Maurice J. “Old Maurice” Woulfe (1690–1792)

Maurice James Woulfe, also known as "Old Maurice," was born in 1690, probably at Inchreagh, near present-day Athea, on the River Galey, in western County Limerick, Ireland. His father, a Catholic farmer, was James Woulfe, also known as James of Inchreagh. The identity of his mother is unknown. Woulfe had at least seven siblings: six sisters who are said to have immigrated to the United States, and a brother, Richard (b. ca. 1690), who never married.

Family oral history—contained in a letter written by Jane C. “Dollie” Woulfe and dated August 1956 from Cratloe, County Limerick—suggests that Maurice Woulfe “was strong and energetic, physically and mentally.” When his father died in 1704, Maurice took charge of the family. According to the letter, he provided dowries for his six sisters, postponing his own marriage.

In 1730, he married Kathleen Rearden (also Riordan). The couple had five children: Richard Maurice “Short Dick” (b. ca. 1730), James Maurice “The Barrister” (b. 1732), Edmond Maurice, Patrick “Wiggie,” and Maurice James “Young Maurice” (b. ca. 1763). He bought land at Templeathea, about 2.8 kilometers northeast of Athea. (The letter suggests that Inchreagh was farther than that from Athea.) Sometime around 1760, his wife Kathleen died. “The churchyard, Templeathea, where she was buried was in plain sight of his house,” according to the letter. The tradition is that he could not bear to look at it.”

As a result, in March 1760 Woulfe leased two thousand acres of land, which constituted the entire townland of Cratloe, in County Limerick.

Woulfe died in 1792. According to the Dollie Woulfe’s letter, he died at home on December 25, at night: “He had eaten his supper, possibly too good a one for his years, and was sitting in a corner of the kitchen beside the fire watching a dance of the young people that was in full swing, when he appeared to fall asleep. It was noticed that he had 31 of his own teeth in his mouth and the 32nd was in his waistcoat pocket when he died that night as he was practically intact.”

Top of the page: Athea, December 26, 1947, by Caoimhín Ó Danachair

Selected Sources

Letter from Dollie Woulfe to Sr. Mary Caelan (Helen Woulfe), August 1956