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The Rooney Family


Prepared by: Linus Joseph Dewald Jr.
E-mail: dewald@prenticenet.com
Newsletter: www.prenticenet.com/home/news/
Date: 29 October 1997 and Revised 15 Sep 2011
Source: From a Roots3, Rooney Database

FIRST GENERATION

1. PATRICK[1] ROONEY. Born, circa 1789 (?), in Co. Down?, Ire.[1].

Almost nothing is known about Patrick Rooney. His date of birth is a guess based on the known birth dates of some of his grandchildren. It is likely, although not proven, that he was born in County Down, Ireland and it is probably in Ireland that he died, possibly at County Down.

He married Unknown.

If little is known about Patrick Rooney, nothing at all is presently known about his wife. It might be safe to assume that she was born sometime between 1790 and 1800, possibly at County Down in Ireland. Her name is not known, but might be reflected in the name of the daughter of her son Edward "Ned" Rooney, Elizabeth, although it might be more likely that Elizabeth is the name of the mother of his wife, Mary. Admittedly that is not much of a clue; all the rest of Edward's eight children were boys.

By email of 30 Dec 2004, we received the following information from Mary McClure which may, or may not, relate to this same family:

Children of Patrick Rooney:

  1. Edward "Ned" Rooney. . . . . [2]

SECOND GENERATION

2. EDWARD "NED"[2] ROONEY (PATRICK, 1). Born, c. 1808 in Co. Down, Ireland, and d. 24 Mar 1894 in Ireland.

Edward, known as Ned, is the only presently known child of Patrick Rooney, although in those days of large families it seems likely that there were other siblings whose identities have not yet been ascertained.

His exact birth date is unknown, but his eldest child, his son Patrick, was born in 1830. That would suggest that perhaps Ned was around 22 at that time which would place his birth date at about 1808. Neither is his place of death known for certain. In his letter of 11 Jun 1990, Carlisle Ganz writes: "I have no information that he immigrated to the States - I understand that he died in Ireland..." Ned married twice during his lifetime. By his first wife, Margaret (O'Hare), whom he married about 1829, Ned had five sons and a daughter. By his second wife, Mary (Cannon), who he married after Margaret passed away, Ned had two more sons.

The following information is from information excerpted from a letter by Mary Elizabeth Cunningham:

The Isle of Man is a large island situated in the Irish Sea about 50 miles straight east of County Down and about 35 miles from the coast of England, the nearest point on the English coast being the port city of Whitehaven, the city to which Elizabeth's letter probably referred. Unfortunately, Elizabeth's letter did not identify the product in which Ned was a "dealer." Her choice of the word, "dealer," is interesting. The dictionary defines a "dealer" as one engaged in buying and selling; trading, as a "fur trader." Given that time and place, perhaps he was a dealer in livestock such as cattle or sheep. Carlisle Ganz's letter of 11 June 1990 affirms that Ned was a cattle dealer.

In his son's (Hugh) 1882 Marriage Certificate, the son is identified as a fisherman residing in the Town of Peel on the Isle of Man.

Edward , "Ned," died about 1894 at about the age of 89.

Edward, "Ned," married, first, MARGARET O'HARE, circa 1829 (?), in Ire. Born, circa 1804. Margaret apparently d. c. 1855; Edward m. his 2nd wife, Mary Cannon in 1856.

Margaret apparently died after her son, Patrick, had immigrated to America in 1856. Approximately six months after her death, her husband, Edward, married Mary Cannon. Children:

   3       i.  PATRICK "PAT"[3] ROONEY.
          ii.  Edward "Ned" Rooney. Born, circa 1838, in Kilkeel, Down, 
               Ire.[2]. Died, circa 1856, in Great Lakes. 
                     Ned was a seaman. Ned came to America Patrick and was
               working on the Great Lakes on a ship. Concerning his death,
               one version by Joseph R. Prentice he drowned in a storm in 
               Lake Michigan. Another version from Mrs. Edgar Jay Sherman 
               (Annie Rooney) says he came to America with his brother 
               Patrick and drowned at age 18 in an attempt to swim across 
               Lake Michigan. Based on that account, Ned has tentatively 
               been given a death date of about 1838. In another letter by
               Anne (Rooney) Mieback to Mrs. Edgar Jay Sherman purporting 
               to correct the Sherman letter, Anne says Ned came at a 
               different time from Patrick, was homesteading land in 
               Michigan, and drowned while swimming in Lake Superior. 
               Finally, the Eleanor Seberger book says that he was born in
               the year following his brother Patrick's birth which would 
               make his birth date 1831. 

Joseph R. Prentice wrote that Edward"Ned," married, second, Mary Cannon, circa 1856, in Co. Down, Ireland. Born, circa 1831 (?), in Co. Down., Ire. Died 1918. Burial in Alexandria, NE. Mary lived with her son, James after she immigrated to America. We now know, from later research by Tom Cunningham, that Edward"Ned," married, Mary Cannon on 3 Dec.1855 at Lower Mourne Catholic Church, County Down, Ireland.