My Tree

"A newborn babe brings

light to the house,

warmth to the hearth,

and joy to the soul,

for wealth is family,

family is wealth."

~ Irish Proverb

(Read more about this photo in Little light of the Cowhey household, 1915)

This blog is a celebration of the lives of the Cowhey/Cowey/Cowhy/Cowhig/Ó Cobhthaigh, Donnelly, Foley, McGinley, McGonigle/McGonigal, McWilliams and other related families of Mount Carbon and Pottsville, Schuylkill County, Pennsylvania.

Cowhey (Ó Cobhthaigh) coat of arms 

Patrick Cowhey, patriarch of the family, arrived in the U.S. from Ireland in 1823. He spent many years in New York before finally settling in Schuylkill County, Pennsylvania.

We are a family with Irish Catholic heritage - railroaders, coal miners, and the women and children who loved and supported them. We are their proud descendents. If you think you have a link to our family, please contact me!

My Schuylkill County, Pennsylvania family surnames include the following.

• Brown
• Burdess
• Byrnes (Ó Broin)
• Chapman
• Cowhey/Cowey/Cowhy (Ó Cobhthaigh)
• Donnelly
• Foley
• Graham
• Hossler
• McCue
• McGinley
• McGonigle/McGonigal
• McIntyre
• McWilliams
• Miller
• Mokelar
• Owens
• Regan
• Robinson
• Rogers/Rodgers
• Somers
• Stanton
• Stokel
• Warden

Visit me at A Light That Shines Again for information about my Irish-famine-immigrant Boston branch of the family. You can read about my Hungarian/Croatian roots at 100 Years in America.