Name of Bono's Grandfather?

[biff]

But you're a star, baby!

(And you don't really expect us to believe that you're drinking coffee at 10:30 on a Friday night, do you? Where's the champers?)

 

[Niamh_Saoirse]

But you're a star, baby!

(And you don't really expect us to believe that you're drinking coffee at 10:30 on a Friday night, do you? Where's the champers?)

sadly I am!

And I'm still waiting for the staff at Q Magazine to send the bubbly!

 

[Niamh_Saoirse]

Btw, was Alec Rankin's wife called Lily Florence Purcell?

 

[biff]

Btw, was Alec Rankin's wife called Lily Florence Purcell?

One source identifies her as Lily Florence Purcell and another calls her Lilian. It must be the same person; both were married to Alexander Rankin, and both died in August 1985.

 

[Maoilbheannacht]

Btw, was Alec Rankin's wife called Lily Florence Purcell?

Thats correct from the information at www.familysearch.org . The father of Lilian is listed as Arthur Purcell.

 

[Maoilbheannacht]

Well, folks, Donald Mackenzie RANKIN actually has his own website and nearly all are questions are answered there. He list Bono as being born in 1957 though.

Turns out, Donald Mackenzie Rankin is Bono's FIRST COUSIN! He is a son of Walter Rankin, the older brother of Iris Rankin.

Bono's Grandparents are: Robert Francis Hewson and Ann ? on the paternal side. On the maternal side its Alexander Rankin and Lilian Purcell.

So its not all the information were looking for, but its getting close to it. There were no dates listed for the Hewson Grandparents and its unknown what surname "Ann" was born with.

I was thinking that Donald Mackenzie RANKIN was like a 3rd or 4th cousin to Bono at best, but they are actually first cousins! I wonder if he remembers seeing little Bono growing up?


Here is Donald MacKenzie Rankin's website. To look up individuals in the family tree go to the bottom left of the page where there are some links.

http://familytreemaker.genealogy.com/users/r/a/n/Donald-Mackenzie-Rankin/index.html

 

[Niamh_Saoirse]

Thanks for the link!

But this sounds a bit weid to me? Maybe Im out of loop with this kind of info but I dont think that's Jordan's middle name and birthdate

Jordan Joy Hewson (daughter of Paul Hewson and Alison Stewart) was born May 05, 1989.

 

[Niamh_Saoirse]

Although now that i think about it: isn't Ali's mother's name Joy?

Ohhh! And that's maybe where her nickname comes from! Jojo.

 

[biff]

So much on that site is wrong. First, Bono's birth date. He's got not only the year wrong but the day; it's not May 12th. Also, Jordan was born on May 10th, like her father. I had always heard that her middle name was Elizabeth; I've seen that many times. Yes, Flavia, Joy is Ali's mother's name. Finally, Eve's middle name is NOT Sunny Day; her full name is Memphis Eve.

 

[Niamh_Saoirse]

So much on that site is wrong. First, Bono's birth date. He's got not only the year wrong but the day; it's not May 12th. Also, Jordan was born on May 10th, like her father. I had always heard that her middle name was Elizabeth; I've seen that many times. Yes, Flavia, Joy is Ali's mother's name. Finally, Eve's middle name is NOT Sunny Day; her full name is Memphis Eve.

Well, then it looks like this guy needs to correct a few things!

 

[biff]

He's also got the death date for Iris as December 9, 1974, which is completely wrong. Here's what he says about her: "Iris died tragically at the graveside of her father on his funeral day". Not correct either.

Sheesh!

Inaccuracies make me hawt.

 

[biff]

oops, double post.

But while I'm here, I wonder why he has only two children listed as the progeny of Paul Hewson and Alison Stewart?

 

[Miringeltje]

Robert Francis Hewson

I was already thinking that perhaps Bono's father was named after his dad.
I searched familysearch.org for robert, norman, paul and david hewson.
And Robert Hewson was the only name that came back with results.

 

[Niamh_Saoirse]

oops, double post.

