Michael Mulcahy's Bar

The 1906 Brooklyn City Directory (Upington's General Directory) may be on Ancestry, but I've never seen it; I don't think Ancestry has Upington's. I found it on Internet Archive. When I found Michael Mulcahy listed, there was a bit of a surprise. His home address is 85 Luquer, and his business address ("liquors") is 227 Hamilton - but also 291 Van Brunt! Michael Mulcahy owned 2 bars? I never knew!

The building at 291 Van Brunt is now a convenience store/deli.


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Then I went to Google Books and the Report of the State Commissioner of Excise. In the volume for 1910, 291 Van Brunt is listed under Michael Mulcahey. (Earlier volumes don't appear to list certificate holders.)

But in the volume for 1912, 291 Van Brunt was listed with James Mulcahy as the certificate holder.

Now, Michael had both a brother and a son named James. I don't know anything about his brother, but I know that his son James A. was born around 1892, which means that by 1912, he was about 20. Had he taken over his father's bar by that age?

I've heard a couple of stories about how the family stopped running the bar. A cousin I met doing genealogy says she was told that the bar on Hamilton Ave. was torn down to make way for the Midtown Tunnel. I don't know about that, but I know that 227 Hamilton is positioned to have very easily been in the way of either the Gowanus Expressway or the BQE. I'll have to look into the history of those roads, but I wonder if maybe the family moved the bar to 291 Van Brunt when the building at 227 Hamilton was destroyed.

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A brief, unsourced family history I was given included the assertion that the family lost the bar after they changed the beer. And, in news that's perhaps related to James taking over the bar, I was once told that the family lost the bar when the kids took over, because they, unlike their father, didn't have the personality necessary for tending bar.

By 1913, a Frank Mulvihill held the certificate for the bar at 291 Van Brunt.

1911 Census of the Mulcahy and O'Brien Families

Michael Mulcahy, my great-great-grandfather, was from Pallas Grean, Limerick, Ireland. He immigrated some time before 1892, by which point he was already married to Mary Ann Madigan and had two children. His parents were James Mulcahy and Margaret Ryan, and they remained in Ireland. His siblings - as far as I know - were brothers Patrick, John, and James, and sisters Catherine, Johanna, and Ellen.

This 1911 Irish Census is of the O'Brien family; that is, Ellen's family. Living with William O'Brien, 40, and his wife Ellen O'Brien, 42, are Ellen's family: Margaret Mulcahy, 84; Johanna Mulcahy, 51; and Thomas Mulcahy, 17. I don't know who Thomas is. Probably a nephew or a cousin?

According to these dates, William O'Brien was born in 1871; Ellen Mulcahy O'Brien was born in 1869; Ellen's mother Margaret Ryan Mulcahy was born in 1827; Johanna Mulcahy was born in 1860; "visitor" Thomas Mulcahy was born in 1894.

This is the Mulcahy family gravestone in Kilduff, Pallas Grean, Limerick. It marks the burial of James Mulcahy in 1896 (funny, I'll have to ask Betty and John about that; I've been told that when Papa and his father Michael went to Ireland, it was right after the death of Michael's father - but that was in 1905, a solid 9 years after James Mulcahy died). Also listed on the headstone are Ellen Mulcahy O'Brien, d. 1923, aged 54; William O'Brien, d. 1946, aged 77; Johanna Mulcahy, d. 1932, aged 72; and Margaret Ryan Mulcahy, whose death date isn't listed. The stone also gives the death dates of Margaret O'Brien McMahon (18 April 1988), Ellen and William's daughter, and her husband Michael McMahon (7 May 1999). In the 1911 Census, Margaret isn't listed, and Ellen hasn't given birth to any children. That means that she couldn't have been older than 77 when she died in 1988.

Found the Mulcahys, right around the corner

In the far left column of this page, we find the Mulcahys, in the same district of the 12th Ward as Mary's parents. Michael is 32, Irish-born, and his occupation is "Liquors." Mary is 22. Their two children (thus far) are listed as Maggie (Margaret Mulcahy Hennessy) and James. Maggie is 3, and James is 1.

One thing this does show is that the Mulcahys weren't living at 85 Luqueer St. while Matthew Madigan was alive. Given that, I really continue to wonder how they ended up living there, while his wife and minor daughter end up in an apartment around the corner. I may - emphasize may - have come across notice of proceedings on the estate of Matthew Madigan. Following up on that is something I intend to do, though it will (I think) require a trip to a Brooklyn courthouse, which itself will require taking a day off work. But I'm getting there. And we'll figure it out eventually.

But that's really all the information we find here. Why does it excite me so?

1930 census - 85 Luqueer

This is a copy of the 1930 census for 85 Luqueer St. in Brooklyn. It's the house where Papa grew up, as well as the house where his mother, Mary Ann Madigan grew up. We believe it was built by her father, Matthew Madigan. On this census, both of Papa's parents, Michael Mulcahy and Mary Ann Madigan Mulcahy, have already died, and he is living at 648 83rd St., with Nana. They're newlyweds. In the house at Luqueer St., though, are several of his siblings - James, Mary, Gerard, and Vincent are all living together in the first apartment (listed as family 52), while the next family at the same address, presumably the next apartment in the building, is his brother Matthew Mulcahy with his wife Catherine and their sons Gerard, Matthew, and Eugene. As Gerard was one brother and Eugene was Papa's middle name, all three boys have family names from their father's family, it seems.

