DANAHY in Hopkinton MA

SIX generations of DANAHY have walked the streets of Hopkinton, worshipped at St. John’s, and gone to school there. John the immigrant was born in County Kerry in 1838 and landed in Boston in 1856 at the age of 18. He was accompanied by a William, two Mary’s and an Honorah. Spelling variations for this and all DANAHY’s are numerous.

Three years later, in 1859, John married a lass from Ireland, Hannah Curren, and they settled in Hopkinton. Here, they raised seven wee ones: Michael, John, James, Daniel, Julia, Mary, and Timothy. They lived for a while at 22 Main and then moved to their own place at 19 Pleasant St. As they grew up, the boot shops kept them all employed.

In 1870, John was naturalized after swearing to renounce all foreign allegiances, “most especially to Victoria.” Hannah died in 1896, at the age of 60 and the first federal census of the twentieth century shows John living on Pleasant Street with all of his children. He died at the age of 68 in 1906. Son Timothy, the baby of the family, had just married Annie Lenan and moved in to her ancestral home at 15 Cedar St., where she had grown up wt. her mother Catherine Lenan, who had in turn received the land from her parents, John and Margaret O’Brien. Annie’s father James had moved in when he married Catherine and Timothy did the same with Annie in the next generation. Annie and Timothy raised their family there and when the first born son, John, married, his wife Alice also came to live there for a while. Annie’s grandson, Tim, and his wife, Brenda, lived on a parcel of the land next door in the early years of their marriage.

The town of Hopkinton was named in honor of the former governor of the state of Connecticut, who had donated money to the trustees of Harvard University in his will. The Trustees of Harvard bought the land from the local Indians and they used part of Mr. Hopkins bequests to establish the Detur Prize. Now more than 300 years later, this prize was bestowed on a resident of the town and a descendant of John, Amy Ozols. Tis but one of many wee coincidences.

I will share info on the DANAHY descendants and am searching for their origins in Co. Kerry, Ireland. Likewise, James LENAN and Catherine O'Brien. Michael W. Smith settled in Westborough MA andI am searching for his origins in Ireland.