MULCAHY BROS.1895 - 1911

Daniel (1866-1917) & Brother Michael (1862-1925)

Michael Mulcahy left Tipperary, Ireland at age 23, leaving behind his brothers Daniel (19), Thomas and sisters Mary and Lucy. He arrived in Australia in 1885. He worked in Roma, Queensland and was soon joined by his brother Daniel in 1887. Mount Morgan in Queensland promised Gold and the brothers first mined there and also at Charters Towers, where they also gained experience in hotel management.

Daniel was the first to come to Western Australia in 1891. He first worked for William Sandover and Company (hardware merchants) in Fremantle. Upon the discovery of gold in the Murchison region Mulcahy and his brother Michael who joined him in 1892 were some of the first prospectors to go to Nannine and Peak Hill.

Michael briefly recovered from illness in Perth before hearing of gold discoveries in Coolgardie and Daniel soon travelled overland to join him there. After making money there from gold Daniel set up in Fremantle and in 1893 his first investment was 50% interest in the Commercial Hotel, in High Street Fremantle. Two years later in 1895 Michael returns from Kalgoorlie and he and Daniel form a partnership; the Mulcahy Bros were very successful- they owned a series of hotels: the National, Commercial and Terminus Hotels, in Fremantle, The Royal Hotel, East Fremantle, the Federal, Central and Shamrock hotels in Perth, the Metropole and Grand Hotels in Boulder (1897).

1902 REBUILDING OF THE NATIONAL HOTEL. Messrs. Mulcahy Bros., the well-known hotel proprietors, have just made arrangements for the rebuilding of the old National Hotel, on the corner of High and Market streets, Fremantle. They entrusted Mr. Louis Pearce, architect, with the preparation of plans for an up to-date and commodious hotel, worthy of the position referred to… Messrs. Mulcahy Bros., who are the owners of the National Hotel property, conduct at the present time no less than seven large hotels in Western Australia, three of their houses being situated in Fremantle, three in Boulder, and one in Perth. For a full description of the new hotel read: (reference)

In 1902 Mary Anne Mulcahy, wife of Daniel, moved into the grand house “Knocknagow” at 24 Preston Point Road, East Fremantle, naming it after the novel by Tipperary writer Charles Kirkham.

Milly Milly Station was purchased in 1906.

The Mulcahy’s stayed in partnership until 1911 when Daniel retired and the assets were divided. Daniel kept Knockanow and Milly Milly Station and Michael kept all the hotels.

Michael also owned and bred racehorses. New Tipperary won the Australia Cup in 1919.

Photographs of the Mulcahy’s come from the The Cyclopedia of Western Australia (reference)

In 1917 Michael Mulcahy passed away suddenly aged 55. He had been a life member and one of the founders of the Celtic Club, Perth, and a member of the W.A. Turf Club. A widow Margaret (nee Cranley) and three sons (Daniel, Hugh and Michael) and five daughters (Lucy, Ellen (Nellie), Mary, Margaret (Maggie) and Elizabeth who was born three months before he died) survived him. (reference)

According to family member Jack Mucahy:

Michael Mulcahy left a big estate and the most precise will for its future management and disposal. The main provisions of the will were that his estate was to be divided in equal parts between his eight children and his widow. But there were very definite conditions attached. The girls were to remain at boarding school until twenty. The boys must qualify as either doctors or lawyers by twenty five. If his widow remarried she was to get £500 and no more. If the girls entered a convent they were to be treated similarly. This will was made in 1916 but as there were no medical or legal colleges in Perth at that time, it meant that his sons had to leave Perth to meet the conditions of the will. My father Dan went to Ireland. Hugh and Michael went to University in Melbourne. However the lasting effect of his will was the provision of a private income for all his children which lasted throughout their lives.

In 1925, eight years after his brother, Daniel died:

A notable and successful career was closed late yesterday afternoon by the death of Mr. Daniel Mulcahy, of East Fremantle. Mr. Mulcahy had led a very keen, and useful life, his extensive mining, commercial and pastoral activities being crowned with considerable success. Noted for his kindliness of heart and un-ostentatious philanthropy, "Dan" helped scores of men who had been handicapped by misfortune to regain their feet and it was his unfailing rule never to speak ill of his fellow men, his faith in the better qualities of human nature being a byword. Mulcahy brothers owned some of the best-known hostelries in the State, including the Grand, of Boulder, the first brick and stone hotel erected on the Golden Mile. In 1906 the Mulcahy brothers acquired Milly Milly, one of the best-known stations on the Murchison River, which still remains in the possession of the family. Of retiring disposition, the late Mr. Mulcahy never aspired to public life, but he was an ardent supporter of the home rule for Ireland cause, and his pastime may be said to have consisted of "fathering" the Perth Celtic Club and indulging in an occasional game of bowls on the East Fremantle green. He married in the year 1895, and is survived by a widow and 5 sons and 5 daughters. (reference)

MULCAHY - On June 23, 1925, at his late residence Knocknagow, Preston Point road, East Fremantle, Daniel, dearly beloved husband of Mary Agnes Mulcahy, and father of Daniel, Michael, Mary, Lucy, Hugh, Stella, Bridget, Eileen, John and Patrick; aged 58 years. RIP. Western Mail, 2 July 1925, page 2 (reference)

With thanks to Jack Mulcahy who sent his family research to help with this history ( Jan 2020) and who provided some photos.

Many of the extended Mulcahy family still live in East Fremantle. Eileen Mulcahy the daughter of Daniel and Mary Mulcahy, married Eric Brown.

BROWN (nee Eileen Mulcahy)—On May 14, at Wiluna District Hospital, to Mr. and Mrs. Eric Mather Brown—a daughter (Maxine). (reference)

Eileen later lived at 88 Duke Street. Her daughter Maxine Brown married Robert Gauci. They lived at 41 Osborne Road. Edward Gauci (brother of Robert) lived at 56 Duke Street. Joseph Spiro Gauci (father of Robert and Edward) lived at 75 Glyde Street .

Correspondence from Marc Gauci, the son of Robert and Maxine Gauci (Melbourne) Dec 2023.