Francis Cooney married Mary Cooney 5 Feb 1844

Hi John!

Your message interested me as I too have a Mary Cooney in my family tree, also from County louth.  My Mary Cooney married Edward Moyles (Miles) inOctober of 1818 in Monasterboice!  This Mary Cooney's address on the marriage info states "Kierans Cross".

Perhaps they were cousins?  Found several Francis Cooney's in county louth baptisms but had no idea what the year might be ...however, did not find one that showed a father as Thomas!

Best of luck in your research!

Colleen Wheeler

Florida 

Hi John,

I am researching the Cooneys also.  I am thinking that maybe Francis and Mary could be mine also, but if your information is correct maybe not, the problem is that it ties in for both of us.  My Mary was born in 1845.  It is reported that she lived in Carrichnashannagh.  She was baptised at Monasteboice where her parents are recorded as Francis and Mary both Cooney. The sponsors were Ann Cooney and Pat Stanly.  She married Owen Finegan there on 14th April 1864 also at Monasterboice.  Both parents were listed as farmers.  Mary and Owen migrated to Australia the same year. were they had 10 children.  My great aunt visited the family property probably around 1930 and the family was still there.  I have found a property tenanted by Francis in that area in the Griffiths valuation.  Kind regards, Jan

I am working on building a tree for a 2x great grand-daughter of Francis Cooney's son James and we were wondering if you an idea where Francis came from in Ireland?

Well, no, that doesn't assist my query at all really.  But this is the same family so I'm hoping someone might chime in that has done farther research as I see others are looking as well.  Their son James, who came to America, is the one I'm working on and trying to identify where his parents/grandparents origins are beyond Monasterboice.

Since posting the above I have visited County Louth where the Cooneys came from.  The Cooneys lived in Carricknashanna but Mary and Owen were married in Fieldstown (close to Monleek where Owen Finegan's family lived.  The reason for this is that they eloped.  Interestingly the witnesses for the marriage were Edward Reilly who appears to have lived on a property next to the Finigans and Judith McCann who may have been a neighbour of the Cooneys as one property is occupied by Jane McCann.  We found the properties for both families on the Griffiths valuation.  There were quite a number of Cooneys on various properties there, including Richard, Anne, Bryan, Francis, and Patrick.  Although the home of the Finegans is still standing it would seem the home of the Cooneys no longer exisits. We spoke to man now living on the Cooney property (where the house stood) and somewhat of a historian who said his mother went to school with a girl who was called 7 farms Cooney.

We visited the graves at Monasterboice where a huge number of Cooneys are buried, probably more confusing than helpful, an amazing place.

good luck  Jan R

Hello Jill... My great grandfather is James Cooney who was married to Catherine Keenan and came to the US from Scotland in 1882.   If that fits your tree please contact me at cooneyfamilyflorida@gmail.com so we can see how we might be related.  Thanks.  John

Hi My name is Ciaran Mc Donagh,we live in a 300 year old house in foxhall Carrick na shannagh monasterboice co Louth ,It was said that a Francis and Mary cooney lived here or in very close proximity to here,Multiple old houses in the one area,historically a little village.There also is a story of a child that was accidentally shot in a peak,no sure was it fatally injured but there are still people alive in the area who know the stories better.After that there was a man John Joe bitterly who lived in the house and then a man named Paddy and Mary Meede,Not sure if any of this helps John ,but suspect you are on the right path,Any help I can be let me know.Yours Sincerely Ciaran Mc Donagh

Sorry should have spell checked it John Joe Butterly lived here and the baby was accidentally shot in the pram ,years before his time.Rumured that a gun was being cleaned and a freak accident,Also the house in question was searched for guns by the British army ,prior to Ireland becoming a free state.There is a lot of history in this area but probably best not to put it all online,as some is passed down generations.

Hello,

My name is Leon and I have found this conversation very interesting.  I am very interested in my Cooney ancestors.  My grandfather is John Cooney born 9 Mar 1878 in Philipstown, County Louth.  He immigrated to the US in 1903 and died on 24 May 1960 in Rhode Island.  John parents were Patrick Cooney (1842-1916) and Elizabeth Dullaghan (1845-1916). Both from Philistown. Patrick's parents are James Cooney (1809-1854) and Ann Cain (1811-1885); again from Philipstown.  I have travelled to Ireland several times to research.  I have been very fortunate to locate the "Old Cooney Homestead" on Cracken King Lane in Philipstown.  Cousins and friends led me to an isolated cemetery in Smarmore where the grave of Michael Cooney  (5th Great Grandfather) (abt 1726-1761) was located.  He was buried on 16 Dec 1761.  Two eyewitnesses confirm that several Cooney relatives from Philipstown were laid to rest with Michael Cooney.  The last being Thomas "Moses" Cooney in 1936.  A Chris Cooney lived and farmed in the Philipstown area early as 1725 according to several local documents. So much for my pedigree and background info!

Having visited the Monasterboice Cemetery on several occasions, I was amazed with the numerous Cooney Headstones.  I am interested in researching the possible linkage of the Cooneys of Monasterboice with the Cooneys of Philipstown/Smarmore.  Thoughts?