Name of Bono's Grandfather?

[BonoFox1]

^^ True that GG!!!

I love stuff like this...

 

[Galeongirl]

I think I've heard about the marriage date.. might've been VH1 Ledgends from 2001.. I'll check it soon and you'll hear if I found some!

now watching this.. it doesn't say anything on the date, but Bono does say his grandfather was a very cool man... ack! Im Sure I have read/seen something about the marriage date...

 

[biff]

I just checked in The Unforgettable Fire book.

No first name is given for Bono's paternal grandfather; he's just referred to as "Bobby Hewson's father". However, Bono's maternal grandfather is identified as Alec Rankin.
The marriage of Bobby and Iris took place on August 6th, 1950 at St. John the Baptist (Protestant) Church of Ireland located on Church Avenue in Drumcondra.
Alec Rankin died on September 6th, 1974. His daughter Iris died four days later, on September 10th.
Iris was one of eight children; two of her younger sisters were called Ruth and Stella.

I can keep digging around, but I don't think there was any information of this sort in U2: The Early Years. I have that book and I don't recall that kind of family-related detail.

 

[Galeongirl]

they got married on my birthday... well a lot of years earlier, but still...
also exactly 5 years after the Hiroshima bomb..
thanks for the info Biff!

 

[biff]

By the way, a note to Maoilbheannacht, for future reference: It's probably not a good idea to post a question like this in EYKIW. That place is often dripping with sarcasm. You'll usually find a more favourable response here in PLEBA.

 

[kellyahern]

it's this guy:

What does that make us?
Dark Helmet: Absolutely nothing!




Seriously, genealogy is an interesting subject. If you do find out, please let us know Maoilbheannacht.

 

[Niamh_Saoirse]

I was searching a very comprehensive newspaper archive and although it returned some correct results, when i clicked to zoom into the file, the surnames I was looking for didn't show up.

let me know if you want the address.

 

[Maoilbheannacht]

I just checked in The Unforgettable Fire book.

No first name is given for Bono's paternal grandfather; he's just referred to as "Bobby Hewson's father". However, Bono's maternal grandfather is identified as Alec Rankin.
The marriage of Bobby and Iris took place on August 6th, 1950 at St. John the Baptist (Protestant) Church of Ireland located on Church Avenue in Drumcondra.
Alec Rankin died on September 6th, 1974. His daughter Iris died four days later, on September 10th.
Iris was one of eight children; two of her younger sisters were called Ruth and Stella.

I can keep digging around, but I don't think there was any information of this sort in U2: The Early Years. I have that book and I don't recall that kind of family-related detail.

Excellant information! Does the book say who the wife of Alec Rankin was? If there is someone in Dublin who would be willing to look in some of the major Newspapers at the time, they may find a marriage notice for Bobby and Iris with more information about the parents. I would think an obit for Alec Rankin would list his wife who is Bono's maternal Grandmother.

Was there any information on when Alec Rankin might have been born?

Thanks for this big find!

 

[BAW]

try familysearch.org

Start with Iris Rankin and you can go back several generations. They have marriage, birth and death records and its all free.

 

[Maoilbheannacht]

I was searching a very comprehensive newspaper archive and although it returned some correct results, when i clicked to zoom into the file, the surnames I was looking for didn't show up.

let me know if you want the address.

The address for the newspaper archive? Is this something online?

Were you looking up the marriage date or the death dates? It might simply involve a process of going through several days of papers around the date simply looking in the marriage section or obit section. Its a long process that could take several hours.

As far as a search engine that helps to find surnames in papers, I have always found them difficult and unreliable. Often times when you zoom in, you can't find the results because they are not highlighted and then you have to scan the entire page looking for the mention of the surname which may in fact not be the person your looking for.

 

[biff]

Interesting. Familysearch.org has Iris' death listed as September 12th. Yet another of the notorious Dunphy innaccuracies that the band complained of?

 

[biff]

Actually, I think familysearch must be wrong. They have two completely different death dates for her; the other is December 9, 1974. It's the same person, same parents.

 

[Niamh_Saoirse]

The address for the newspaper archive? Is this something online?

Were you looking up the marriage date or the death dates? It might simply involve a process of going through several days of papers around the date simply looking in the marriage section or obit section. Its a long process that could take several hours.

As far as a search engine that helps to find surnames in papers, I have always found them difficult and unreliable. Often times when you zoom in, you can't find the results because they are not highlighted and then you have to scan the entire page looking for the mention of the surname which may in fact not be the person your looking for.

