From Lackin Townlands
- Luke Hanly (9)
(The Freeman's Journal, April 29, 1848, also The Great Famine).
Ballykilcline Eviction
In 1847 there was another eviction on the nearby townlands of Ballykilcline in Kilglass Parish. Three Hanly families were part of this eviction, and, it is our current belief, that these Hanleys were related to Peter.
James Hanly (Hanley) age 64
Betty Hanly 54 wife
- James 14 son
- John 18 son
- Martin 22 son
- Patrick 20 son
- Roger 12 son
- Mary 17 daughter
James Hanly (Hanley) age 30
Susan Hanly 30 wife
- John 7 son
- Peter 5 son
Thomas Hanly (Hanley) age 60
Mary Hanly 50 wife
- Darby 16 son
- Edward 18 son
- Michael 13 son
- Patrick 24 son
- Honor 22 daughter
- Mary 20 daughter
The story, photos of the townlands and Bob Scalley's book, The End Of Hidden Ireland, about the eviction are included with these records. We have not found a direct family relationship but there are some coincidences showing up including some other marriages of Hanleys to Andersons in New York and the fact that the constable in Kilglass at the time was named Anderson. I have visited Ballykilcline many times and there is an ancient cemetery on the property with many Hanleys buried there. Pictures of the graves are included in the genealogy books. There is an Ellen Hanley grave at the cemetery (rear left side) dated 1910...Peter and Catherine's daughter Ellen would have been 69 years of age that year. We also suspect that this is Peter and Catherine's daughter who returned to the area later in life and was buried on the Ballykilcine townlands. This area was the central location of the Hanley clan for centuries. According to a historian at the Roscommon Heritage House nearby, the Hanly's were chieftains and a very possessive and dominant people ...traits not uncommon with the Hanleys even today. There is an ancient stone Celtic cross with the Hanley name on it outside Roscommon. Although it is in ruins today, and hard to find in a ditch, I have a picture of a replica of the cross in the family books.
Peter was born in ca.1813 and Catherine in ca.1819 according to their ages as reported in their respective death certificates. This differs from the records of the 1860 Census which suggests birth years of 1820 and 1825 respectively. The death certificates are likely more accurate since people often lied to the government Census takers to ensure that they could continue working in later years. In addition, their first known child, Ellen, was born in circa 1841 which would put Catherine at 22 years of age, more likely than the 16 years of age she would have been if the Census data was correct.
Five known children were born in Ireland and four in the United States:
| Child | Year | Godparents |
| Ellen | 1841 Ire. | Unknown |
| Catherine | 1843 Ire. | Unknown |
| Nicholas | 1846 Ire. | Unknown |
| Michael | 1849 Ire. | Unknown |
| Elizabeth | 1851 Ire. | Unknown |
| Mary Ann | 1853 U.S. | James Smith, Mary Ann Hall |
| Lawrence | 1855 U.S. | James Gardner, Anastasia Dooly |
| Theresa | 1857 U.S. | John Gannon, Mary Jane Kenny |
| Thomas | 1859 U.S. | Denis Gallagher, Margaret Nugent |
The godparents may hold clues to other relatives and may actually be brothers or sisters of Peter and Catherine. For example, was Mary Ann named after her godmother Mary Ann Hall and could that be a sister of Peter or Catherine with the married name of Hall. Or, could James Smith be related to Margaret Smith who married William Cody. William Cody's granddaughter Margaret Cody married Peter Handly's grandson Lawrence Hanley in 1907. Note there was also a William Smith living with them at 149 Chambers St. in the 1860 census. We also note that Margaret Cody's uncle, Nicholas Cody, died at 160 Chambers St. in 1878.
The Hanlys were the only family living at that address in 1860 but there were a number of single men also living in the same building, possibly in a dormitory fashion. They were all Irish and may have had some prior relationship to the family, possibly even emigrating from the same area/townland in Ireland. Dennis Gallagher was close enough to the family to be chosen as the godfather for their youngest child Thomas Hanley. The ages shown are also from the Census data and are of questionable accuracy.
Other Tenants at 149 Chambers St., 1860 Census:
| Dennis Gallagher | 27 years |
| Patrick Boylan | 30 " |
| William Smith | 27 " |
| Patrick Smith | 40 " |
| William McCabe | 22 " |
| D. Byrnes | 21 " |
| Daniel Leary | 27 " |
| John Gallagher | 19 " |
| Patrick Carrol | 23 " |
We also know that John Gannon was a good friend of Peters and, in addition to being a godparent to his daughter Theresa, also witnessed Peter Hanly's naturalization papers in 1856. I suspect that John Gannon's involvement with the family so soon after their arrival in America may suggest that they knew each other before Peter and Catherine emigrated. Irish families often had friends or family in the U.S. to assist their immigration and settlement on arrival. I have tried to identify parishes in Ireland where there are Hanleys, Andersons and Gannons in hopes that this would help me locate Peter's place of birth. These records are with my genealogy files and have successfully identified some common parishes which might be helpful if my theory is correct.
When they arrived in Manhattan the city extended only as far north as fourteenth street although the rest of the city was already mapped out. St. Patrick's Cathedral was under construction in what is now the mid-town area. There was, of course, no plumbing and streets were unpaved. One immigrant during this period was quoted as saying "I came to New York because I heard the streets were paved with gold. When I got here I learned three things. First, the streets were not paved with gold. Second, the streets were not paved at all. Third, they expected me to pave the streets." Peter and Catherine probably felt the same way as they arrived in a city where pigs and other livestock were roaming freely between horse drawn carts on muddy streets teeming with immigrants from all over the world. The Irish were quickly becoming the dominant ethnic group (along with the Germans) and our family probably spoke Irish (Gaelic), not English, on their arrival. They surely could not write as evidenced by Peter's signing his naturalization papers with "His X Mark".
