|
a.
|
Note: "Denis Wholehan," as recorded in RC church records, was baptized 14 March 1840 at Charleville, Co. Cork, Ireland Sponsors were David McCarthy, mother Margaret's brother, and Elizabeth Brassel (perhaps a married sister of either Margaret or John??). The priest was "John Constant C.C." [Brassil/Brassell is a known Cork name].
Dennis Houlihan immigrated with his mother to western PA in the late 1840s and remained unmarried, according to J.J. Houlihan. He is shown in the 1870 census as "insane" and in 1880 census as an "idiot." At the 1880 census he was living with his parents in the home of younger brother John, on Butler St., Pittsburgh.
According to his death certificate and St. Mary's Cemetery records, Pittsburgh, Dennis Houlihan ("Hollihan" per death certificate), age 49, unmarried, died 14 May 1894 of catarrhal pneumonia in Pittsburgh. He had been ill for one week prior to his death. He was living at 5126 Carnegie Ave., 18th ward, Pittsburgh where he had lived for 14 years. His previous residence is listed as Brady's Bend, PA. His occupation was "laborer." He was buried at St. Mary's on 15 May 1894 in the same grave as his father and niece, Philomena "Houlihan" (daughter of brother David), Section R, row 16, grave 79.
As with many other members of this family, there are age discrepancies between census and other information. At the 1850 census, Dennis was 10 years old, putting his birth year at about 1840/1841; at 1870 he's reported as being 29 and, at 1880, at 38 - neither are too inconsistent. However, at his death he was reported to be 49, making for a birth year of 1845. The baptismal record reflects the most accurate information.
The residence information provided in the death certificate is interesting re: Brady's Bend. 14 years prior to Dennis's death would have been 1880, the year I first located the Houlihan family living in Pittsburgh - Dennis was with them. At the 1870 census, the family, including Dennis, was living in Union Township, Allegheny Co. It appears that, perhaps, Dennis lived with his uncle, William McCarthy and his family, in Brady's Bend for a time between 1870 and 1880.
|
