The McCadden's of Aghlem - Long Paddy McCadden (1862 – 1933)

In addition to Owen’s family, another McCadden family have lived in Aghlem. The 1901 census returns for Aghlem list the family of Pat McCadden. Pat was known locally as ‘long’ Paddy. The origins of the nickname are long gone. However, with the large number of Patrick McCaddens in such a small area, nicknames were common. Presumably, long Paddy was one of the taller Patrick McCaddens, or at least taller than his father (if his father was a Patrick). The exact connection of long Paddy to the three McCadden's seen in Griffith has not been conclusively established. Denis McCadden had a son Patrick in Stranass, so it can be ruled out that long Paddy is a son of Denis. This leaves Owen McCadden of Aghlem and Patrick McCadden of Stranass. There have been close links between long Paddy’s branches and Patrick McCadden’s branches. Family history suggests that it is most likely that long Paddy is the son of Patrick. This would make him a brother of John McCadden of Stranass and Anthony McCadden of Leghoney.

Long Paddy was born sometime between 1852 and 1862 depending on which record source is correct. He married Bridget Gillespie in 1879 at St. Bridget's Church, Ballintra, Co. Donegal. They had seven children, six boys Patrick, John (1883), Andrew (1886), Joseph (1887), James (1891), Edward (1896) and one girl Cassie (1882). John moved up the road to Meenadreen and Cassie moved down the road to Clarlougheske.

Joseph and James moved to America. There is a record in the Ellis Island collection that shows that James emigrated in 1913 and went to live with his brother Joseph. This in turn implies Joseph emigrated sometime before 1913. As Joseph is not listed in the 1911 census, it is likely he emigrated sometime between 1901 and 1911. The Ellis Island records do, in fact, list a Joseph McCadden arriving in 1906, but the exact townland, or the Irish relative is missing from this record. However, given that the destination of both James and Joseph is Philadelphia, it seems likely that this is indeed, Joseph McCadden of Aghlem.