They attended St. Peter's church on Barclay St. in Manhattan and I have obtained copies of the available Baptism certificates from that church. The only other residence we know is 463 Greenwich St. where both Peter and Catherine died. Presumably they moved there in the 1860's (i.e. after the 1860 census) as the family outgrew their home on Chambers St. and/or because the neighborhood was better.
The 1860 census listed his occupation as "laborer", which is how most Irish immigrants gained employment during the mid-nineteenth century. His occupation on the death certificate in 1879 is not very legible.
November 21,1874 was a sad day as Catherine, age 55, succumbed to an illness she had suffered for "almost a year". How difficult it must have been for Peter and the children, who had ventured so far to start a new life, to watch sadly as Catherine's life slipped away. Her time of death was 9:00 p.m. at night and we can only assume that all, or at least most of the children were at her bedside. Her oldest child Ellen was 33 and her youngest Thomas was 15 years of age at her death. She is buried at Calvary Cemetery in Woodside, Queens in Section 7, Range 19, Plot B, Grave 3. Buried with her is her husband Peter who died five years later on March 6, 1879 at age 66. Also, four grandchildren by their son Lawrence and his wife Kate Flood (my great grandparents)...including their two sons named William who died in their infancy, James, who died at age nine in a Christmas tree fire, and Lauretta who died at a year and a half. Also in the grave is Peter and Catherine's son Michael who died in 1888 at age 40. We suspect that the two attempts by their Lawrence to name his son William may suggest that Peter's father's name was also William...following the tradition of naming your first son after your paternal grandfather.
The Hanley name originated as O'hAinlighe or O'hAinle which meant "descendant of the beautiful (comely) one". The O prefix disappeared with the Anglicization of Ireland but did remain with some families even after they emigrated to America. The O'hAinlighe's were originally from Roscommon where they were the chief family of the tribe known as Cineal Dobhtha and had limited control over the Cineal Dobhtha territory. This territory consisted of three parishes, Kilglass, Termonbarry and Cloontuskert and the eastern part of a fourth, Lisonuffy. This land became known as Tuatha Hanley or, anglicized, as Doohyhanly, which meant Hanley's country.
It is also interesting to note that this area was the last stronghold of the ancient Irish race known as the Firbolgs. This was an early Celtic tribe whose traits and characteristics, especially their dark hair, was evident in and around Doohyhanly even into the 19th century when they were finally assimilated. Given the proximity, it is quite probable that the Hanleys of today are in part descended from this race.
When Peter and Catherine arrived in America the name was first recorded as Handly (Peter's naturalization papers) but was frequently also spelled Hanly, Handley and Hanley. The spelling of Handly kept changing over these early years but eventually evolved to Hanley by the late 1890's. It is Handly in 1853 when Peter signed his intention to become a citizen. And again in 1856 when citizenship is granted. Mary Ann's birth certificate in 1853 says Handley as does Lawrence's in 1855. Teresa's Baptism certificate is Hanley in 1857 but Thomas's in 1859 reverts to Hanly. Catherine's death certificate in 1874 says Hanley while Peter's in 1879 says Handly. The actual spelling was obviously not important in those days when many could not read or write, but it appears that the Hanley version is the most usual and common to survive. The original spelling in Ireland was Ainle or O'hAinlighe.
We have not yet found the sailing records of Peter and Catherine Hanly but we have found other ships with Hanleys aboard and we continue the search. We also note the possibility that there may have been a relationship between the Hanleys and our other family "in-laws" (e.g. Cody's, Flood's, etc.) in succeeding generations. On some of the boats with Hanleys aboard we also see passengers with our other family surnames...which may be a coincidence or an indication of an acquaintance in Ireland before they left.
I have the deed to the Peter and Catherine gravesite and hope to erect a new stone shortly. According to the cemetery officials, the original stone was probably limestone which simply melted away over the years. The deed was passed on to me by Catherine Testut and Mary Strauss, the daughters of my grand aunt Sadie Hanley Tracy.
We have no records yet of the other Hanly children but Theresa may have died young because she does not show up in the 1860 census. We are also on the trail of Thomas whose descendants, we suspect, moved to Flushing, Queens and then to Manhasset, L.I. where we grew up as children. There was no contact between our families in those years, however.
Summation
Based on our knowledge to date we believe the following to be the family history prior to and just after their emigration from Ireland. It must be noted, however, that it is still partially based on speculation and that the dates may be off by a year or two in some instances.
| 1813 | Peter Hanly born; father possibly William, mother possibly Catherine. |
| 1840 | Peter marries Catherine Anderson. |
| 1841 | 1st child Ellen born. |
| 1842 | 2nd child Catherine born. |
| 1846 | 3rd child Nicholas born. |
| 1847 | Hanly's evicted from Goreygloss townland, Strokestown Park; "Mahon Eviction". Mother Catherine also evicted from nearby Aughadine townland. Ballykilcline evictions also take place nearby. Uncles James and Thomas and cousin Thomas Hanly evicted from there. |
| 1852 | Peter and Catherine Hanly emigrate to New York, live at 149 Chambers St. in lower Manhattan. |
| 1853 | 4th child Mary Ann born. |
| 1855 | 5th child Lawrence born. |
| 1857 | 6th child Theresa born. |
| 1859 | 7th child Thomas born. |
| 1862 (ca.) | Family moves to 463 Greenwich St.
|
| 1874 | Catherine Hanly dies, buried Calvary Cemetery. |
| 1879 | Peter Hanly dies, buried Calvary Cemetery. |
Peter C. Hanley
Contact Pete Hanley
November 17, 1996
Revised June 22, 1998