Johanna Mulcahy Kinane

 Today is St. Patrick’s Day, which makes me think of my Irish ancestors. Ancestry reminded me that my third great-grandmother, Johanna Mulcahy, died on this date, in 1881, in Jersey City, N.J., just across the Hudson River from New York City.

I have found a few records for her.

She married James Kinane in Croom, Limerick, Ireland on 10 February 1828.[1] I found baptisms of several of their children. Her son William, my second great grandfather, and her daughter Catherine, wife of Thomas Meany, settled in Jersey City, and Johanna lived with Catherine, at least in 1870 and 1880 when the census was taken. They all survived the Irish famine of the 1840s which killed 1/8 of the population; they were among another 1/8 who emigrated.[2] When she sailed to America, it probably took about two months.

When she died at about age 75, her death certificate named the cause of death as “senile debility.” She was buried at Holy Name Cemetery in Jersey City under the name Johanna Cuneen, which was perhaps how the family pronounced it.[3] My aunt told me it was pronounced like Kin ANN. It is a relatively uncommon Irish name.

Johanna was a survivor, and that’s why we’re here.


[1] “Ireland, Catholic Parish Registers, 1655-1915,” database and images, Ancestry.com > Limerick > Croom > 1806-1829 > image 130 of 137.

[2] “Blog by Ambassador Mulhall on Black ’47: Ireland’s Great Famine and its after-effects,” Embassy of Ireland, USA (https://www.dfa.ie/irish-embassy/usa/about-us/ambassador/ambassadors-blog/black47irelandsgreatfamineanditsafter-effects/: accessed 17 Mar. 2023).

[3][3] Find a Loved One Search, Catholic Cemeteries (https://www.rcancem.org/find-a-loved-one-search/: accessed 17 Mar. 2023), Archdiocese of Newark, Holy Name Cemetery & Mausoleum, Sec. A, H, Grave 13, Depth 1C.

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