All branches of our Gough and Houlihan families were from Ireland, arriving in America in the 19th century. However, only three were “famine” Irish, strictly speaking; the rest came either before the famine began in earnest or arrived about 30 years after peak famine years.
The Goughs were the first to arrive in 1842. Peter Gough and his wife, Letitia Naulty (or McNulty) sailed with their children from the British port of Liverpool, a common departure point for Irish immigrants to North America. After landing in New York, the family moved on to Hazle Township in eastern Pennsylvania, settling eventually in Hazleton after the town was founded in 1851. Peter was born in County Monaghan and Letitia in neighboring County Meath. The surname Gough (or, more typically, McGough) seems to be concentrated in the County Monaghan area; much more information about the name can be found at Hugh McGough’s wonderful site, Origins of the Surname McGough.
Peter and Letitia’s son John married Susan McCloskey about 1859. Susan was the daughter of Michael McCloskey and Anne Mullen of County Derry, Ireland. It isn’t yet clear whether Susan came to the United States alone or if she voyaged with other members of her family. We do know, however, that three of her siblings — Mary, Bernard, and James — also came to the U.S. and spent the remainder of their lives here. And her mother, Anne Mullen McCloskey, had emigrated to America at some point and was living with her daughter Susan when she passed away in Hazleton at the age of 90.
John and Susan’s second son, also named John Gough, married Anna McGeehan, daughter of immigrant Hugh McGeehan and his wife, Mary Kiernan. Hugh was from County Donegal and was the son of Edward (or John) and Ann or Mary Boyle; several of his siblings also came to America and lived near Hugh in eastern Pennsylvania. Mary Kiernan was from County Longford; while we have no direct record for Mary, the tombstone of her sister, Margaret, in St. Gabriel’s Cemetery identifies County Longford as her birthplace.
On the Massachusetts side, Bartholomew Houlihan first arrived in the city of Worcester in 1876; after working as a laborer for a year, he apparently went back to Ireland for two years before returning for good in 1879 with wife Johanna McCarthy and their eldest son Patrick. The couple was originally from County Kerry, from Bally Trasna parish (where Johanna’s obituary said she was born). Bartholomew was the son of Patrick Houlihan and Mary Catherine Leahy, while Johanna was the daughter of John McCarthy and Catherine Sullivan.
Bartholomew and Johanna’s son John Francis married Mary Agnes Lowrey, the third child of Dennis Lowrey and his wife, Mary Elizabeth Dwyer, who were the last to emigrate, arriving around 1882 from County Tipperary. Dennis and Mary were both from the Cashel and Emly diocese in County Tipperary, living just west of the town of Tipperary in the Coonaherin area. Dennis was the son of John Lowrey and Mary Spillane; Mary’s parents were Michael Dwyer and Catherine Condon.
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