Born most likely in either Drum or Moore parishes in Co. Roscommon
In the late 1860's his parents William Colleran and Jane Caulfield and his siblings immigrated to USA, leaving him alone in lreland.
He was left behind with the farm or rented farm with his wife Bridget Loughrie b.1837
By the 1860 rural Ireland was going through a sea change. The major land owners were beginning to believe that they would be better off without tenant farmers, but with bigger more industrial farms. So many people were moving off the land, helped by the previous sea change of the 1840's famine and the continual immigration and longer generational gaps appearing in Irish society.
It is said that Michael lost the farm in a bet and that was the driving force behind him moving into estate management.
Michael and his wife went to Scotland so he could learn how to become an estate manager, while there they had their first child.
After his training, he returned home and took a position in a small estate, later a position open up in a larger estate near by. He went for that position and got it, that was in Masonbrook Loughrea.
The Masonbrook estate was owned by the Smyth family, these were a Galway city trading family. One of the Smyths was a founder of Sinn Fain. The last of this family became a nun and did speak to one of the USA great grand son of Michael b.1836. Where she reported that Michael was aware of everything and well liked by her, even though she was only a child at the time.