In the 1970s or 1980s, my mom embroidered the saying, “Mother is another name for love,” and placed it in a green-painted frame as a Mother’s Day gift for her mom. I can see it hanging on grandma’s wall, and I remember when I was young, considering the idea that my mom could possibly love her mom as much as I loved both of them.
I have shared this photo several times, but it is my favorite for Mother’s Day.
McMahon Family – 1914 (Private Family Collection)
My great-grandmother Mary Foley McMahon is with her seven children outside of their Clontarf, Minnesota, home. My grandma(Agnes) is standing on the chair before her mother.
“All that I am, or hope to be, I owe to my angel mother.” — Abraham Lincoln
I live in Saint Paul, Minnesota. My heritage pretty much covers the map of Ireland: great-great-grandparents from Cork (Crowley, Foley, Regan), a great-great-grandmother from Clare (Quinn), a great-great-grandfather from Fermanagh (McMahon) and his wife's parents from Mayo (McAndrew), a great-grandmother from Connemara (Hannon) married to my great-grandfather from Laois (McCormack), great-grandparents from Sligo (Flannery), and a great-grandmother from Kildare (Hill). All of those people ended up in Minnesota, where my four grandparents were born.
Three and four generations after my people left Ireland for America, I retain all Irish heritage. So much for the melting pot...
Hi, Jon! Left to right: Rose, Tom, Agnes (standing on the chair), Margaret, John, and Mary (seated), holding Frank. Mother Mary Foley McMahon behind, wife of Thomas McMahon (brother of your great-grandfather Frank). I have a few photos of Gert and her siblings as young people. I sent you a couple photos in an email last month, but if you didn’t get it, let me know. Are you on ancestry.com? I could also share my family tree with you. Feel free to email me directly: ainemcc@gmail.com. Thanks, Jon!
The Irish in America 
May 14, 2023 at 11:55 am
Happy Mothers Day! Can you identify the 7 children left to right?
Thanks,
Jon Stansfield
May 14, 2023 at 5:54 pm
Hi, Jon! Left to right: Rose, Tom, Agnes (standing on the chair), Margaret, John, and Mary (seated), holding Frank. Mother Mary Foley McMahon behind, wife of Thomas McMahon (brother of your great-grandfather Frank). I have a few photos of Gert and her siblings as young people. I sent you a couple photos in an email last month, but if you didn’t get it, let me know. Are you on ancestry.com? I could also share my family tree with you. Feel free to email me directly: ainemcc@gmail.com. Thanks, Jon!
May 14, 2023 at 11:12 am
I love this picture as well. Love the house too!
MOM