(Most of this information is excerpted from "It's Not Such A Long Way To Tipperary," the 1991 book chronicling the Murnanes of Cappauniac, County Tipperary. It was included in the chapter entitled, 'Hunting Murnanes.' New and updated information is being developed on these and other Murnane families in 1997.)
Joseph Murnane of Williamson, New York, and his brother Tim of Haverstraw, New York, have been researching the Murnane family for more than ten years.
Joe and Tim trace their families back to 1795 when James Murnane was born, apparently in County Tipperary. James and his wife, Mary Coughlan Murnane left Ireland with their seven sons -- John, Michael, Timothy, James, Cornelius, Jerry and Thomas -- and one daughter -- Bridget, in 1842, before the famine struck.
On arrival in New York, the Murnanes traveled to the small town of Chateaugay in the foothills of the Adirondack Mountains, a short distance from the Canadian border.
Most of the family stayed in New York. Tim, the third son, married Mary Scanlon, who had been born in New York in 1833. According to family records, several neighbors helped the newlyweds build a log cabin adjacent to the family farm. It was built in one day.
Tim and Mary had ten children: James, Thomas, Jeremiah, Mary, Bridget, Timothy, Ellen, John, Cornelius and Anne. Mary died one week following Anne's birth, at the age of 40.
Although most of the children stayed close to New York, three daughters, Mary, Ellen (Nellie) and Anne moved to Chicago.
James, the first of the children, married Bridget O'Neil, who lived just across the road. They had nine children, including Timothy, who was the grandfather of Tim and Joe, the researchers on this project.
Grandfather Tim, who was now living in Herkimer, New York, with his parents, James and Bridget, married Katherine Metzler.
James and Katherine had only one child, Theodore, who married Dorothy Mary Kelly. Their six children included Timothy Bruce and Joseph.
The daughters, Mary, Ellen and Anne, moved to Chicago. Mary apparently was the first of the girls to move to Chicago. She went to live with Ellen Scanlon (later Ryan), who was the sister of her mother, Mary Scanlon Murnane.
Ellen was 15 years old when she left New York in 1888 to join her sister Mary in Chicago. She eventually married John Peter Derning of Chicago.
Anne was the last to leave home. She moved to Chicago and lived near her sisters. Their father, Timothy, visited them in Chicago at least once before his death in 1906.
Contact Joe Murnane at 4219 Jersey Road, Williamson, NY 14589 or Timothy Murnane at 6 Springsteen Avenue, Haverstraw, NY 10927 or TMurnane77@aol.com for additional information.
One of many very satisfying results of my Murnane family research project was being able to help two branches of the Murnane family re-establish contact with each other.
That happened when Patti Murnane of Blaine, Minnesota, a suburb of Minneapolis, responded to my letter. Patti called me a few days after I had received information from Joe and Tim Murnane in Upstate New York.
Patti mentioned Murnanes in Chateaugay, New York, but said they had not had contact with that branch of the family. I told her I had just received information from some Murnanes who may be related to her and, sure enough, it turned out that Patti's husband, Patrick, is the third cousin, once removed, of Tim and Joe Murnane.
This is how the two families are linked:
The relationship between Joseph Murnane of New York and Patrick Murnane of Minnesota also shows how wide age differences can cause confusion. Patrick is a generation closer to his great-grandparents than Joseph -- but he is 23 years younger. That is the result of the 11 year head start that Timothy had over Cornelius, and is dramatically compounded by the fact that Patrick's ancestors had children at a much later age than did Joseph's ancestors. For example, Jeremiah was born when Cornelius was 39; Raymond was born when Jeremiah was 46; and Patrick was born when his father was 35.
Joseph's ancestors were comparatively young when their children were born: his great-great-grandfather, Timothy was 25; his great-grandfather, James, was 22; his grandfather, Timothy, was 29; and father, Theodore was 32.
John Berry Murnane of Tinley Park, Illinois, responded to my inquiries with a family tree showing his parents as William Murnane, 1876-1941, and Mary Ellen Delaney Murnane, 1884-1948.
William and Mary Ellen had six sons:
Owen D. Murnane of Moorestown, New Jersey, was referred to me by his nephew, Tim Murnane, of Baltimore, whom I contacted early in 1990. Tim was a candidate for State's Attorney at the time and he suggested I contact "Uncle Owen," who was the custodian of family records and lore.