Yes, it's an online archive. I love it because it has loads of information and articles from many decades ago.

But as you said. it does not highlight the keywords you are looking for or it just shows unrelated info.

Here, have a look for yourself ( you might know it already, but anyway! )

http://irishnewspaperarchives.com/

 

[Miringeltje]

Some more info from the Unforgettable Fire book about Bobby Hewson's father that might make the searching a little easier:

He worked as a technician in the General Post Office.
And he and his wife were members of an amateur music-hall group based in the Father Matthew Hall.
Also he suffered greatly from bronchial troubles.

Alec Rankin died on September 6th, 1974.

In the Unforgettable Fire book, it says that the day before was his 50th wedding anniversary (September 5th, 1924)

 

[Maoilbheannacht]

try familysearch.org

Start with Iris Rankin and you can go back several generations. They have marriage, birth and death records and its all free.

WOW, I looked on Ancestry and did not get anything. I never suspected that familysearch would have it. Then again, the Mormans seem to have almost everything.

There are a couple of discrepency's here. U2 "The Unforgettable Fire" says Iris passed away on September 10, 1974. The Familysearch record says September 12, 1974. I take it that Alec is often short for Alexander?

There is also another record there that says that Iris was married August 19, 1950 as opposed to August 6, 1950 like in the Unforgettable Fire Book.

The source for the information on familysearch is some unknown person submitting the information. It may be accurate, but its not something that was taken from any actual record by the website, but rather information that was submitted.

In the pedigree file, the submitter is actually listed as "Donald Mackenzie RANKIN" from New Jersey. But he list the death date for Iris Rankin as December 9, 1974?

An interesting side note is that Bono did mention he had cousins that lived in New Jersey back in the 1980s.

So now we have 3 different dates of death listed for Iris Ranking. September 10, 1974 according to "The Unforgettable Fire", September 12, 1974 according to one submitter on familysearch.org and then December 9, 1974 according to Donald Mackenzie RANKIN.

There is a possible explanation for the listing of the December 9, 1974 as the death date. Donald Mackenzie RANKIN may have submitted the date in the number slash form the way Europeans do. In North America, we would write September 12, 1974 as 9/12/1974. But in Ireland, the day and month are reversed. In Ireland, September 12, 1974 would be written as 12/9/1974.

Whoever post the actual information on the website probably took 12/9/1974 to mean December 9, 1974 when in fact
Donald Mackenzie RANKIN may have been refering to September 12, 1974. I think that is probably what happened with the pedigree resource file listing.

Iris's father is listed by the first source as being born in Sligo in 1897. The Pedigree source list him being born in Westport in 1898. Same general area of Ireland, County Mayo or County Sligo in the Caughnaught region. It should not be to difficult to pin it down. What this does tell us is that this part of Bono's roots are not from Dublin.

Thanks for the info, this is the best find yet I think. The Unforgettable Fire book is known to have several pieces of inaccurate information, so that may explain some of its slightly different dates.

 

[Maoilbheannacht]

Actually, I think familysearch must be wrong. They have two completely different death dates for her; the other is December 9, 1974. It's the same person, same parents.

There is a possible explanation for the listing of the December 9, 1974 as the death date. Donald Mackenzie RANKIN may have submitted the date in the number slash form the way Europeans do. In North America, we would write September 12, 1974 as 9/12/1974. But in Ireland, the day and month are reversed. In Ireland, September 12, 1974 would be written as 12/9/1974.

Whoever post the actual information on the website probably took 12/9/1974 to mean December 9, 1974 when in fact
Donald Mackenzie RANKIN may have been refering to September 12, 1974. I think that is probably what happened with the pedigree resource file listing.

 

[BAW]

Yeah, familysearch.org and ancestry.com has a lot of user submitted info and it's not always 100% correct but it's a pretty good place to start.

There are tons of errors in my own family history at ancestry.com (like my sister listed as being married to my stepfather)

 

[biff]

Interesting to note the change in spelling from Ranken to Rankin a few generations back. Also interesting is the lack of info on the Hewsons.

I agree with your theory about the death dates.

 

[Maoilbheannacht]

The pedigree file at familysearch has extensive information on Iris Rankin's ancestry. Some of it conflicts with the other file that was submitted by the unkown person. The Pedigree file was submitted by Donald Mackenzie RANKIN from New Jersey.

The Pedigree file traces the family tree in one part back to Edinburgh Scotland in 1749. Rankin is a Scotish name and this appears to be what happened. Bono's Great Grand Father was named David Rankin and I believe Bono's full name is "Paul David Hewson"? Perhaps that is where he got the David if that is his correct middle name.

