Edenderry’s Patrick Mahon 1821 -1900. US Civil War Soldier Who Ended His Days Back In His Native Town & County.

HE WAS A MEMBER OF THE 6TH IOWA INFANTRY – AND PART OF THE ARMY OF THE TENNESSEE.

HE SEEN ACTION AT THE BATTLE OF SHILOH, THE SIEGE AT CORNINTH, THE BATTLE OF ATLANTA AND HIS REGIMENT WERE ON “THE MARCH TO THE SEA” WITH GENERAL WILLIAM TECUMSAH SHERMAN IN DECEMBER 1864.

HE FOUGHT AT THE LAST MAJOR BATTLE OF THE US CIVIL WAR IN BENTONVILLE, NORTH CAROLINA.

Seal_of_Iowa.png (488×484) – Wikipedia

Edenderry Crest

Patrick, Mahan – US, Adjutant General Military Records, 1631-1976 – Fold3

US, Civil War Service Union – Iowa, 1861-1865 – Fold3

Patrick Mahon died at his home in Edenderry, County Offaly on February 25th 1900. His death cert states he was then 82 years old and most probably nobody living in Edenderry at that time could have known the significance of this old mans death. They likely had no idea that Patrick Mahon had spent a large part of his life in America and had fought in the Union Army during that countries Civil War and borne witness to some of that conflicts most significant and pivotal battles.

The first real clue that led us to the eventual death cert of Patrick Mahon came in the form of his United States Pension Card issued in 1890 which unusually, but vitally, mentions that Patrick applied for his US pension while then living in Ireland. Luckily for us among the other information filed at that time was confirmation of his home address at Windsor Street in Edenderry, Co. Offaly which is an area close to Clonmullen within the town. Patrick was then living with his Sister In Law, Ellen Mahon and his 2 Nieces and 1 Nephew. Ellen had married Michael Mahon who was the Brother of Patrick and they had owned a Supply Shop in Edenderry. Michael Mahon died suddenly in 1879 at 60 years of age and, while it is only a guess, this event could have been the reason for Patrick returning to Ireland.

4630789.pdf – View Record – Irish Genealogy (Death Records, Patrick Mahon 1900 -Note Army Pensioner)

**1901 census.nationalarchives.ie/reels/nai000946118/ – Mahon Family (Windsor Street, Edenderry -Ellen, Katie, Rosie, Michael)**

We have no definitive record of when Patrick Mahon emigrated to the USA but as he doesn’t seem to appear on the 1850 Census but can be found living in the state of Iowa by the time of the 1860 Census it is likely somewhere within this decade that he arrived in the new world from Ireland. Whatever about the date of his arrival that first record of Patrick and the year it is recorded puts him at a time and a place of huge significance in the history of the then United States of America. A bloody and divisive Civil War is just months away and Patrick Mahon from Edenderry will become one of the thousands of Irish born men involved in the conflict.

Patrick Mahon enlists into the 6th Iowa Infantry in July of 1861 and is assigned to Company H of that regiment. And while the initial few months of his service was relatively quiet that would soon change. The 6th Iowa Infantry regiment were assigned to the Army of The Tennessee and would spend the rest of the war in the western theatre of operations. This famous army at different times during the Civil War came under the overall command of two men destined to later become true Union heroes of the war in William Tecumsah Sherman & Ulysses S Grant.

In April of 1862 Patrick Mahon and his regiment were involved in one of the bloodiest battles of the entire war. The Battle of Shiloh took place on the 6th & 7th of April in eastern Tennessee and after initial severe setbacks the Union army would reorganize and eventually force the Confederate army to retreat from the battlefield. The aftermath of Shiloh was a huge shock to the general public in both the Northern and Southern states due to the previously unheard of level of casualties on both sides. Patrick would survive the slaughter and his regiment next moved to nearby Corinth where again they were involved in another major confrontation. The Siege of Corinth began on the April 29th and finally came to an end on the 30th May 1862 with once again the Confederate Army retreating from their positions.

Thure de Thulstrup – Battle of Shiloh – Battle of Shiloh – Wikipedia

The years 1863 and 1864 would see Patrick and the 6th Iowa involved in more major confrontations such as The Battle of Lookout Mountain, The Battle of Kennesaw Mountain and The Battle of Atlanta before eventually embarking with General Sherman on his famous March To The Sea between November and December of 1864. Patrick Mahon was by then promoted to 3rd Corporal and his regiment remained with Sherman as he went on to conquer South Carolina before eventually and finally seeing action at what was the last major engagement of the entire civil war at The Battle of Bentonville in late March of 1865.

**OP 26 Battle at Bentonville (9093488984) – Battle of Bentonville, North Carolina – Wikipedia**

Patrick Mahon’s presence at the Battle Of Bentonville throws up one of those strange twists of local history that we sometimes come across during our research into this subject. Previously on this site we have told the story of Daniel & Edward Behan, who were Confederate soldiers and were also born and reared in Edenderry Co. Offaly. The Behan brothers were also present at the Battle Of Bentonville in March of 1865 but were fighting in opposition to fellow Edenderry man Patrick Mahon.

In an even more amazing twist all 3 soldiers hailed from the same Clonmullen area of Edenderry and in fact would have lived and grown up only a few houses away from each other. All 3 emigrated to the USA in the 1850’s and all eventually became embroiled in that countries Civil War albeit on different sides. There can be little doubt that Patrick Mahon, Daniel & Edward Behan would have known each other well and maybe even played together as children on the streets around Clonmullen, Edenderry. While it is impossible to know if the Edenderry men knew of each others presence on that battlefield in Bentonville it is an odd twist of fate that one time neighbors from a small town in Ireland could possibly have clashed directly on a battlefield in North Carolina. It also is a real indicator of how the US Civil War affected the lives of Irish emigrants in such a profound way.

Like Patrick Mahon, the Behan brothers, also survived the US Civil War but unlike Patrick they remained in the US where they lived out the rest of their days. Patrick Mahon chose to return to Ireland and to that small area of Clonmullen in Edenderry and it is here that he ended his days in the early months of 1900. It looks as if this family last surviving member was Patrick’s niece Kate Mahon who died in Edenderry in 1943. As none of Patrick’s Nieces or Nephews married it would seem, from our research, that the Mahon’s family last connection to Edenderry ended with Kate Mahon’s death.

To try to bring the story of Patrick Mahon’s life to a proper conclusion we were hopeful of finding his burial site in the Edenderry area but sadly we have yet to be completely successful in our search. But we did find the grave of his aforementioned brother Michael Mahon which is located in Templedooah Graveyard in Carbury, Co. Kildare. His marker confirms that he was from Edenderry and the marker also confirms the presence of his son, also named Michael and the nephew of Patrick Mahon, who died in 1904 at only 31 years of age. Sadly the Mahon burial plot in Templedooah is not in good condition and the main headstone has fallen off its pedestal and currently lies flat on the ground. There are some faint markings on some of the other stone markers close by that are impossible to read but maybe, just maybe, this is where the rest of the Mahon family were buried and also where Patrick Mahon, A US Civil War soldier in the 6th Iowa Infantry Regiment was laid to rest in February 1900.

THE MAHON FAMILY – Death Records