Michael Joseph Lalley

Michael Joseph Lalley, [1.1.8] was born ca. March 1850, reportedly in County Roscommon. When he was twenty-five years old, he immigrated to the United States. He married Anna Honor Hart in the Cathedral Parish of St. Peter on 8 May 1878 in Wilmington, Delaware. Soon afterwards the couple moved to Philadelphia where they had eight children.

Anna, born 10 August 1848, was the second child of Eammon Harte and Bridget Hannon. On May 24 of that same year her parents embarked on The Messenger, a sailing ship departing from Galway City and bound for New York City. They had left their daughter, Mary, behind with her father's family in Luggawannia, Cargin Parish, County Galway.

Any knowledge leading to the whereabouts of Michael Joseph Lalley's ancestors, or information about his siblings, their spouses, or descendants, or the locale from whence he emigrated will be greatly appreciated. We have been searching a long time. Please contact --

Data from the 1880 and 1900 U.S. Censuses for Philadelphia suggest that our grandfather, Michael Joseph Lalley, was born between 1847 and 1850. ^[1^]

The 1900 Census reports that he came to the United States in 1875. ^[2] Three years later on 8 May 1878, he married Honor Anna Hart, the then twenty-seven year-old daughter of Edward Hart and Bridget Hannon, at the Cathedral of St. Peter, Wilmington, DE. The official witnesses were Thomas Flaherty and Agnes Traynor. The priest officiating was Father James Lyons. ^[3] By the time of the 1880 U.S. Census for Philadelphia, Michael, his wife and their first child Edward A. Lalley had moved to 1169 South 16th Street located in the Moyamensing district of South Philadelphia.

According the Marriage Register for the Cathedral Parish of St. Peter, Michael Joseph Lalley was the son of Thomas Lally of Co. Roscommon. The baptismal record for his son Edward also lists County Roscommon as the place of his father's birth. So far as it known, there are no other references to Thomas and no mention of the name of his wife or those of their children.

For quite some time the facts below had raised questions concerning the accuracy of the entry found in the marriage record for Michael Joseph Lalley and Anna Hart which states that Michael was from County Roscommon. They suggested that he was the son of Thomas Lally of Ballynacregga in County Galway.

Bordering the townland of Luggawannia is the small townland of Ballynacregga. One of its inhabitants, Thomas Mullally (Lally), leased a house, land, and outbuildings. In the adjacent townland of Kilbeg John Connell had similar holdings. ^[4] The transfer of land from Thomas Mullally to Hugh Connell in 1876 almost certainly indicates that Thomas Mullally died some months prior to the date of the transfer.

The brother of Thomas was named Patrick. He and his wife Mary Reilly, had eight children. Michael, Mary, Patrick, Thomas R., and John J. migrated to Wilmington, Delaware prior to 1866. William, Catherine, and Bridget remained in Ireland. ^[5]

Edward Hart -- a cousin of our great grandfather Edward Hart who came to Wilmington with his Irish born wife Bridget Hannon in 1848 -- married Bridget Lalley of County Galway on 17 December 1871. Documents attest that she was the daughter of Thomas Lally and Bridget Moran. At the time of the 1880 US Census for Wilmington, Delaware, his mother-in-law, Bridget Moran Lally, lived with Edward and Bridget. [6]
The above Thomas R. Lally and Jane Hart were baptismal sponsors for Anne, the first child of Edward Hart and Bridget Lally. The baptismal sponsors for their son Thomas J. were Patrick Connell and Ellen Lally. Patrick and his wife, Mary Flynn, were baptismal sponsors for Mary Ellen, their third child. The baptismal sponsors for their fourth child, John L. were John Callaghan and Bridget Lally.
John Lally, very probably another brother, married Catherine O' Day. Land records state that Catherine Lally of Kilbeg was in America in 1866 which indicates that her husband had died in Ireland beforehand. Census records also reveal that Catherine O'Day Lally and her children had arrived in Wilmington prior to 1866.

Two of Catherine's sons, Michael and Thomas Lally, married sisters, Mary and Margaret, the daughters of John Connell and Bridget Fahey and the sisters of the above Patrick Connell.

