Magrann Compiled by Tracey Magrann 2005 The Gaels

Magrann Compiled by Tracey Magrann 2005

The Gaels arrived in 100 BC and set the Irish Identity. Then a Romano-British missionary, St. Patrick introduced Christianity, canceling out pagan. Then in 795, the Norsemen, Danes, and pirates invaded Ireland. They began inter-marrying with the Irish and ending up becoming Irish themselves. The people shunned King Henry VIII. So he reclaimed every man's land. In 1608, the Plantation of Ulster was created. It was the idea of planting settlers from England Scotland in Ireland to establish English government rule. In 1641, there was a Great Catholic-Gaelic rebellion. They wanted their land back from the Protestants. The most atrocities occurred in Ulster.

Catholics were moved to a barren province of Connaught. A series of laws had penalized the majority of the Irish population because they were Roman-Catholics. These 'penal laws' that a Catholic could not hold any office of state, nor stand for parliament, vote, join the army or navy, or buy land. Barely 7% of the land of Ireland remained in Catholics hands. They were living in extreme poverty. In 1720, Jonathan Swift, Dean of Saint Patrick's Cathedral, petitioned so that in 1782, the Irish Parliament won Legislative independence from Britain. In 1800, the Act of the Union united the two kingdoms of England Ireland, abolishing the Irish Parliament.

Armagh, Ireland § Many of the Magrann ancestors come from the city of Armagh, in the south part of Ulster County. § Ulster is in Northern Ireland.

Armagh: Home of the Magranns

Armagh “Ard Mhacha” Colors: orange and white Galway “Gaillimh” Colors: Maroon and White Dublin “Duibhlinn” Colors: Dark Blue and Light Blue Tipperary “Tiobraid Árann” blue and yellow

Northern Ireland is a part of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. It occupies the northeast part of the island of Ireland is made up of six of the nine counties originally forming the historic province of Ulster. Northern Ireland covers an area slightly larger than the state of Connecticut.

Armagh

The spiritual capital of Ireland for 1, 500 years of both Protestant and Catholic, Armagh is the most venerated of Irish cities. St Patrick called Armagh 'my sweet hill' and built his stone church on the hill where the Anglican cathedral now stands. Two miles west of the city is the great mound of Navan Fort, stronghold of the kings of Ulster from 700 BC.

Armagh County Museum, tells the History of County Armagh through military, archaeological, railway, costume and historical collections. Royal Irish Fusiliers Museum tells the story of the regiment from 1793 -1968. There is a large model of the capture of the Imperial French Eagle. The Armagh Observatory & Planetarium: Archbishop Robinson commissioned a local amateur astronomer to build it. It houses the largest public telescope in Ireland, an interactive 'Star Theatre', and The Eartharium, which examines man's impact on our environment. Palace Stables Heritage Centre, set in the beautiful estate of an eighteenth century palace, provides an award winning living history of the year 1786. St. Patrick Trian, with award winning exhibitions on the history of Armagh, the life and works of Saint Patrick and the enchanting land of Lilliput. Gosford Forest Park, an example of mock-Norman architecture, and traditional breeds of poultry in open paddocks, a deer park, and a walled garden and trails. St Patrick's Cathedral, founded in 445 AD by St. Patrick, and rebuilt 12681270, and refurbished in 1834 in Gothic style.

St. Patrick founded his chief church here on the Hill of Armagh in 455 AD and there has been a Christian Church on the site ever since. The present building dates from the 13 th Century and although undergoing many restorations over the centuries, was last restored in 1834. It is a modest building with interesting monuments and an 11 th century carved stone high cross. This imposing Cathedral, on an elevated site, was started in 1840, but work was suspended during the Great Famine of 1845 -48 and recommenced in 1854, It was dedicated for worship in 1873 but the magnificent interior decoration was not completed until early in the 20 th Century.

The rock, less than a quarter of a mile wide, is arguably the most extraordinary architectural site in Ireland. It is also the place where St Patrick is supposed to have picked a shamrock in order to explain the doctrine of the Trinity.

Three is Ireland's magic number. Hence the Shamrock. It represents such things as: Past, Present, and Future. Crone, Mother and Virgin. Love, Valor and Wit. Faith, Hope and Charity. Father, Son and Holy Spirit. The Shamrock acts as a badge to be worn on the lapel on the Saint's feast day. In the 1770's, the wearing of the Shamrock was considered rebellious, and Queen Victoria's Irish regiments were forbidden to display it. At that time it became the custom for civilians to wear a little paper cross colored and green. But today, on St. Patrick's Day, a member of the British Royal Family presents Shamrock to the Irish Guards regiment of the British Army.

