John Honahan
- Born
- 4 Apr 1814
- Died
- 11 Nov 1859
- Gender
- Male
- Place of migration
- Migrated to/Born in USA
The Honahan family moved from Leighlinbridge, Carlow to Liverpool in 1847(?).
After his wife Johanna died of cholera in Liverpool (1850?), John came to America with their children, William James, Ann and Mary, arriving on 17 March, 1851. The family name in America changed to Onahan — when and why the initial H was dropped, I don’t know.
John and the daughters went on to Chicago to live. William James, only about 15 when they arrived in New York, stayed in NY for a few years, worked as a janitor in a lawyer's office, then joined his father and sisters in Chicago. John, who worked on the railroad and other difficult manual labor, died there in November 1859. The daughters went to the convent of the Sacred Heart in St. Louis, Missouri, and became nuns.
William rose to become a civic, business and Catholic leader in Chicago. He married Margaret Gertrude Duffy, and their one child who survived to adulthood, Mary Josephine, married Daniel V Gallery in Chicago, 1898. They had six children, one of whom was my father, William Onahan Gallery. He and two of his brothers, Daniel V Gallery, Jr and Philip Daly Gallery, were career U.S. naval officers. (see Wikipedia)
