Letter from Patrick Mulvey, San Diego

The first picture is my grandfather and grandmother's wedding photo circa 1910: Patrick Mulvey - Margaret Costello

The second picture is my Mother and the four of us kids about 9 years ago just before Jim’s illness: Jimmy is on the left, Cathy, Mom, Pat, Kevin.

The third picture is my father James and our aunts and uncles - his siblings and spouses (circa 1988 or so)…….. Left to right: James B. Hackett (born in Galway), Catherine E. Mulvey (mother), James/Buddy (father) Mulvey, Margaret Hackett nee Mulvey(Peggy), Billie Mulvey nee Howley, Lawrence Mulvey (Larry). All are disceased except for Billie, my Uncle Larry’s wife.

Hi Joe and Marianne:

My father and mother visited the Leitrim farm and relatives in the summer of 1966. My grandfather, Patrick, died a few years before I was born in 1949. My Dad and my Mother always had very fond memories of their trip to Ireland till they day they died. When I was a little kid, I met my grandfather’s brother James in the early sixties. I was in Dublin on business in November but did not have time to get to Carrick on Shannon.

A little about me. I am 59 y/o with six children, one grandchild, US Navy Vietnam era veteran and live in San Diego. My parents moved here in the late 70’s. My brother Kevin went to high school in Coronado, where they lived for 30 years….he still lives there. My sister, Cathy, husband was here in the Navy at the time so after my Dad’s heart attack and subsequent forced retirement they moved out to be close to her and the young baby. I moved in the early 90’s, primarily to help with my parents who were getting elderlyl at the time as well as to escape the corporate life. Kevin and I started a music business which Kevin runs today with three stores in Southern California. My brother James, US Navy Veteran, two years younger than me, died in 2001 of lung cancer at 49. We are still dealing with that loss…………….

Currently, I am running a tidal energy renewable energy company in Scotland so I have been traveling quite a bit back and forth between the UK and SD. We expect to relocate during the summer. Hopefully, we will be able to make the reunion if all goes well.

Here is a little summary of Catherine (1924-2007) and James/Buddy (1917-1996) family:

Catherine (Stansfield) (1955): Daniel (33)
James (Carol Adler)(1952-2001): James (28); Brian (25); Laura (23)
Kevin (Kathryn Keyes)(1962): Mary (14); Sean (12); Michael (10); Shannon (6)
Patrick(1949): Patrick (30); Erin (25); Maureen (21); Kathleen (2); Grace (2); Liam (5mos); one grandchild Gabriella (3) – Patrick Jr. Father

Cathy is retired from SANDAG and lives in Julian in the mountains outside SD.
(Note for Patrick): 2 marriages since one woman could not have endured that marathon!) Married to Brandi nee Harris since 2003.

BTW, I obtained my Irish citizenship last year via my grandparents. It has helped me very much and being an EU citizen allows me to work freely in Europe. We are looking forward to visit Ireland for a holiday in the next year also. My little son Liam is also a Irish citizen since I had the citizenship before he was born!


I’m looking forward to meeting you and the rest of the family at the reunion. I’ll forward any info you send me to Kevin and Cathy.

This has been an re-awakening in mid-life to find so many Mulvey relatives. My father, who was raised in NYC as we all were, mentioned many of the family names in the family tree. He mentioned your grandfather’s name to me more than a few times and he appears to have interacted with the Mulvey family in NYC when he was young before WWII. Afterwards in the next few decades, everyone scattered to the four winds including all of us except my brother Jim who moved up to Orange County. After the Navy, I went to college in upstate NYS at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and worked for FEDEX and GE in various corporate positions before moving to California.

While my parents were in Ireland in 1966, Ralph Branca of the old Brooklyn Dodgers fame was visiting with his wife, the daughter of the other James Mulvey of the Dodgers and Hollywood. They has a fabulous time with many mentions of drinking and having fun with everyone. He was very proud of being a Mulvey and passed that on to us children. He always spoke very highly of his father and his brothers. My grandfather was an engineer as was my father and all three of us boys. Our grandfather, Patrick, came to the US and worked his brother Mike Mulvey, who was Chief Engineer at the first Edison power plant in NYC. He returned to Ireland with my grandmother whom he met in New York City. She was from Limerick and working as a governess for a wealthy family. They returned to Ireland, got married, and he opened a bicycle shop in Carrick on Shannon @ 1910 – he had been an apprentice blacksmith before leaving Ireland. He couldn’t make it economically and they returned to NYC with their now little daughter (Mary/May) who unfortunately died in the diphtheria epidemic in 1920. They never really wanted to leave Ireland…..my grandfather was the youngest……but those days were hard times in Ireland. My grandparents are buried in the Bronx with their little daughter.

I look forward to getting to know everyone and keep the family legacy and traditions alive into the next generations. Thanks Joe for bringing this all together. Once our generation passes, the chances of reunion would have been slim.