St Patrick is known as the patron saint of Ireland. True, he was not a born Irish, but he has become an integral part of the Irish heritage, mostly through his service across Ireland of the 5 th century. Patrick was born in the later half of the 4 th century AD, in either Scotland or Roman England. His real name was probably Maewyn Succat. Patrick was the son of a Roman-British army officer, and one day a band of pirates kidnapped this boy along with many others. Then they sold him into slavery in Ireland, where he was for 6 years, mostly imprisoned. This was when changes came to him. He dreamed of having seen God. Legend says, he was then dictated by God to escape with a getaway ship.

When he escaped, St. Patrick went to Britain, then to France. There he joined a monastery and studied for 12 years. When he became a bishop he dreamed that the Irish were calling him back to Ireland to tell them about God. There he converted the Gaelic Irish, who were then mostly Pagans, to Christianity. Patrick made important converts even among the royal families, which upset the Celtic Druids. He was arrested several times, but escaped each time. For 20 years he had traveled throughout Ireland, establishing monasteries, schools, and churches. By the end of the 7 th century Patrick had become a legendary figure. He used the three-leafed shamrock to explain the concept of the Trinity; which refers to the combination of Father, Son, and the Holy Spirit. Legend also has that Saint Patrick drove all the poisonous snakes of Ireland into the sea. He died on March 17, AD 461. That day has been commemorated as St. Patrick's Day ever since.

The Blarney Stone is a stone set in the wall of the Blarney Castle tower in the Irish village of Blarney. Kissing the stone is supposed to bring the gift of persuasive eloquence (blarney). The castle was built in 1446. The origins of the Blarney Stone's magical properties aren't clear, but one legend says that an old woman cast a spell on the stone to reward a king who had saved her from drowning. Kissing the stone while under the spell gave the king the ability to speak sweetly and convincingly. It's tough to reach the stone -- it's between the main castle wall and the parapet. Kissers have to stretch to their back and bend backward (and downward), holding iron bars for support.

Potatoes can provide this sustenance to nearly 10 people on an acre of land, so, by the mid-1800's the Irish had become so dependent upon this crop that its failure provoked a famine. During the summer of 1845, a "blight of unusual character" devastated Ireland's potato crop. A few days after potatoes were dug from the ground, they began to turn into a slimy, decaying, blackish "mass of rottenness. " The cause was a fungus that had traveled from Mexico to Ireland. In the first year of the potato famine, half of the crop was destroyed. But the next year was even worse. To add to the misery, that winter was the "severest in living memory".

"Famine fever"--cholera, dysentery, scurvy, typhus, and infestations of lice--soon spread through the Irish countryside. Over the next ten years, more than 750, 000 Irish died another 2 million left their homeland for Great Britain, Canada, and the United States. This accounted for a 10% increase in the population of the United States; the single largest immigration of people to the US in history. Within five years, the Irish population was reduced by a quarter.

The majority of this first group went to Canada because prices were very low--ships bringing lumber to England were glad to receive paying passengers instead of returning to Canada empty. On board the emigrant ships, conditions were sometimes shocking. These ships came to be known as Coffin Ships because of the conditions the emigrants are forced to live in. There was little air in these over crowded below decks, which carried the poorest class. Almost every ship had a third of their passenger's die at sea or upon their arrival.

You CAN take a Magrann for GRANTed! It all started when three brothers, Tom, Jim, and Patrick Mc. Grann, left Armaugh, in Northern Ireland to find work In England. It is RUMORED that the reason they left is because they were accused of stealing horses. •

They all got married in England; Jim and Patrick changed their last name to Grant to appear to be English, to enable them to find work more easily. Tom kept his name as Magrann. Patrick got married and had a daughter named Mary, who became a nun: Sister Mary St. Rafael.

They all came to Philadelphia in the 1950's and entered the textile business together. They worked at Kent Mills Textile, a cotton mill. The sons of Tom Magrann Sr (Tom Jr, John, Peter, and James) later owned their own textile mill at 24 th and Green Streets in Philadelphia. They later moved the mill to Mascher and Turner Streets in Philadelphia.

