Catherine Coll

Mother of Éamon de Valera (1856–1932) Catherine CollBornCatherine Coll(1856-12-21)21 December 1856Bruree, County Limerick, IrelandDied12 June 1932(1932-06-12) (aged 75)Rochester, New York, U.S.Resting placeHoly Sepulchre Cemetery, Rochester, New YorkKnown forMother of Éamon de ValeraSpouse(s)Charles Wheelwright(m. 1888; d. 1929)Children3, including Éamon Catherine (Kate) Wheelwright (née Coll; 21 December 1856 – 12 June 1932) was the mother of Irish statesman and politician Éamon de Valera, who served as President of Ireland and Taoiseach. She was a nurse by profession. Biography Catherine Coll was born in Bruree, County Limerick. She emigrated on the SS Nevada to New York City, New York, in 1879. She first took a job with a wealthy French family that was living in Manhattan. This is where she allegedly met Juan Vivion de Valera (born 1853), Spanish sculptor who came to the home of her employers to give music lessons to the children. Though de Valera's official biography (Longford/O'Neill, Hutchinson, London, 1970) states that his parents were married at St. Patrick's in Greenville, New Jersey, on 19 September 1881, the parish records show no record of any Coll–de Valera