John Griffin and John Griffin visited the house at 85 Luqueer St. this fall:

John Sr.'s caption reads:
"The house on left that Betty & Your Nana's Great-Grandfather, Matthew Madigan, built for his family, the modern looking building was originally eight stables that later became garages and to the right of that structure are two more identical houses he built and rented. Their original family home is now a four family building."

(I believe that if you look closely, you'll see John in a blue shirt near the bottom left!)

Mulcahy Family Information

This is the information that got me started on my genealogical treasure hunt. My mom got it from Uncle Joe, and he got it from a cousin, and I transcribed what was written exactly, so all references, say, to "my grandfather" refer to the author/Joe, Betty, and Nan's grandfather. At the bottom is my transcription of a newspaper article about Papa and his brothers enlisting in the Army during WWI after their father died. If I can scan the copy of this article that I have at home, I'll upload that, too.

[From Uncle Joe:]
Laurie,
Enclosed is all the information I have on the Mulcahy family. The material which
begins “my grandfather” was written by my first cousin, so Michael Mulcahy is my and Kevin’s mom’s grandfather and Kevin’s great-grandfather. I hope this helps!
Joe

My grandfather
Michael Mulcahy
married Mary Ann Madigan
DOB:
POB: Palas Green, Limerick, Ireland
Died: January 20, 1917, Brooklyn, NY
His brothers and sisters were:
a) James Mulcahy married Molly _______
He came to the US and went to Chicago and became a policeman. He then left Chicago and came back to Luquer St. in Brooklyn where he and his family. He had daughters Margaret and Mary.
b) Patrick Mulcahy (he married Catherine Mahr)
He came to the US and stayed with Michael Mulcahy on Luquer St. in Brooklyn. He worked in Michael’s bar in Brooklyn and was subsequently fired by Michael. Patrick liked to drink and didn’t like to work to [sic] hard. He had the following
known children:
1) Margaret Mulcahy
2) Cathleen Mulcahy
3) James Mulcahy (worked for US [?])
4) John Mulcahy
c) John Mulcahy
Stayed in Ireland.
d) Johanna Mulcahy
Never married. She stayed in Ireland.
e) Catherine Mulcahy
Came to the US and stayed at Luquer St. She then went back to Ireland and lived in Tipperary. It is believed she married a man by the name of McMann.

Michael Mulcahy (my grandfather). His father was James Mulcahy and he married Margaret Ryan. My grandmother Mary Ann [Madigan] Mulcahy used to call my great-grandfather James Mulcahy “The Raine Druid” because he had red hair. Michael Mulcahy owned two bars in Brooklyn which he lost after they changed the beer.

My grandmother (married Michael Mulcahy)
Mary Ann Madigan (Mulcahy)
DOB: 1868
POB: Lake St. Manhattan
Died: April 11, 1927, Brooklyn, NY
Brothers and sisters:
Margaret Madigan (DOB 1872)
James Madigan (Youngest of the three. He never married.)
Her father was Matthew Madigan. Her mother was Margaret Sullivan. They were married in St. Peter’s Church in Manhattan. They lived in Manhattan in the only house that had a tile roof.

My great-grandfather, Matthew Madigan
Was born in Kilrush County Clare.
He was in the trucking business in New York and he also worked for a drug
company. Matthew Madigan married twice. His first wife was Margaret Sullivan.
His second wife was Johanna Roche. From his second marriage they had one child,
Loretta Madigan.

Loretta Madigan married Joseph Rickett and they had three children:
Gene Rickett (priest)
Joseph Rickett (priest)
Elizabeth Rickett (lives in New Hampsire)

Matthew Madigan had problems with the authorities in Ireland, so he went to England where he worked as a policeman for two years before he came to the US. He had no known brothers and sisters in the US.
My great-grandmother, Margaret Sullivan
Was born in Cree County Clare. She had the following brothers and
sisters:
Bridgett Sullivan (Consodine)
Nora Sullivan (Crowe)
Conn Sullivan
James Sullivan
Margaret Madigan, my grandmother’s sister, married _______ Roche and had three children:
1) Marge Roche
2) Frank Roche
3) Margaret Roche

[Also included: copy of newspaper article about the Mulcahy brothers]:

Mulcahy Brothers Enlisted Together
Three of Family of Seven Boys in Government Service
Mother Proud of Sons
Heeded Country’s Call After Father’s Death

Mrs. Michael Mulcahy, of 85 Luquer Street, has already given three out of her family of seven boys to the service of the country. The boys are James A., 27 years old, now in France with the Twenty-first Field Artillery, Battery C, Matthew V., 25 years old, in present at the Gunners’ School at the Navy Yard, and Joseph E., 21 years old, a second lieutenant of the Sixty-seventh Company, Sixth Replacement Regiment, Camp Gordon, Ga. They enlisted together in April, 1917, four months after the death of their father.
All of the boys were born in Brooklyn and all were educated in the schools here. James Mulcahy was graduated from St. Francis’ Parochial School and was employed at the Robins Dock until he left with his company. Matthew studied two years at St. James’ High School and then became a freight tracer at the Grand Central Station. Joseph is a graduate of St. Bernard’s School, and had studied two years at Commercial High when he entered the employment of Bochmand & Co., Twentieth st. and Fourth ave., Manhattan.
Five weeks ago, Mrs. Mulcahy says she received a card stating that James had arrived safely on the other side and she says they all write they are bing [sic] “treated fine.” The family is well known in South Brooklyn.