The first Murnanes apparently arrived in the Chicago-area in the mid to late 1860s. Whether they came directly from Ireland, or had been in New York or Canada or some other location for an extended time is not known, at least not yet.
United States Census records for Illinois are available for the years 1840 and 1860 and no Murnanes are listed in Chicago or anywhere else in the state.
The Chicago City Directory, a predecessor to the Chicago Telephone Directory, lists a Murnane in Chicago for the first time in 1869. That was James Murnane, described in the directory as a teamster. On the same page were listed a John "Murnan" and a Michael "Murnan", also identified as teamsters, and a James "Murnen", described as a blacksmith.
A special census taken in the City of Chicago in 1871, the year of the Great Chicago Fire, indicates that several other Murnanes were in Chicago at the time. John Murnane, a carpenter, was the head of a family that included two males and three females; another John Murnane was a laborer who had two males and four females in his family; Margaret Murnane, a saloon operator, had two females in her family; Michael Murnane, a drayman, had four males and five females in the family.
By 1880, three years before Edward Murnane of Cappauniac in County Tipperary came to Chicago, the Chicago City Directory shows six "Murnane" families, three "Murnans" and one "Murnaine" family.
In 1890, Edward and his brother John had both moved to Chicago and the Chicago City Directory includes them, along with 21 other Murnane listed as heads of families.
In addition to Edward, who was with the Police Department, there was a William Murnane with the Police Department and a James Murnane with the Police Department. Could they have been cousins of the Murnanes from Cappauniac? Or could they have been the missing Murnanes that Joe Murnane of Williamson, New York, and Joe Murnane of Galloway, Ohio are seeking?
The 1890 directory also included a Johanna Murnane, who was described as the widow of a James Murnane.
By 1910, Chicago was becoming a haven for Murnanes. The Directory for that year included 34 Murnanes. Among them were Edward, by this time a sergeant in the Police Department; his brother James, a collector for the Gas Company; brother Michael, listed as a timekeeper; brother John and his son, Joseph, listed as a clerk; and brother Patrick, listed as a foreman.
The number of Murnanes had increased to 40 in the 1923 Directory and included the spouses and sons and daughters of some of the Tipperary Irish immigrants. Among them were Catherine, wife of Patrick, who was listed as a steno; Edmund, son of Edward, listed as a lawyer; Edward J., son of John, an accountant at Arthur Young; Joseph, son of John, president of the Murnane Paper Company; Laurence, son of Edward, a yardman; and Mae, daughter of Patrick, a clerk at American Railway Express.
In 1928, when the last Chicago City Directory was published, there were 43 Murnanes listed in Chicago.
In recent years, the number of Murnanes in the city of Chicago has declined dramatically as most of the surviving members of the Tipperary Murnanes who are in the Chicago area have moved to the suburbs.
The 1997 City of Chicago telephone directory lists only nine Murnanes. But of the remaining 20 Illinois Murnane names in other Illinois phone directories, all but two are in the Chicago suburban area.
Although marriages and career changes have moved many of the original Illinois Murnanes to other areas of the United States, the Chicago area remains the home base for the family of Edmond and Johanna in the United States. Most of son John's descendants are in the Chicago area; daughter Bridget's only survivors, her granddaughters, are in the Chicago area; son Patrick's three granddaughters are in the Chicago area; daughter Mary Murnane Connery has many family in the Chicago area; all but one of son James' ten surviving grandchildren are in the Chicago area; and son Michael's two children are both living in the Chicago area, as are most of their offspring.
E-Mail: emurnane@murnane.org