 22/08/1911. Kate and Louis had one child: a daughter Louise, born on 27/03/1912.

The 1920 census shows Kate, Louis, and daughter Louise Newman to be living at 1130 Bay Street, Staten Island, NY. Later, they moved to Pennsylvania, the state where Louis was born. Louis's WWII Draft Card gives their address in April, 1942, as Grove Street, Moscow, PA.

Kate Newman (nee Creegan) died on 26/07/1941, age 47. We have a copy of Kate's death certificate. Louis died the following year on 05/12/1942. They are buried together at Saint Catherine's Cemetery, Moscow, PA. Their tombstone is shown opposite.

Louis's death certificate indicates that Kate and Louis moved to Moscow, PA, around 1920. The informant for Louis's death was Louise Grant, who is Kate and Louis's daughter. She was then living in Jackson Heights, Queens, NY.

Louise Newman married Lawrence Raymond Grant on 18/04/1942 in Queens, NY. We think that Louise and Lawrence had a daughter, Kathryn Grant, born on 31/08/1946, who married Salvatore Bonanno in 1968 also in Queens, NY.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Matthew Creegan

Matthew (Matt) Creegan immigrated to the US in September 1915, arriving in New York city aboard the S. S. Philadelphia. Matt is pictured opposite.

Matt Creegan married Margaret O'Connor in Manhattan on 18/10/1925. We have no record of any children that Matt and Margaret might have had, but, as mentioned above, they adopted Matt's nephew Matthew Concannon as a one year old baby in New York. Matthew Junior then took the surname Creegan.

Matthew Junior joined the US Air Force, enlisting on 17/09/1952 and leaving on 30/06/1973, having fought in Korea and in Vietnam. He married Marlys Rae Kester (nee Willard) in Minneapolis, MN on 19/03/1960.

Matthew Junior died on 24/06/1985. He was buried at the Fort Snelling National Cemetery, Minneapolis, MN.

Marlys Creegan (nee Willard) died on 29/05/2018. According to her death notice, Matt and Marlys had the following children: Kurt, Lori, John, Penny, and Mark.

Matt Creegan (Snr) died on 07/09/1962. He was buried in the Long Island National Cemetery, East Farmingdale, NY.

Margaret Creegan (nee O'Connor) died on 06/01/1963. She, too, was buried in the Long Island National Cemetery, East Farmingdale, NY.

Two group photos opposite appear to be taken in New York city. The first, from the early 1950s, has Matthew Creegan Junior in air force uniform holding his nephew Tommy O'Hara, alongside Walter Concannon, Annie Lamb, and Edwin Concannon.

The second photo, perhaps from about 1950, shows, left to right: Walter Parmelee, Catherine Parmelee (nee Concannon), Margaret Creegan (nee O'Connor), unknown, Matt Creegan, Edwin Concannon.

 

 

Contact: Michael Anderson (micka2034@yahoo.com)