JOHN HANLEY WEDS A PRETTY DANCER

Summary

Wedding report with a portrait of the bride, captioned "MRS. JOHN HANLEY, FORMERLY MISS NORAH SULLIVAN." John Hanley and Miss Norah Sullivan "were married this morning at St. Patrick's church at nuptial mass at 5:30 by Monseigneur De Siere", to the tune of rattling tin cans and amid a shower of rice: Tuesday 17 September 1912, by the paper's date. After a wedding breakfast at the Butte hotel they left for Helena and the state fair, then Salt Lake, to come back in two weeks to a home at 453 North Idaho street. He is "a young miner who has lived in Butte for many years"; she "is one of the popular girls that have taken part in Irish concerts and parties for the past few years". The bridesmaid was "a schoolday friend, Miss Katie Holland"; the groom "was attended by his brother, Ed Hanley". The bride is James J. Murphy's first cousin Nora (Honora) Sullivan, born at Slieve, Eyeries, in 1888 to Patrick "Tailor" Sullivan and Catherine Murphy, sister of James's father; in 1910 she was "Niece" in Ellen Murphy's household in Butte. 95 (estimate, analysis of 4 Oct 2026): the family tree gives John Nicholas Hanley's marriage to her on this day, citing Montana County Marriages, and his brother Ed is the tree's Edward Valentine Hanley. Katie Holland is printed beside a dancer "Nora Sullivan" in five Gaelic League and Erin's Daughters items of 1910-12, which ties those items to this Nora at about 75. By the tree she died at Greeley, Nebraska, in February 1920.

In its time

• Gaelic revival1893–1915
• Copper boom1882–1917

People

• Nora Sullivan (Ellen Murphy's niece, b. ~1888 Ireland; later m. John Hanley)(as printed: Miss Norah Sullivan; Mrs. John Hanley)
  role: bride · family confidence: 95 certain

  James J. Murphy's first cousin: daughter of Catherine Murphy, sister of his father Patrick (1888 baptism; the family tree, confirmed by the user 27 May 2026).

• John Nicholas /Hanley/(as printed: John Hanley)
  role: groom · family confidence: 95 certain

  Husband of James's first cousin Nora, so an in-law; in the family tree.

Also mentioned

• Monseigneur De Siere · officiant

  Said the nuptial mass at 5:30 in St. Patrick's church.

• Miss Katie Holland · bridesmaid

  'A schoolday friend' of the bride. Printed beside a dancer Nora Sullivan in Gaelic League and Erin's Daughters items of 1910-12.

• Ed Hanley · attendant_brother_of_groom

  'his brother'; the family tree's Edward Valentine Hanley. No person record.

Places

• Butte, Montana (primary)
• Helena, Montana (secondary)

Themes

• Marriage
• Irish American community
• Irish language & culture

Story threads

• The Pat-and-Ellen Murphy household — Butte 1887 to LA 1980
• Butte Irish-American organisational life — Hibernians, Gaelic League, Erin's Daughters, RELA

Tags

• #Direct family
• #Evidence primary

Source type

news_item, marriage_announcement

Related sources

• 1888-04-07 — Irish Family History Foundation — Cork South West (Roots Ireland) — Honora (Nora) Sullivan baptism — b. 30 Mar 1888 Slieve; daughter of Patrick Sullivan + Catherine Murphy
• 1910-04-15 — US Federal Census 1910 (Thirteenth Census) — 1910 US Census Butte Ward 6 — TWO Murphy households on the same page (Ellen widow-de-facto + JJM newlywed)
• 1912-01-06 — The Butte Daily Post, p.3 — WELCOME SOCIAL OF THE GAELIC LEAGUE
• 1912-03-29 — The Butte Daily Post, p.2 — ERIN'S DAUGHTERS TO GIVE A BALL
• 1912-08-30 — The Butte Daily Post, p.7 — ERIN'S DAUGHTERS TO HOLD SESSIONS
• 1911-09-09_butte-daily-post_flurry-sullivan-ellen-kelly-st-lawrences(unresolved)
• 1866-02 — Ireland Civil Registry of Births — District of Kilcatherine, Union of Castletown, Co. Cork — 1866 Kilcatherine RD birth register page — contains a Hanley-maiden-name entry (pending vision pass)

Open questions

• The marriage licence (Montana County Marriages, cited by the tree) is not filed; it would name the bride's parents and close the identification.
• Nora's death (Greeley, Nebraska, 9 Feb 1920 by the tree; a Butte Miner item of 18 Mar 1920 by its title) has no filed source.