But while I'm here, I wonder why he has only two children listed as the progeny of Paul Hewson and Alison Stewart?

Maybe he hasn't updated his site in a while?

 

[biff]

Bono's dad's name was definitely Brendan Robert Hewson, not just Robert.

 

[Miringeltje]

You should look under his own name and you'll notice he doesn't know where his parents were married or where his sister was born.

 

[biff]

I know way too much about these people.

 

[Maoilbheannacht]

So much on that site is wrong. First, Bono's birth date. He's got not only the year wrong but the day; it's not May 12th. Also, Jordan was born on May 10th, like her father. I had always heard that her middle name was Elizabeth; I've seen that many times. Yes, Flavia, Joy is Ali's mother's name. Finally, Eve's middle name is NOT Sunny Day; her full name is Memphis Eve.

True, but he basically is very close. It appears much of the information comes from his memory as opposed to actual records in some cases. He in fact states he needs help from those in Ireland to look up records, while the Scotish church records are online. I think he is more interested in his ancestry as opposed to the fact that he is a first cousin to Bono. He was born in Dublin, but moved to the UK after that. Now he lives in New Jersey. I'm not sure how much contact he has had with Bono, but I would think when he was younger he probably did have some contact with Bono when he was a child.

In any event, he has his contact information listed, so we can correct some of this information as well as ask about any stories about Bono.

As for has his first cousin's info being incorrect as far as the dates, ask yourself if you know the exact birthdates of all your first cousins and the childern as well as their nicknames.

Remember, Bono is his little first cousin, and he does not look at him the way that most who come to interference do.

 

[biff]

You should look under his own name and you'll notice he doesn't know where his parents were married or where his sister was born.

 

[Niamh_Saoirse]

Off topic (but I need to get Biff's attention):


Biff biff! Do you have MSN? if not, what's your email addy? I need to show you something!

 

[biff]

biffers@gmail.com

 

[Maoilbheannacht]

He's also got the death date for Iris as December 9, 1974, which is completely wrong. Here's what he says about her: "Iris died tragically at the graveside of her father on his funeral day". Not correct either.

Sheesh!

Inaccuracies make me hawt.

Bono actually says on VH1 Legends that his Mom did die at his Grandfathers funeral.

 

[biff]

No, she collapsed at the funeral; she had an aneurism. She died three or four days later.

 

[Niamh_Saoirse]

biffers@gmail.com

You've got mail! Tell me what you think.

 

[Miringeltje]

Oops.
edit

 

[Maoilbheannacht]

You should look under his own name and you'll notice he doesn't know where his parents were married or where his sister was born.

Hey, at least he is honest. Everyone has a different level of knowledge about their family. His parents may have moved around a lot. 2 years after he was born, his sister was born in Kilkenny. So he was living outside of Dublin half a decade before Bono was even born. If his family was moving every year or every other year, its not surprising that he may not know some of this information off hand.

Its possible he may have only met BONO a few times. That would be surprising for a first cousin, but its definitely possible. Bono did mention in an interview once that he had met some of his cousins in New Jersey and Donald appears to be living in New Jersey.

 

[kellyahern]

I haven't seen my first cousins in years, and I only have three. If Iris Rankin was one of eight siblings, Bono must have a ton of cousins.

 

[Maoilbheannacht]

No, she collapsed at the funeral; she had an aneurism. She died three or four days later.

I took the tape of VH1 LEGENDS out and here is the exact qoute from BONO:


"she died at my Grandfather's funeral which is bizarre, he was a very cool man and so I woke up one day and the two of them were gone"

 

[Maoilbheannacht]

I haven't seen my first cousins in years, and I only have three. If Iris Rankin was one of eight siblings, Bono must have a ton of cousins.

Good point. Plus, we don't know how many brothers and sisters Brendan Robert Hewson(Bono's father) may have had.

 

[Niamh_Saoirse]

My bf's has tons of first cousins (his ma has 9 siblings and his da has 10) and he almost never sees them.