Denis Moloney

  General Notes:

Denis Moloney was the third son (fifth child) of Michael Moloney and Mary Humphreys (Humphries).

Michael and Mary's eldest son was also named Denis, which does look confusing. The most likely explanation for this is that the elder Denis died in infancy or very early childhood, the name Denis would then of been given to the next son. This was a fairly common practice at the time and also indicates that Denis was named after someone close to the family. Most likely Denis was the name of Michael's father.

Denis was born in the parish of Newport in the townland of Lackamore in county Tipperary. All we know about Denis' young years is that his father was a farmer and that he lived through the great famine of 1845-49. Whether the Moloney's remained farmers is unknown, it is also not known if they were land owners or tenant farmers.

Denis married Ellen Kennedy, daughter of Patrick Kennedy and Ellen Ryan, on 6 Mar 1859 in Newport, Tipperary, Munster, Ireland. (Ellen Kennedy was born on 4 May 1840 in Tooreenbrien, Tipperary, Munster, Ireland, christened in Newport, Tipperary, Munster, Ireland and died on 29 Mar 1935 in Lumsden, , , New Zealand.)

  Noted events in their marriage were:

• 1861. Denis emigrated from Ireland to Victoria, Australia, as Unassisted Immigrants.

• 1862. Denis moved from Melbourne to Tasmania (Launceston) as part of an Assisted Immigration scheme.

• Abt Aug 1870. Denis immigrated to New Zealand, arriving in Port Chalmers, settled in Arthurs Point.

• Abt 1880. Denis moved from Arthurs Point to Dunedin (Ocean View Hotel in Hillside Road, South Dunedin).

• Bef 1890. Denis took over the Kensington Hotel, St Kilda Rd, Caversham.

• After 1897. Denis moved from Dunedin to the Commercial Hotel in Lawrence.

• Bef 1917. Denis retired and moved to Lumsden.

  Marriage Notes:

Denis Moloney and Ellen Kennedy were married in 1859 in the presence of Patrick McGrath and Bridget Kennedy.

Ellen came from the same area in Tipperary as Denis and it there is a possibility that the families may have been neighbours. There is also anecdotal evidence that they may have been related by marriage, Denis is recalled by one person to of been a cousin to the Ryan's that emigrated to New Zealand, Ellen Kennedy's mother was a Ryan.

Denis and Ellen emigrated from Ireland soon after the birth of their first child, Michael, in 1861 (Michael was born in 1860).

The young family travelled in a party of at least 6, possibly more, and arrived in Melbourne, Victoria in July 1861 aboard the 'King of Algeria'. Arriving in Melbourne were the following people:
MOLONEY DENIS (32)
MOLONEY HELEN (0) (This was Michael being recorded as an infant of Ellen's)
MOLONEY HELEN (22)
MOLONEY JAMES (14)
MOLONEY WILLIAM (21)
RYAN MARY (20)

James and William were younger brothers of Denis.

Mary Ryan and Ellen Moloney were friends, and possibly cousins. It was not uncommon for names to be recorded phonetically which was why Ellen is listed as Helen in the ship register.

The family were listed as 'unnassisted immigrants' which means that their fares were paid in full privately and not sponsered by any third party. The logical assumption would be that Denis paid the fares himself, which indicates at least some level of financial security.

We do not know if any family were left behind in Ireland. At this stage we are assuming Denis sold up whatever assests the family had and emmigrated with the family. This would indicate he was the eldest surviving son, however it should be noted that this is a very loose assumption.

Sometime in late in 1861, or early 1862, the same family is listed as 'Assisted Immigrants' to Tasmania. This means they took part in one of the immigration schemes the Tasmanian goverment and local businesses were running. It also indicates that the family was either very frugal or not overly wealthy. We can also assume that work was not easy to come by in Melbourne so they looked farther afield (Melbourne was the busiest port in the empire for new immigrants during the 1860's).

They travelled across the Bass Straight aboard the 'Royal Shepherd'.

The following Moloney's were aboard (the spelling is as per the ships register):
MALONEY DENNIS (32)
MALONEY MICHAEL (INF)
MALONEY HELEN (22)
MALONEY JAMES (14)
MALONEY WILLIAM (21)

I understand Mary Ryan also followed them to Tasmania but have not been able to find a record of her travelling with the family. We do know Mary Ryan and her two sisters eventually settled in New Zealand and remained close to the Moloney's.

According to family stories Denis and Ellen ran hotels in and around Launceston (Tasmania) for a number of years (9). It was here that their next 5 children were born.

At some time in 1870 Denis and Ellen set out with a family of 6 for New Zealand aboard the 'Claude Hamilton', a steamer operating out of the port of Melbourne. Unfortunately after 3 days the ship developed a problem with the boiler and had to return to port. The Moloney's are reported to of eventually arrived in Port Chalmers aboard the Tararua some time later, exact date unknown. A search of shipping records indicates that the family probably arrived as steerage passengers (steerage passengers were generally not recorded by name). We know for sure is that in 1871 Denis was in New Zealand having land surveys in the Lakes District (Queenstown, Arthur's Point). It is likely they arrived around November 1870.

From Port Chalmers the family immediately set out for Queenstown, a wagon trip that took approximately 3 weeks. Denis purchased some land and built the Arthur's Point Hotel, a hotel that is still in existence today as the Arthur's Point Pub. It should be noted that the original hotel was destroyed by fire at some stage in the early 1880's (perhaps 1880) and rebuilt. It is not certain if Denis owned the Hotel when it was burnt down or not, more than likely not.

The four youngest children were born in Arthur's Point, giving them a family of ten children, five boys and five girls.

In 1882 Denis Moloney is listed in the Return of Freeholders as a publican in South Dunedin with a total property value of £60. I believe he had left Arthur's Point by this time and was running the Ocean View Hotel in Hillside Road, South Dunedin.

By 1890 Denis and Ellen had moved to the Kensington Hotel in St Kilda Rd, Caversham (Dunedin). They remained there until at least 1897 and possibly as late as 1907.

From Dunedin they moved to Lawrence where they operated the Commercial Hotel. About 1917 they retired to Lumsden where Denis died. Ellen continued to live on a small farm in Lumsden under the care of her daughter Margaret until she died in 1935.