The brothers' mill operation was fairly large, with 150 looms that consisted of weaving, twisting, and winding. Tom and John eventually split the business with Pete and Jim. It is said that all went broke, but John's son, also named Thomas Magrann, did fairly well in the business during the next generation, especially during WWI, when there was a large demand for their materials to make uniforms.

Mr. Mc. Grann was born about 1800 in Armagh, Ireland, and died there. Thomas Magrann Mrs. Mc. Grann He married about 1820. Jim Grant They gave birth to Thomas, Jim, and Patrick.

Married about 1855 in England Thomas Magrann was born in 1823 in Armagh, Ireland, and died about 1900 in Phila, PA. Married about 1840, in England Elizabeth K. Butler Jim Grant Elizabeth Katherine Butler was born in 1829 in England, and died about 1900 in Phila, PA Jim was born in 1825 in Armagh, Ireland, and died in Kellyville, PA about 1900. John Lawrence Magrann They gave birth to John, Thomas, Peter, James, and Mary. James Grant, Jr. Mrs. Jim Grant He moved to England, changed his name to Grant, married there, and moved to PA. Margaret Grant They gave birth to James and Margaret.

Married about 1850’s in England Patrick Grant Mrs. Patrick Grant Patrick Magrann was born in 1823 in Armagh, Ireland, and died in Phila, PA. He moved to England, changed his name to Grant, married there, and moved to PA. Mary Grant Mary became a nun: Sister Mary St. Rafael.

Thomas Magrann, Sr. and his brother, Jim Grant o o o They moved together to England to look for work, where they both married and moved to Kellyville (now Darby), PA. Both worked in Kent Mills Textile, a cotton mill. The original Magrann name may have been Mc. Grann, but "Mc" is Irish, so may have been dropped to find work in England. The prefix "Mac" is Scottish. Both Mac and Mc indicate the name following is "the son of" or indicates the city of an ancestor.

Married about 1879 in Phila, PA John Lawrence Magrann was born about 1858 in Phila, PA and died there about 1938. Elizabeth Devine was born about 1858 in Phila, PA and died there about 1938. Thomas Joseph Magrann, Sr. They gave birth to Thomas and 9 other children.

Magrann Family, 1908 Lizzy and John Lawrence Magrann, and their children. Thomas Magrann (the oldest) was not present.

Married about 1909 in Philadelphia, PA Thomas J. Magrann Katherine Hogan Thomas Joseph Magrann was born Nov 6, 1879, in Phila, PA and died in Aug 1973, in La Palma, CA. Katherine “Kitty” Hogan was born about 1779 in PA, and died there about 1918, from the flu epidemic of 1918. James Magrann They gave birth to James Magrann, after the death of an infant daughter, Regina.

Married about 1920 in Philadelphia, PA Thomas J. Magrann Thomas Joseph Magrann was born Nov 6, 1879, in Phila, PA and died in Aug 1973, in La Palma, CA. Margaret “Peg” Magrann Jane T. Gray Jane Theresa Gray was born Aug 7, 1900, in Phila, PA, and died in Oct, 1989, in La Palma, CA. Thomas J. Magrann, II John Magrann

Thomas and Jane Magrann

Children of Thomas Magrann, Sr.

Married on Feb 24, 1933, in Philadelphia, PA Jim was born on Aug 15, 1910 in Philadelphia, PA Eleanor was born on Dec 12, 1915 in Devon, PA James Magrann Eleanor Todd They had children: James, Dennis, and Phyllis

Married on Jan 23, 1943, in Philadelphia, PA Peg was born on Mar 12, 1921 in Philadelphia, PA Hank was born on Oct 13, 1918 in Philadelphia, PA Margaret Magrann Hank Jones They had children: Thomas, Janeanne, Eileen, Kathleen, and Sandra

Married on Oct 23, 1943, in Philadelphia, PA Thomas Joseph Magrann, Jr. was born on Sep 23, 1923, in Philadelphia, PA Thomas J. Magrann, Jr. Mary Jane Earley was born on April 18, 1925, in Phila, PA, and died on Sep 3, 2001 in Placentia, CA Mary Jane Earley They had children: Patricia, Thomas, Timothy, and Tracey

Married about 1980, in La Palma, CA John was born on March 27, 1927 in Philadelphia, PA John Magrann Diana Rasmussen John had children: Barbara Ann, John, Timothy, Eileen, Colleen, and Michael

Magrann Compiled by Tracey Magrann 2005