I received the following request from a US member of NALIL a few days ago:
"As my Antrim ancestor settled in Brooklyn NY, I have been collecting information on the many Antrim people who also settled there in the 19c. I came across a most interesting newspaper article, including a number of names and locations which may be of use to others. It concerns Patrick McAleese of Lough Giel whose dying wish was that his body be returned there for burial when he died. If anyone can tell me whether he is buried there, I'd like to know the end of his story.
Patrick McAleese died on his 99th birthday, 1 March 1896.
He was born in Lough Giel on 1 March 1797. His parents were farmers, as was he. At age 44 he married Mary McAuley of Belfast, his first and only marriage. They had ten children. His wife and all his children survived him, a remarkable record for the time as you know.
Nine of his children emigrated to America and they finally persuaded their parents to do the same in their old age. Patrick, his wife and several of his children lived in Greenpoint, Brooklyn, where there were many other Antrim people. After two years, he bought a house.
He was a popular figure, taking long walks each day and noted for his erect posture, military bearing and long white hair, curling to his shoulders. He also had a fine tenor voice, singing the songs he remembered from home.
His dying wish was to be buried at home. At the close of his funeral, a cortege crossed the East River to Manhattan and the wharf of the White Star Line's ship, Britannic, headed for Liverpool. The body was to be accompanied by his wife and a daughter. I'd like to know where he is buried.
The above info is from the Brooklyn Eagle, 3 March 1896, p3. Here follows a list of his children, birth order unknown, and their residences for McAleese researchers. All surnames are McAleese unless otherwise noted:
Rev. James, RC priest, Parkville, Brooklyn NY
Daniel, sherriff of Cheyenne County, Nebraska
Helena, 609 Eighteenth St, Brooklyn NY
Bernard, ditto
Patrick Jr, ditto
Mary J., Parkville, Brooklyn NY
Mrs Ellen McMullan, Sidney, Nebraska
Mrs Bridget O. Raw, 425 East 79th St, New York NY (Manhattan)
Mrs Margaret Robinson, 383 Van Brunt St, Brooklyn NY
And lastly, the one who did not emigrate, Kate McShane, Lough Giel, Ireland
I hope you find this interesting and that someone can tell me where Patrick McAleese is buried.
Virginia"
Virginia has sent me scans of the Brooklyn Eagle obituary for Patrick:
Patrick's son Daniel:
Patrick's son James:
"In the year when Benjamin Harrison, the 23rd President of the United States, occupied the White House, the Eiffel Tower was built, and the automobile and motion picture machine were invented, a church was born in Brooklyn.
The Brooklyn Bridge, completed a few years earlier, made it possible for people to work in Manhattan, while living in Brooklyn, which at the time was all country. The community of the time was made up of immigrants from Ireland, Germany, and Italy. It was with this background, that St. Mary, Mother of Jesus Church and Parish were born in 1889.
The first bishop of Brooklyn, Bishop Loughlin, summoned the Rev. James McAleese to assemble a group of the faithful to begin the formation of a new parish. On Pentecost Sunday, Fr. McAleese gathered a group in a storefront on the northeast corner of Bay Parkway and 86th Street for the first Mass. For one year the Eucharist was celebrated there in Liggett’s Drugstore." ..
Source [pdf file]