It appears from both sources that David Rankin moved to the west coast of Ireland briefly where Alexander was born and then back to Dublin.

 

[Niamh_Saoirse]

Any chance some of these Rankins could be from Donegal? I found an awful lot of them over there. And the records come from a Presbiterian Church.

 

[Maoilbheannacht]

Interesting to note the change in spelling from Ranken to Rankin a few generations back. Also interesting is the lack of info on the Hewsons.

I agree with your theory about the death dates.

William Ranken was born in Edinburgh Scotland in 1798, but his son "David Patrick Rankin" was born in Dublin in 1838. So it appears moving to Ireland had something to do with the change in spelling.

 

[biff]

William Ranken was born in Edinburgh Scotland in 1798, but his son "David Patrick Rankin" was born in Dublin in 1838. So it appears moving to Ireland had something to do with the change in spelling.

I think you might be right.

Here's another interesting point: There's actually a thread in PLEBA with no drooling!

 

[Niamh_Saoirse]

I think you might be right.

Here's another interesting point: There's actually a thread in PLEBA with no drooling!

Biff!

You crack me up.

 

[biff]

Geneaology makes me hawt.

 

[Maoilbheannacht]

Any chance some of these Rankins could be from Donegal? I found an awful lot of them over there. And the records come from a Presbiterian Church.

It appears this Rankin branch moved from Edinburgh Scotland to Dublin Ireland in the early 1800s, provided the information submitted by "Donald Mackenzie RANKIN", is correct. David Rankin, Bono's Great Grandfather for some reason moved to the west coast of Ireland where Alexander Rankin was born. Alexander Rankin and perhaps the rest of the Rankin family moved back to Dublin.

I would say that it is possible that the Rankins in Donegal came from Edinburgh as well at some point. Another possiblity is that part of the Rankin family that moved to Dublin in the early 1800s branched off and then moved up north to Donegal.

Instead of asking whether these Rankins came from Donegal, a better question to ask is where the Rankins in Donegal came from. They may have come from Bono's line in Dublin and moved up to Donegal in the 1800s. If not, then you'd probably would find a connection somewhere back in the 1600s or 1700s when both families would have been in Scotland.

 

[Niamh_Saoirse]

Stoooooooooooop it! You are making me snort my coffee!

By the way, I love genealogy!

 

[aislinn]

This thread is awesome. Thanks for all the info.

Oops! There's some more drool for ya.

So Bono has Scottish roots! Who knew?

 

[biff]

This thread is awesome. Thanks for all the info.

Oops! There's some more drool for ya.

So Bono has Scottish roots! Who knew?

Looks like he's the real McCoy (hahaha!):

The name Aodh (like pay without the initial "p"), is anglicised as "Hugh" and has given rise to several surnames including Mac Aodha (literally "son of Hugh" or perhaps "Hughson"). This name is variously anglicised as McHugh, McKay, MacKay, McKee, McKey, McCoy, Eason, Hewson, Hughes and several other forms. A similarly derived surname has the prefix "Ó" but because of the two-vowel situation it becomes Ó hAodha (grandson or descendant of Hugh). This name has been anglicised as O'Hea, O'Hay, O'Hugh, Hay, Hayes, Hughes and so on. While there is some overlap, it is unlikely that many people would see the similarity between MacKay and O'Hea, yet all becomes clear when you look at the Irish form.

That's from here, by the way: http://www.heraldry.ws/irish/index.html


Flavia! Completely off topic, but while I have your attention, I got that book you mentioned a few weeks ago, U2: An Irish Phenomenon. On what pages are you quoted? (I asked this question in the books forum ages ago, but it's deadsville in there, man.)

 

[Miringeltje]

There is also another record there that says that Iris was married August 19, 1950 as opposed to August 6, 1950 like in the Unforgettable Fire Book.

It could very well be possible that there are 2 wedding dates.
One for the marriage in the protestant church and the other for when they were formally blessed by a Catholic priest.

 

[Niamh_Saoirse]

Looks like he's the real McCoy (hahaha!):



That's from here, by the way: http://www.heraldry.ws/irish/index.html


Flavia! Completely off topic, but while I have your attention, I got that book you mentioned a few weeks ago, U2: An Irish Phenomenon. On what pages are you quoted? (I asked this question in the books forum ages ago, but it's deadsville in there, man.)

Oops! Sorry Biff! I didn't see your post in the other forum. I'm quoted in one of the chapters at the back. I think it's called "What the fans have to say". I sound like a complete shmuck!