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Our Rhode Island branch of the Cooneys came from Dooroc, Drumlish, County Longford, Ireland. The first over was Edward J. Cooney, who arrived in New York on June 23, 1849 at 26 years of age. He was the son of our first identified ancestor, John Cooney of Dooroc. He studied for and was ordained into the priesthod, and was a celebrated priest in Providnence, Rhode Island. His nephew John Patrick Cooney arrived in New York April 17, 1857, 19 years of age. His father was Philip Cooney, a brother of Edward J. Cooney. John Patrick Cooney joined his uncle in Providence, prospered in business and public life, and became our founding father.
FR. EDWARD J. COONEY
Father Edward knew he wanted to become a priest even before he left Ireland and came to America. He studied at the famous Moyne Latin School in Longford, and came to America to further his priestly studies so as to minister to the Irish who were flooding the country. A man of extraordinary zeal and enthusiasm, he was to become a respected pioneer priest as well as a much loved spiritual shepard to his large flock and a mentor to his fellow clerics. Father Edward never forgot his family in Ireland. When his mother died in 1859, he arranged for a massive granite monument to be made and delivered to Drumlish to mark the grave of his parents. It still stands today, marking the site in the graveyard of Killoe parish. Click here or on "Fr. Edwards Page" in the left margin, for more on this celebrated and well-remembered priest.
JOHN PATRICK COONEY
The nephew of Fr. Edward J. Cooney, he came to Providence attracted by the potential for enterprise to be found in this bustling port city, as well as by the opportunity to be near his uncle and other countrymen from Drumlish. He opened a
| JOHN PATRICK COONEY AND FAMILY IN 1870 |
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| LFT to RT: Helen, Ann (McCabe) Cooney, Mary, John Philip, John Patrick Cooney, Edward Joseph |
wholesale business and became a major distributor of beers and ales in New England. He was very well known and highly respected for his business integrity and as one "possessing in an eminent degree those social qualities which made him a welcome guest at the fireside". He was active in politics and was elected to the Providence City Council, the city's ruling body, the first Irishman to so serve. His marriage to Ann McCabe produced six children, and they and their descendants would be prominent in medicine, law and business in Rhode Island thereafter. Click here or on "John Patrick Cooney" for more on this "Cooney original", his life and his family.
OTHER RHODE ISLAND COONEY FAMILIES
There are other prominent Cooney families in Rhode Island, in addition to we "Drumlish" Cooneys. There was a noted attorney, John Cooney, who was Mayor of Providence during WW II. His family still flourishes. There is the Thomas Cooney clan, members of which were friendly with the Dr. John P. Cooney family. And then there were the "baseball Cooneys". Jimmy Cooney Sr. played shortstop for the Cubs and Senators in the 1890s and may have been the inspiration for the Cooney who "died at first" in Casey At The Bat. His sons Johnny Cooney and Jimmy Cooney of Cranston played in the major leagues from the 1920's up to Johnny's final game in 1944. Click here for more on these other Rhode Island Cooney families. Members of these and other Cooney families are welcome to share their roots!
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