For years I've been searching for information about my great great grandfather Owen McMenamin and his family, where in Donegal was their homeplace, and where his son, daughters and widow lived after they came to  the U.S. in the 1840's.  This is the "brick wall" that I've been trying to get past, through, over or under for so long.  Can you help me?  Maybe you will find one  of  your relatives here!

•  The only mention I have of Owen is what was recorded at the Emigrant Industrial Savings Bank  in New York
  City when his son John opened an account there  on 30 March,1853.  John couldn't  write so he gave this
  information to the bank clerk verbally.  What follows is an exact transcript of the bank entry as the clerk wrote it:
            "John McMenomy, Umbrella Maker, 60 Frankfort St., Nat of Duisk 7 ms. from
            Killygordon Co. Donegal, Ir.  Arr NY in Apr 1847 per the Mary Ann from Derry,
            fa dead Owen, Mo in NY Mary Gallagher, no Bros, 4 Sisters, Bridget, Ann &
            Mary in NY, Susan in Penn.  Is Single."
• Frankfort Street was in lower Manhattan just two blocks south of the famous "Five Points," with poor and crowded housing and a high concentration of Irish.
• Owen McMenamin's widow used her maiden name, Mary Gallagher, and may have used it while Owen was living. 
  I'm told that wives in Donegal often did if they came from the same local area as their husband.
• New York Port Arrival Records for 1846-51 show:
          McMenomin, Susan        19   F    Spinster
                              , John        18   M   Laborer
                              , John        01   M   Child
         Gallagher, Mary             51   F    Spinster
  arriving 12 April 1847 on the Ship "Marion" from Londonderry.  I don't know who the child John belonged to nor
  when Bridget, Ann and Mary arrived in New York.
• Except for John's bank entry, I haven't found any records of his sisters.  They were all in the U.S. by 1853 but I
  haven't found them in the 1860 census and, if they married, I don't know their married names.
• The McMenamin name developed many variations in the States.  In some cases, our Irish ancestors couldn't write
  and, with an Irish brogue, spoke their name to a clerk who copied down what he thought he heard.  There were
  also copying and transcribing errors.  And when they learned to write, some McM's preferred another spelling. 
  John and his family were listed as McMenomin on the shipping lists, McMenamy on his naturalization papers in
  1852, McMenomy on the 1853 bank record, McManomy in the1870 census and finally, by 1888, McMenomey! 
  I'm almost certain that the name began as McMenamin in Donegal.
• Some time after 1856, John married Mary McCool, born 1833 in Co. Donegal.  A Margaret McCool is buried in the McMenomey family plot in Holy Cross Cemetery, Brooklyn and might have been Mary's sister.

• I've placed a lot of importance on finding the place where John and his family came from.  That's because I believe
  that I might learn a lot about Owen and his kin by talking to the local people there about the history of the
  McMenamins in that area.  Here is what I've learned so far:
            - The bank clerk wrote down that John and his family came from a townland named "Duisk 7 ms. from
               Killygordon Co. Donegal, Ir."  There is no "Duisk" in Donegal or in the adjoining counties of Tyrone
               and Tyrone.  Some think John might have said "Dooish."  There is a Dooish 13 map miles northeast of
               Killygordon near Manor Cunningham and another "Dooish" 6 map miles west of Killygordon on the
               other side of the twin towns of Ballybofey and Stranorlar.  But both Dooishes are closer to the other
               and larger towns than to Killygordon, so why did John say "7 miles from Killygordon?"
            - John might have said "Trusk," a townland 5 map miles but 7 "road" miles southwest of Killygordon.  In
              that townland are also Trusk Mountain and Trusk Lough (lake).
            - The 1824-32 Tithe Applotment Books list as "landholders" Owen McMenamin Sr. and Owen Jr., each
               with land and houses in the townland of Belalt, 3 map miles south of Killygordon.  An Owen McMenamin
              (Sr., Jr., other?) is listed with land but no houses in Corrafrin, 5 map miles southwest of Killygordon
              and 1 mile from Trusk.  No McMenamin is listed in Trusk.  In the 1848-64 Griffith's Valuation, no Owen
              McMenamin is listed in any of these townlands.
            - "Duisk," and probably "Dooish," derives from the Irish "dubh uisce" (doo ishkuh) meaning dark or black
              water.  In fact, 16 map miles southeast of Killygordon in County Tyrone is a townland called "Dooish"
              near a stream called "The Black Water."
  If John actually said, "7 ms. from Killygordon Co. Donegal," and there is no "Duisk" in Donegal, and no "Dooish"
  in Donegal seems a good fit, where is the family homeplace?  Could it be something that wouldn't be on a map,
  like a subsection of a townland or the name of a family farm or home? 
   

So there is my "brick wall!"
Except for John, I haven't been able to find anything more about his siblings, his mother, or his father Owen.  If you have any information, leads, ideas
or questions please contact Bob Collins at rjcollins1@earthlink.net . 
Your help will be greatly appreciated!
 

And if you want to read more
about John's descendants or the history of the McMenamin name and its variants, or of the clan
coats of arms, or see some good links to other sites, a bulletin board and more,
go to my other website at http://www.stranabrade.org  .
 

        Revised 4/26/05