Ireland XO
Back to Message Board

Change of Name? Howley - Greally (Grealy)

Hello,

I've posted in the past as I have been researching my grandfather's history. I'm hoping to locate Michael Howley's place of birth and his birth record.

As I've mentioned, Michael Howley (my grandfather) died in Minnesota (USA) in 1927. Prior to moving to the U.S., he lived in Winnipeg, where he married my grandmother, Margaret Gaughan. Michael and Margaret appear in the 1911 and 1921 Canadian censuses.

Michael's marriage and death records indicate his parents' names were Thomas Howley and Margaret Nolan. However, I have not been able to locate any Howley-Nolan marriages in Ireland.

More recently, I've noticed on Ancestry.com, several trees of my DNA matches include a couple by the name of Thomas Greally and Margaret Nolan. This couple had a son named Michael. I noticed Michael Grealy's birthday matches Michael Howley's (as recorded on the Canadian census - September 23, 1874). I also noticed their profession matches as well. Michael Grealy's U.S. petition for naturalization says he worked in "liquors", and I know my grandfather was a bartender. 

Before Michael Grealy left Ireland for the U.S., he was married to Mary Ann Lally. But Michael left soon after their marriage, and Mary Ann is listed as single in the next two Irish censuses.

I have contacted someone who included Michael Grealy in their family tree but he said they don't have any information about Michael Grealy after he arrived in the United States.

The timeline seems to fit, parent names (except for Grealy), date of birth, profession, and the DNA connection - all seem to be either a very big coincidence or maybe something more (maybe a name change?)

I'm just wondering if this seems feasible, or if it is more likely that my inability to find records for Michael Howley may be related to an out of wedlock childbirth, lost records, or transcription error. Any thoughts/recommendations on this?

Hiawatha922

7 replies

Here's a Michael, baptized in 1871, child of Thomas Greely and Margaret Nolan... The date is earlier than the one you have, but that should not discount your considering this Michael.

Name:Michael Greely

 Baptism:25-Aug-1871

Address:Culintra

Parish/District:RATHCLINE

Gender:Male

CountyCo. Longford

Denomination:Roman Catholic

Father:Thomas Greely

Mother:Margaret Nolan

Occupation:

Sponsor 1 /
Informant 1:Patrick Nolan
Sponsor 2 /
Informant 2:Mary Feeney

Notes:

STIPEND 0.2.6

glanvil3@aol.com

If this Michael Greely/Howley is the same person, he was the eldest of seven siblings: Margaret (1872), Marian (1873), Patrick (1873), Patrick (1874), John (1875), and Catherine (1878). Could it be that he changed his name to Howley after he left his first wife in Ireland? Maybe starting a new life with a new identity?

I could not find any Thomas Howley/Margaret Nolan marriages, nor any births of a Micheal Howley to that couple. Have you looked for his immigration records?

 

carolyntoohey@…

1871 is the same Michael Grealy I found earlier. His petition for naturalization showed his date of birth as September 23rd, 1874 - which matches the date of birth for Michael Howley in the Canadian census. 

Yes, I wondered if moving to the United States and Canada were steps toward starting a new life and a new identity. If this turns out to be the case, it will probably be hard to prove for citizenship purposes. 

I have not been able to find any immigration records for Michael Howley. The only thing that came close was a U.S. naturalization record for his wife (my grandmother) showing they moved from Canada to the United States in 1919 - they traveled by railroad.

No one has been able to find records for Michael Grealy, after he arrived in the United States.

Hiawatha922

Changing names is a distinct possibility. I was recently involve in the writing of an article where Michael Coen changed his name to Michael Kelly. I realise that the situation in the article is a bit different from yours, but if you send your email address to kjordan@irelandxo.com I will send you the article. You might get inspiration from it!

Best wishes, Kieran 

Kieran Jordan, IrelandXO Volunteer ☘IrelandXO Volunteer

Thank  you, Kieran. I appreciate it!

 

Tom Howley

Hiawatha922

I plan to travel to County Longford in a few weeks. I'll be meeting someone who may be a half cousin of mine. I'm hoping he will be open to taking a DNA test so we can clarify the level of our relationship. This could prove whether Michael Howley was Michael Greally.

Hiawatha922

Reply

Reply
One image file up to 2 MB.