Data obtained from the 1900 US Census for Philadelphia shows that our grandfather, Michael Joseph Lalley, arrived in this country in 1875 at the age of twenty-five, one year before the year that Thomas Mullally's lease was recorded as transferred to Hugh Connell. ^[7] On 8 May 1878, Michael Joseph Lalley married Annie Hart, the daughter of Edward Hart and Bridget Hannon in the Cathedral of St. Peter in Wilmington, two years or so after his arrival.

Initial DNA testing conducted on a very limited basis included too few samples for a conclusive result. Nevertheless, the six-step genetic mismatch gives every indication that the families of Michael Joseph Lalley and John Lally are unrelated, even though they share variations of the same surname. This great a distance among the 12 DYS markers suggests a divergence of the two lines at least 60 generations in the past.

Although DNA Testing has shown that Michael Joseph Lalley was not the son of Thomas Lally of Ballynacregga, Bridget Moran Lalley may have been the wife of this Thomas Lally.

There was a land transfer in the townland of Ballynacregga recorded in 1876 between Thomas Mullally and Hugh Connell. Bridget Moran Lally of County Galway apparently was widowed between 1872 and 1880. Is it not reasonable to assert that she came to Wilmington after the death of her husband to live with her daughter Bridget Lalley and her husband Edward Hart? The limited DNA testing noted above does not rule out this possibility.
Does the fact that Edward Hart and Bridget Lally chose Thomas R. and Patrick Lally as baptismal sponsors for two of their children indicate that the two brothers were close relatives, if not first cousins, of Bridget?
Was the John Connell identified in the death certificate of his daughter Margaret C. Lally also the father or a close relative of Hugh Connell who took over property previously occupied by Thomas Mullally prior to 1876?
So far as it is known, there was no other Lally in Wilmington with family ties to County Roscommon. What factors, then, could have induced Michael Joseph to come to Wilmington?
If, on the other hand, Thomas Lally of Ballynacregga was not the father of Bridget Lally, then she came from a different Lally line whose ancestral home was perhaps situated either near the Headford area or possibly elsewhere in County Galway. Bridget arrived in the United States in 1865; Michael Joseph in 1875. During the 1870s Annie Hart Lalley and Bridget Lally worked in the household of US Senator James A. Bayard, Jr. under the supervision of Margaret Hart, a cousin or aunt of Annie Hart Lalley. Did Margaret Hart encourage Bridget Lally to seek employment in the Senator's household because of family ties? Perhaps Bridget and Michael Joseph were closely related, if not siblings. Bridget and/or Margaret would have been in a position to introduce him to his bride-to-be. If so, Michael Joseph would have had reason to come to Wilmington and would not have been a total stranger to the Biggins, Carroll, Connell, Craven, Earner, Hannon, Hart, and Lally families of Wilmington or to their kinfolk in north County Galway.

The above speculation not withstanding, it is difficult to explain away the listing of County Roscommon as the place of origin on the marriage record for Michael Joseph Lalley simply as an incorrect data entry which became a part of family tradition and a subsequent sacramental record. Further research of records in the United States may produce conclusive evidence to resolve some of these speculative issues. It appears unlikely, however, that data from Irish civil or ecclesiastical records will emerge that will identify the wife and children of Thomas Mullally of Ballynacregga. Nor is it probable that evidence will be uncovered demonstrating that the husband of Bridget Moran Lally is very same Thomas.

Footnotes

^[1] 1880 U.S. Census Philadelphia County, Philadelphia E. D. 553, p. 556 B [16], line 18. 1900 U.S. Census Philadelphia County, Philadelphia Ward 26 E. D. 645, Sheet 7 B. FHL Microfilm #044860.

^[2] 1900 U.S. Census Philadelphia County, Philadelphia Ward 26 E. D. 645, Sheet 7 B

^[4] Richard Griffith. Primary Valuation and Tithe Applotment Books, 1855, County Galway, Tuam District, Parish of Cargin. (Dublin: National Library, 1883), 16 – 17. Note: Other records for Thomas Mullally refer to him as Thomas Lally.

^[5]Michael H. Carroll. Valley Of The Milk. (Luggawannia, Headford, Co. Galway, Ireland: Michael H. Carroll, 2000) 102 ff.

^[6]Listed on the death certificate for Bridget Lalley Hart are the names of her parents, Thomas Lally and Bridget Moran.

^[7]1900 U.S. Census, Philadelphia County, Population Schedule, Philadelphia Enumeration District 645, Sheet 7, Ward 26, June 6, 1900, line 44.