The Murnane family has its origins in Southern Ireland -- primarily in the Counties of Cork, Tipperary and Limerick.
But as is the case with most Irish families, emigration has resulted in far more descendants in other countries than in Ireland itself.
For the Murnanes, Australia, New Zealand and America were the primary final destinations.
Here are the latest public records (as of 1997) of where the Murnanes (and Marnanes) are in the United States and Ireland. They are based on published telephone listings.
While these numbers are not precise indicators of the number of Murnanes, they do provide some idea of where the family is located, and how many there are.
Ireland | Tipperary, Clare, Limerick, Kerry | 50 |
| Dublin City and County | 49 |
| Cork City and County | 36 |
| North Leinster | 26 |
| South Leinster, part of Munster | 8 |
| Northwest (Galway, Sligo, Mayo) | 0 |
| TOTAL IN REPUBLIC OF IRELAND | 169 |
(Of the Irish listings, there are 110 Murnanes; 40 Murnaghans; 19 Marnanes.)
United
States | New York | 97 | South Carolina | 4 | |
| Ohio | 42 | Tennessee | 4 | |
| Massachusetts | 40 | Louisiana | 4 | |
| Florida | 35 | Colorado | 4 | |
| California | 34 | Oregon | 3 | |
| Minnesota | 32 | Oklahoma | 3 | |
| Illinois | 29 | Michigan | 3 | |
| New Jersey | 25 | Hawaii | 2 | |
| Maryland | 21 | Nebraska | 2 | |
| Pennsylvania | 18 | Georgia | 2 | |
| Wisconsin | 15 | New Hampshire | 2 | |
| Texas | 12 | Alaska | 1 | |
| Indiana | 12 | Vermont | 1 | |
| Arizona | 9 | Kentucky | 1 | |
| North Carolina | 8 | Alabama | 1 | |
| Virginia | 8 | Washington, D.C. | 1 | |
| Nevada | 7 | North Dakota | 1 | |
| Washington (state) | 5 | Arkansas | 1 | |
| Kansas | 5 | Rhode Island | 1 | |
| Maine | 4 | Montana | 1 | |
| Missouri, Iowa, South Dakota, New Mexico, Idaho, Mississippi, Utah*, Wyoming, Delaware West Virginia | 0 | |||
| TOTAL | 513 | |||
(* Note: At least one young Utah resident, Amber Murnan, 16 years old, disagrees with these statistics, prompting us to update them during September, 1999.)
Publishers of telephone directories in the United States admit that 20% of households with telephones have unpublished numbers; and another 30% of the population is "in transit" between homes when directories are published. Thus the actual total of Murnane households in the U.S. should be increased by 513, bringing it to 1026. If the average U.S. household (according to the U.S. Census) has 3.4 people, there are about 3,500 Murnanes in the United States (not counting Murnanes who have married and go by another name).
If the percentage of unpublished telephone numbers is approximately the same in Ireland, and if the family size is 4.4 people (Irish families are larger), the total of Murnanes in Ireland (combining the three common spellings) would be slightly less than 1,500.
Australia We do not yet have national or regional statistics showing the number of Murnanes in Australia. However, there is ample evidence to suggest that there are as many, or perhaps more, Murnanes in Australia than there are in Ireland and the United States combined.
Paul Murnane of Gordon, NSW, (a suburb of Sydney) is one of several Murnane family researchers in Australia. He has traced his family to County Limerick and has, at last count, entered more than 8,000 Australian Murnanes into his data base.
Paul has written about his branch of the family and we will be including excerpts of his research and narrative in the near future.
Several other Murnane researchers in Australia have shared news clippings and other information about the Murnane presence "down under." Among the items we have received are photos of "Murnanes Bay" along the Pacific coast and news reports of the unveiling of the "massive Murnane family tree" at a family reunion attended by more than 700 Murnanes or Murnane connections.
The Australian Murnanes have written extensively about the family and, pending approval from some distant (REALLY distant if you're in Chicago) cousins, we will share as much as we can.
Back to the Top of Murnanes of Tipperary / Murnane the name? / Who we were / Ireland and Tipperary links / Murnanes in America / Cork Murnanes / Tipperary Murnanes / Des Marnane / "It's Not Such A Long Way to Tipperary" / Murnane Coat of Arms / Murnanes in Victoria
