de Valera was born in the New York Nursery and Child 's Hospital in New York City in 1882 to an Irish mother ; he said that his parents were Catherine Coll Wheelwright , an immigrant from Bruree , County Limerick , and Juan Vivion de Valera , a Spanish-Cuban settler and sculptor , and that they were married in 1881 in New York . De Valera was born in New York City in 1882 to an Irish mother ; his parents , Catherine Coll ( subsequently Mrs Wheelwright ) , an immigrant from Bruree , County Limerick , and Juan Vivion de Valera , a Cuban settler and sculptor of Spanish descent , were reportedly married on 18 September 1881 at St. Patrick 's Church in Jersey City , New Jersey .