Patrick M O’Neill

Patrick M O’Neill (1888-1968)
Mary E McTigue (1890-1967)

Jump down to the list of their children

This page has been created with the input of Meghan Hurlburt, one of whose ancestors was Mary O’Shea, a sister of Patrick’s mother Ellen.

Patrick O’Neill was the youngest of eight children of Martin O’Neill & Ellen O’Shea. He was born in Sunhill, Laharan, Co Kerry, on 26 Aug 1888 and baptised in the Killorglin Catholic Church four days later.

Mary McTigue (we believe) was the second youngest of 8 children born to Edward McTigue and Mary Walsh, the oldest of whom was Edward, 13 years her senior. Mary was born on 20 Feb 1890 in Ballycusheen, Co Sligo:

Patrick’s middle name may well have been Matthew, the name several researchers have attached to him. However, there was a Patrick Matthew O’Neill born in Co Kerry four years later. As declared in his petition for naturalization on 29 Jun 1918, Patrick Matthew sailed from Queenstown for Boston on 11 Sep 1912 on the Laconia, and his wife’s name in 1918 was also Mary (born 10 Sep 1888).

We believe that Patrick M O’Neill arrived in Boston on 09 May 1912 on board the Franconia, accompanied by his first cousin Michael O’Shea, aged 22.

Likewise, we believe that Mary McTigue left Queenstown for Boston on 11 May 1910. The ship’s manifest shows that her nearest relative in Ireland was her brother Edward. It also shows that she was (in all probability) accompanied by her first cousin Margaret Walsh (a year older) and Katie Solan (aged 26): all three are together and come from Ballinrobe, Co Sligo.

Patrick and Mary married in Boston on 03 Jun 1917: Mary’s entry in the Marriage Index for Massachusetts is on page 155, Patrick’s on page 591, and both entries direct the reader to the actual marriage record on page 267 of volume 1.

According to the 1920 census (taken on 01 Jan) the couple lived in Lyon St, Dorchester, Boston, with their son John, aged 1 year 3 months. Patrick and Mary’s ages were shown as 28 (3 years too young), having arrived in 1912 and 1910 respectively, and both having been naturalised in 1919.

The 1930 US census, however, has definitive proof that Patrick O’Neill is the Patrick born to Martin O’Neill & Ellen O’Shea on 26 Aug 1888. Patrick’s oldest brother (Cornelius) had a son, Bartholomew, who emigrated to Boston in 1928 and initially lodged with his Uncle Patrick and family at 159 Parsons St. Cornelius later married Mary Delia McTigue. In this census Patrick is described as a house painter.

By 1940 the family had moved to 63 Union St, Brighton, and Patrick had changed to being a “bar tender”. For the first time in a census the couple are named Patrick M and Mary E O’Neill. Patrick was still described as a bar tender in the 1950 census, though the family had moved a short distance away to 56/126 Harriet St, their last place of residence. Mary passed away on 16 May 1967 (the index to her death record has her listed as Mary M O’Neill née McTigue). Patrick died the following year on 16 Aug 1968.

Patrick and Mary had six children:

01. John Patrick (b. 12 Sep 1918, d. 25 Nov 1925)

02. Mary Rita (b. 17 Apr 1920, d. 20 Apr 2010 in Saco, Maine)

03. Eleanor Patricia (b. 15 Jul 1922, d. 19 Mar 2007 in Los Altos, California)

04. Regina Cecilia (b. 02 May 1924, d. 10 Jun 1993)

05. Catherine Theresa (b. 01 Aug 1926, d. 15 Jul 1987 in Woburn, Massachusetts)

06. Joseph Paul (b. 01 Sep 1928, d. 19 Jan 1973 in Woburn, Massachusetts)

Second generation

02. Mary Rita O’Neill married Ira Melville Milliken on 11 Nov 1945 in Brighton, Massachusetts. Ira was born on 23 May 1910 in Scarborough, Maine to Oliver Melville Milliken &Lida Ella Harmon, and died there on 12 Jul 2005. Ira is listed in the 1950 census as an inspector in the Civil Aeronautical Authority. The couple had five children.

03. Eleanor Patricia O’Neill, known as Elly, married Thomas Dignan Whitney in 1952 in Melrose, Massachusetts. Thomas was born on 31 Oct 1923 in Melrose, Massachusetts, to William D. Whitney & Mary Dignan and died on 09 Feb 1985 in Los Altos, California. In the 1976 U.S. City Directories “Thomas D & Eleanore Whitney” were vice-presidents of Bay Microfilm Inc. The couple had five children.

04. Regina Cecilia O’Neill appears with first names reversed in the birth index for Massachusetts. In 1954 she married Paul Russell Sutliff, listed as a grains director in the 1961 U.S. City Directories. The couple had four children.

05. Catherine Theresa O’Neill, known as Kathleen, married John Austin Cahill in October 1951. John was born on 15 Jun 1923 in Everett, Massachusetts, and died on 23 Jun 2011 in Reading, Massachusetts. The couple had four children.

06. Joseph Paul married Genevieve Maillet, a nurse in the Cambridge City Hospital, n Sep 1960. The couple had five children.

We do not publish names of living people without their permission, unless they appear in an official or public document. Please send your stories and photos, which we will publish with due acknowledgment, to Mick O’Neill (mick@oneillfamily.id.au) or Meghan (meghanhurlburt@me.com).