Patrick Houlihan was the eldest child of Bartholomew Houlihan and Johanna McCarthy; he was born in Bally Trasna, Co. Kerry, Ireland where he was baptized. As a small child, he came with his parents to Worcester, MA, where Patrick spent the rest of his life.
He married Nora McGillicuddy in 1903 in Worcester; she was the daughter of Daniel McGillicuddy and Katherine Donahue, and had also been born in Ireland.
Patrick worked in the auto and carriage painting business in a small company that he ran with his younger brother, Thomas. He and Nora had five children, four of whom survived well into adulthood. Only daughter Eileen did not; she died when she was hit by a trolley car at the age of six.
Patrick died at the young age of 37 from leukemia. Nora continued living in Worcester, residing just south of the modern downtown area, first on Fox Street and then on Spurr Street. She died in 1958.
Patrick and Nora’s son John became a newspaper reporter, following in the footsteps of his uncle, James Anthony Houlihan, who moved to Oakland in the early 1900s and married Gussie Kelly.
Patrick Joseph Houlihan (b. 29 Oct 1874, Bally Trasna, Co. Kerry, Ireland — d. 27 Oct 1912, Worcester, MA)
m. 17 Nov 1903, Worcester, MA
Nora B. McGillicuddy (b. 1880, Ireland — d. 1958)
Children:
i. Johanna “Annamae” Houlihan (b. 2 Sep 1904, Worcester, MA — d. 11 Jan 1990); never married
ii. John F. Houlihan (b. 1907, Worcester, MA — d. between 1946/2002); m. ?
iii. Catherine P. Houlihan (b. 26 Mar 1908, Worcester, MA — d. 6 Nov 2002, Worcester, MA); m. Francis Tinsley
iv. Eileen P. Houlihan (b. 1909, Worcester, MA — d. 7 Aug 1915, Worcester, MA
v. Joseph Patrick Houlihan (b. 27 Aug 1911, Worcester, MA — d. 16 Oct 1974, Worcester, MA); m. Mary A. Curran