Owen wrote back in December, 1990. Following are excerpts from his letter:
"So far in my research I have found that our name is a great asset. It is not a common name, is easily identified in old records and although a great many emigrated from Ireland, those that remained did not stray far from our Thomond origins -- Counties Clare, Limerick, Tipperary and Cork. (Like all other localized Irish names, there are Murnanes in Dublin.)
"We had a great reunion in Annapolis, Maryland. Out of a possible 55, 45 relatives attended. In addition, we met two other Murnane families, the Harold Murnanes and the Michael Murnanes who live in nearby Maryland. My mother, at 88, is the matriarch of this group. She received a proclamation from the Mayor making it "Murnane Day in Maryland." We went on a cruise on Chesapeake Bay, had a banquet with awards, and all in all had a great weekend.
"I understand from Tim that the Chicago Murnanes have a get-together in the summer. It would be great to attend that sometime. Give us some warning on the next one and we'll see what can be done.
"In the 1970s, I stopped in at the Murnane Paper Company and I believe I met a Patrick Murnane, a grandson of the founder, but I have not been back since.
"All in all, the Murnanes I have met, including those in Ireland, are all hard-working, successful people. However, I do have an article from a New York newspaper where a Murnane, the son of a police officer, was under arrest for murder.
"Both our families came to the United States during the same time frame, 1888-1900. My grandfather, Daniel, and his three brothers (Denis, John, Eugene) came to the U.S. as bachelors and three of them married after they arrived. My great-grandmother, Ellen Holland Murnane, came over also. I assume my great-grandfather, Owen, died in Ireland. I found most of the information from funeral homes, cousins' records and ship manifests. I am fairly certain that if there is a relationship, it would go back to siblings of great-great-grandparents.
"In October, I spent an afternoon in Bantry pub-hopping with 90-year-old Patrick Murnane. We had a great time but I didn't get much family information from him.
Owen's family tree shows that he was born in 1931 in Trenton, New Jersey. His parents were John E. Murnane (1898-1982), who was born in Elmyra, New York, and Harriet Zerniko Murnane, who was born in 1903 in Jersey City, New Jersey.
Owen's grandfather was Daniel Joseph Murnane (1871-1935). He was born in County Cork. His grandmother was Mary Ann Sweeney Murnane (1874-1950), also of County Cork.
Owen's great-grandparents were Owen Murnane (1839-??) and Ellen Holland Murnane (1849-1923). They both lived in Ireland, presumably in Cork.
The family tree goes back one more generation, to Owen's great-great-grandparents, Michael Murnane and Mary Hurley Murnane, but dates and locations are not known, as is typical when the search gets back to the late 1700s and early 1800s.
Owen and his wife, Clare Murphy Murnane, were married in 1953. They have eight children: Colleen (1954-1972), Owen, Jr. (1955), Kevin (1956), Daniel (1957), Megan (1961), Denis (1962), Patrick (1965) and Mary (1967) .
Several years ago, Owen was contacted by Sister Mary Alice Murnen, O.P., a Dominican nun who was at Barry University in Miami Shores, Florida when she wrote Owen. Sister Mary Alice said she was "fairly certain that we too are Murnane's from the Cork area."
Sister Mary Alice was born in Toledo, Ohio, in 1932. Her father, Ray A. Murnen, Sr., was born in Toledo in 1896. He was the son of Timothy Murnen, who was born in Ogdensburg, New York, in 1856. Timothy's father was Owen Murnen (or Murnane) from around County Cork.
Sister Mary Alice said some family records indicated some members had spelled their name "Murnan," which easily could have been derived from Murnane.
John Frances Murnane of Reston, Virginia (a Washington, D.C. suburb) sent this message:
My grandfather, Michael Joseph Murnane, came from a large family, although I'm unsure how many brothers and sisters. He died in 1935-36 in Washington, D.C. and was buried in Albany, New York. He was married to Julia Theresa Carroll and they had three sons: Edward Roark (March 13, 1883), James Joseph (my father) (March 14, 1889) and Carroll Matthew (April 23, 1897). All three sons are dead.
My father, James Joseph, married Bertha E. Kelly and had four children: James Joseph, Jr., Rita E., Jeanne Marie (McClure) and John France.
I am sure that we have relatives in the Chicago area, and also in Texas. This is the extent of my knowledge of my family tree.
E-Mail: emurnane@murnane.org