My ancestors - Flanagan - Contents

Michael Flanagan

Sources yet to be consulted:
- Search for Michael Flanagan will in [NAI].

Michael Flanagan buried with his parents at Glasnevin Cemetery.
See full size.

Michael Flanagan,
born 24 September 1872, Portmahon House, Co.Dublin.
His father Alderman Michael Flanagan was a wealthy and successful market gardener, who ran a big Dublin business. He was a nationalist Dublin Corporation councillor and Alderman.
Michael's father was a religious Catholic, and went to mass daily.
The family home was a big house, Portmahon House, Rialto, Co.Dublin.

See Michael attending funeral of Laurence Dunne in 1886 with his father.
Michael wanted to be a solicitor, but his father wanted him to get involved in the farming.
Liam Cosgrave said: "Whatever else the sons were, none of them were farmers". The result was, like his brothers, he became a "gentleman".
Michael used play tennis with Irish player Joshua Pim, who won Wimbledon in 1893 and 1894. The story was (of course) that he could beat him.
Finola Flanagan heard that Michael travelled on business and spent time out of Ireland.
He is listed in 1901 census living at home with parents in Portmahon House. Occupation listed as "farmer's son", unmarried.

He had a relationship around 1904-1907 with Muriel Jackson [born 9 Apr 1882].
With her he had a secret family, whose existence was only uncovered in 2021.
He had 3 children with her. They were born in 1905, 1906 and 1907.
Their relationship probably ended before late 1910, when she was pregnant by another man.

His mother died in April 1910.
He is listed in 1911 census living at home with widowed father in Portmahon House. He is listed as an "agriculturalist" along with his father. Not married. Also living there are his brother Frank and sister Louisa.
He didn't marry.
His sister Louisa married W.T. Cosgrave (first prime minister of Ireland) in 1919.
Their son Liam Cosgrave (born 1920) recalled Michael Flanagan living at Portmahon House in the 1920s with father and Frank.

Michael dies, 1929:
He died before his father. He died of cancer of throat. They said "he didn't change his pipe" [Liam Cosgrave].
He died at Portmahon House, 19 Mar 1929, age 56 yrs.
See death cert from here. Lists him as bachelor, of independent means.
See item in Irish Independent, March 20, 1929.
Funeral 21 Mar 1929. Mass celebrated by Fr. Paddy Flanagan. Also present was Fr. John Flanagan.
He was bur with his mother at Glasnevin Cemetery. (Father buried there in 1931.)
See item in Evening Herald, March 21, 1929.
Identical item in Irish Independent, March 22, 1929.

Death of Michael Flanagan.
From Irish Independent, March 20, 1929.

Funeral of Michael Flanagan.
From Evening Herald, March 21, 1929.

Michael Flanagan had a secret family

I discovered in Oct 2021 that Michael Flanagan had a secret family with a Protestant woman called Muriel Jackson.

DNA matches

What first led me to this were the DNA results for my mother and for me.

There are incredibly strong DNA matches between the Jackson family, descendants of Muriel Jackson, and my family.
Peter Jackson is my mother's no.1 match on Ancestry DNA (apart from her own son and her nephew).
George Jackson is my no.1 match on MyHeritage DNA.
Mo Jackson is my no.2 match on MyHeritage DNA.
The matches are such that the Jacksons should be about my 2nd cousins.

Documents say it is Michael Flanagan

With the help of Mo Jackson, I got an outline of the Jackson family and it was immediately clear who the link was.

"Michael Flanagan" is listed as the father of Muriel Jackson's children in two birth certs, in 1907 and 1911.
I knew who this was - my grand-uncle Michael Flanagan, who we all thought was a bachelor.
We found the 1911 census entry, which needs a lot of decoding.
- The 1911 census entry for Muriel lists a "Michael Jackson", age 38, living with her as her husband. But Muriel's maiden name is Jackson. So this seems a fake name.
- Did she marry someone also called Jackson? No. No such marriage is found. There is no evidence a Michael Jackson exists.
- Also, the census claims they are married 7 years. But in 1907 she put "Michael Flanagan" as the father of her child on his birth cert. (That turned out to be true.) And after the 1911 census, when she has another child later in 1911 the father is again listed as "Michael Flanagan". (That turned out to be untrue, but for now we are just trying to show "Michael Jackson" is fake.)
- The age of "Michael Jackson" is 38, which is exactly correct for our Michael Flanagan.
- So "Michael Jackson" in the 1911 census clearly refers to Michael Flanagan. But why the fake name? And why do the children use her surname, not his? Obviously they never married.
- In fact, given she is pregnant by another man in 1911, her relationship with Michael Flanagan is probably already over by the time of the census.
- The fictional name "Michael Jackson" appears again on the birth cert of Muriel's youngest child Edna in 1921. (She is proven to be not the child of Michael Flanagan.)
The family knew they were related to Cosgrave:
- Mo Jackson says (about her father Ronald): "My Dad always used to say when Liam Cosgrave was on TV that we were related" "my Mum used to say she didn't know if Michael Jackson (my grandfather) was the right name and she said my Dad always mentioned the Cosgrave name but she didn't want to pry."
Financial support:
- The story in the Jackson family is that some financial support came from Michael up until his death in 1929. Note that Michael never actually lived to inherit from his long-lived father.
- There were promises of money to go to college. But Michael was still alive when his sons were of college age, and they did not go to college. Mo Jackson says (about her father Ronald): "my Dad used to say there was money for him to go to Trinity but somehow or another it was all spent."
The Alderman knew, and Frank must have known:
- The story is that after Michael died in March 1929, Cecil and Harry (and maybe Ronald too), now in their 20s, went to see Michael's father, the 95 year old Alderman at Portmahon House. It did not go well, and the Alderman basically kicked them out. It is unclear if the Alderman knew of their existence before then.
- It seems likely that my grandfather Frank knew of their existence, because of this visit. But he never said anything to the next generation.

