The Murnan family of Auburn NY emigrated to the US in about 1860. The first emigrants were Daniel and Mary (Donivan) Murnan. They had a son Patrick Murnan, who was about 3 when they arrived in the US. They settled in Auburn, New York where some of the subsequent family remained.
Daniel and Mary had several other children to include: Mary Murnan (Mrs. James H Holmes) who died in early 1920's. She lived in Auburn all her life and married James Holmes, who was a partner in a drygoods store. She was a parishioner of St. Mary's and is buried in St. Joseph's cemetery. Catherine was the wife of Henry O'Hara. They lived in Skaneateles . She died in 1928. There was also another son, Daniel for whom there is no known information.
There is also a Francis Murnan and Fred Murnan who are in the family and may have been sons of Daniel and Mary. Fred Murnan enlisted in the Army in 1917 in Auburn NY ( 27th Division 108th Infantry).
Patrick Murnan , the oldest son, married Ellen Elizabeth Powers about 1873 in Auburn. They had ten children. The births of several of the children of Patrick and Ellen occurred in a number of different and widely separated communities, such as; St. Catherine's , Canada; Auburn, NY, Welland Canada, Kinzua, Pennsylvania; and Olean, NY This wide dispersal was created by the employment of Patrick. He was employed as a construction worker which took him and the family to several projects at the time where he supplied horses, and sometimes work crews. One of the projects was the Welland Canal in Canada and another was the installation of a railroad line through Kinzua, Pennsylvania, The children born in the years 1874 through 1895 included :
The family legend says that while working on the Welland Canal the Murnan name got changed to Mooney. As the story goes, a timekeeper misunderstood Patrick Murnan and listed him as Mooney. Patrick, unable to read , accepted the change rather than acknowledge his deficiency . It is interesting to note that Patrick's father was listed as Mooney on Patrick's death certificate. But this may just be a reasonable thinking on the part of the coroner to assume the father's surname the same as the decedent.
Patrick died in Olean NY in 1908 and his wife, Ellen (Powers) Mooney died a few years later.
Daniel Patrick Mooney settled first in Bradford, Pennsylvania and then in Salamanca NY. He became a Yardmaster on the B&O Railroad, and was followed in the position by his son, Paul. Daniel had several children in addition to Paul, to include Catherine Cecilia, George , Howard, Bernard and Helen. They all grew up in Salamanca and then migrated to locations in Western New York and Texas. Helen (84) and George (93) are still alive and living in Salamanca and Buffalo respectively.
The Mooney family name has been carried on through Paul, whose only son Pat lives in Derwood, Maryland. Pat has five children - Kevin, Kathleen, Patricia, Maureen, and Timothy. The youngest of the Mooney's are Kevin's three young sons- Matthew, Mike, and Kevin Daniel.
Pat is the genealogist in the family and is currently trying to trace Murnan family and other branches. He is diligently trying to locate the County in Ireland from which Daniel and Mary Murnan emigrated from to come to Auburn, NY. Some leads have indicated that they came from Co. Cork, near Schull. Anyone reading this and having any ideas on how to track down Daniel and Mary would be greatly appreciated.