Conclusion

Michael Flanagan is father of Cecil and Ronald and Henry. This is now proved by DNA.
He is NOT father of Phyllis or Edna. This is now proved by DNA.

Cecil and Ronald and Henry are 1st cousins of my mother. That would sure explain the DNA matches!
They are also 1st cousins of the Taoiseach Liam Cosgrave.

We can only speculate as to why Michael did not marry Muriel:

She was Church of Ireland. This may be why he kept the relationship secret and never married her, for fear that his father would cut him off. Though his father's own sister married a Protestant in 1866 and the families stayed friendly.
He must have supported the children to some extent, or why would she come back to him and have another child?
The relationship must be over by 1910, when she is pregnant by another man.
Michael died in 1929 before inheriting from his long-lived father.
In any case, however long they stayed together, he did not marry her. Unless some letters turn up, we may never know why.

Michael and Muriel's children

Michael Flanagan,
born 24 September 1872.
He had a relationship around 1904-1907 with Muriel Jackson [born 9 Apr 1882].
She was Church of Ireland. He was Catholic.
The 1911 census entry, claiming she is "married" 7 years, is evidence that their relationship started in 1904.
Michael and Muriel clearly never married. (Or else the 1911 census would use his real name not a fake name. And the children would be Flanagan.)
It is unclear how long they stayed together. By late 1910, she is pregnant with another man's child, so her relationship with Michael is probably over.
Michael and Muriel had issue (proved by DNA):

Cecil Jackson,
born 17 Mar 1905, 11 David Rd, Glasnevin, Co.Dublin.
See birth cert from here. No father listed on birth cert.
He was a bookmaker. See him renewing his bookmaker's licence in notice in Evening Herald, October 28, 1949. His address is given as 9 Somerset St.
He mar Maura ----.
Death cert says he is mechanic, of 88 Lr Mount St, Dublin.
Though death notice says he is of 2 Connolly Gardens, Inchicore.
He died 17 Aug 1956, Sir Patrick Dun's Hospital, Dublin, age 51 yrs. See death cert from here.
See death notice in Evening Herald, August 18, 1956.
Funeral Mon 20 Aug 1956, bur Mount Jerome Cemetery, Dublin.
Maura fl 1956.
They had issue:
1. Peter Jackson.
  DNA match to me and my mother on Ancestry.
Ronald Jackson,
born Michael Ronald Jackson, 25 Mar 1906, 11 David Rd, Glasnevin, Co.Dublin.
See birth cert from here. No father listed on birth cert.
His mother died 1934.
He lived at family home, 9 Somerset St, Ringsend.
"Ml. Jackson" is listed at 9 Somerset St in [Thom's, 1939, p.1481] and [Thom's, 1945, p.1205] and [Thom's, 1951, p.1217]. Think entry actually shows his mother's old name.
At mar he is "meter tester" for Dublin Corporation. Living 88 Lr Mount St, Dublin.
He mar 2 Mar 1954 [him age 47, her age 29] to Eileen Goodman [Ellen Frances Goodman, born 30 May 1924, Dublin, dau of James Goodman].
See mar cert. Gives him a fictional father of "John Jackson".
They lived at 9 Somerset St.
"Ml. Jackson" is listed at 9 Somerset St in [Thom's, 1958, p.898].
He died 17 Dec 1972, age 66 yrs.
He was bur Mount Jerome Cemetery, Dublin.
Eileen lived at 9 Somerset St until her death 2002.
Somerset St was always rented, never owned, but the family managed to stay there for 90 years.
She died 20 Apr 2002, age 77 yrs.
They had issue:
1. Mo Jackson.
  DNA match to me and Michael Peevey on MyHeritage.
  She mar John O'Dwyer.
Henry Jackson,
Harry, born 19 Sept 1907, 4 Hendrick St, Dublin.
Birth cert has him born Henry William Flanagan. Shows Michael Flanagan as father. See birth cert from here.
Henry went to England.
He mar 1939, London, to Josephine Doyle.
They had issue:
1. George Jackson.
  DNA match to me and Michael Peevey on MyHeritage.
2. Gordon Jackson.
3. John Jackson.

Muriel had further issue, for which Michael Flanagan is NOT the father.

Baronetcy story: The Alderman was apparently offered a baronetcy in 1900 if he would become Lord Mayor and receive a Royal visit, and he refused.
If he had accepted, he would have been the 1st Baronet.
To add a second hypothetical to that, if Michael here had married the mother of his sons, then the 2nd Baronet would have been in this line. And indeed the Baronetcy would still exist.

Birth cert of Cecil Jackson, 1905. No father listed.

Birth cert of Ronald Jackson, 1906. No father listed.

Birth cert of Henry Jackson, 1907. Father is given as Michael Flanagan.