Name of Bono's Grandfather?

[Miringeltje]

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.

I just couldn't help but notice it.

I know if I were making a family tree, I would want to fill in all the details (being the perfectionist that I am) and I'd start with getting information from those directly related to me (my mom, dad and brother).

 

[kellyahern]

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

Is there a Mary Beth? In any good Irish family, there's always at least one cousin named Mary Beth.

*family in-joke*

 

[Niamh_Saoirse]

Is there a Mary Beth? In any good Irish family, there's always at least one cousin named Mary Beth.

*family in-joke*

Lol. There are tons of Mary's. No Beth's as far as I know.

And of course you have at least a dozen of Patrick's.

 

[kellyahern]

Lol. There are tons of Mary's. No Beth's as far as I know.

And of course you have at least a dozen of Patrick's.

Yeah, there are tons of Marys in my family too. I always found it weird that both of my parents have cousins named Mary Beth (not really interesting to anyone else though ).

Back on topic: genealogy

 

[biff]

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"

Sadly, Bono has a tendency to be inexact when he speaks. Did you know that in his National Prayer breakfast speech he said his father was Protestant and his mother was Catholic? Oops!
Many sources have said that she died a few days later, including even Bono in other interviews. It's a small point. Either way, there are many mistakes at that site.

 

[Niamh_Saoirse]

Sadly, Bono has a tendency to be inexact when he speaks. Did you know that in his National Prayer breakfast speech he said his father was Protestant and his mother was Catholic? Oops!
Many sources have said that she died a few days later, including even Bono in other interviews. It's a small point. Either way, there are many mistakes at that site.

You can never trust a rock star with ADD.

 

[kellyahern]

I can just imagine this poor guy being inundated with corrections from U2 fans now .

But on the other hand, I agree with Miringeltje. The whole point of a family tree is to have accurate information and research, because if it is inaccurate, that mistake can be replicated and replicated by others also doing research.

 

[Maoilbheannacht]

Sadly, Bono has a tendency to be inexact when he speaks. Did you know that in his National Prayer breakfast speech he said his father was Protestant and his mother was Catholic? Oops!
Many sources have said that she died a few days later, including even Bono in other interviews. It's a small point. Either way, there are many mistakes at that site.

But for the purpose of finding the names of the Grandparents and other ancestors, it appears to be good. The only way to confirm anything though is to get the exact records.

As far as mixing up dates and things, it appears Bono and Donald have something in common. Does Bono know when Donald was born and when he got married as well as the name of his childern?

 

[MooMoo!]

would the name of a cousin be any help to you? technically they should be related to you friend if theyre both cousins of bono...

 

[biff]

As far as mixing up dates and things, it appears Bono and Donald have something in common. Does Bono know when Donald was born and when he got married as well as the name of his childern?

LOL, does Bono know when he himself was born and got married?
And I'd hate to quiz him on his kid's birthdays!

 

[Miringeltje]

It appears much of the information comes from his memory as opposed to actual records in some cases.

As for 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.

Good point.

Luckily for me, my first cousins don't have any kids yet.
As I'm the oldest on own side and the second one on the other side.

And I don't have a lot of first cousins (10 to be exact), I'll probably be able to name a few of their exact birthdates (probably having the most problems with the exact year).

I used to see my cousins a lot when I was younger.
We always went to all of my aunt's and uncle's birthdays.
Because we didn't have to travel more than 1 or 2 hours to get there.
Small country.

Then you get older and don't wanna go to all these family gatherings anymore.
And I'd see my cousins on my parents or my grandparents birthdays.

Now I've moved to the other side of the world.
And only see my parents and brother once a year (or year and a half or 2 years).

However I did see some of my cousins in December, when my parents had their 25th wedding anniversary.
Not all of them were there though.

There's like 3 that I haven't seen in years.
As in more than 5 years.
It wouldn't surprise me, if the last time I saw the only cousin that is older than me, was at my grandmother's funeral.
And that is more than 10 years ago.

 

[Miringeltje]

I'd hate to quiz him on his kid's birthdays!

I'm sure he'll get one right.
If he remembers his own birthday correctly!

 

[Maoilbheannacht]

would the name of a cousin be any help to you? technically they should be related to you friend if theyre both cousins of bono...

I'm not sure what exactly your talking about here? Would the name of WHAT cousin be of any help? Who are you saying are both cousins of Bono, and why would the be related to me?

 

[bridgit]

Yeah, there are tons of Marys in my family too. I always found it weird that both of my parents have cousins named Mary Beth (not really interesting to anyone else though ).

Back on topic: genealogy

When my daughter was taking Irish dance lessons there were five girls and all of them were either Kathleen Mary or Mary Kathleen.

 

[biff]

I think she (Moo Moo) means she knows the name of someone who's a cousin to both Bono and his cousin Donald Rankin. Perhaps she thinks you're a friend of Donald?

I guess we still don't have an answer to the question that started this whole thing, which was: What's the name of Bono's paternal grandfather? But it's been fun anyway.

I wonder what kind of haircut Bono's grandfather had. Was it long or short?

 

[Maoilbheannacht]

I think she (Moo Moo) means she knows the name of someone who's a cousin to both Bono and his cousin Donald Rankin. Perhaps she thinks you're a friend of Donald?

I guess we still don't have an answer to the question that started this whole thing, which was: What's the name of Bono's paternal grandfather? But it's been fun anyway.

I wonder what kind of haircut Bono's grandfather had. Was it long or short?

Actually we do have an answer. On Donald's site, it says that Bono's paternal grandfather was "Robert Francis Hewson".

Just click here:

http://familytreemaker.genealogy.com/users/r/a/n/Donald-Mackenzie-Rankin/WEBSITE-0001/UHP-0155.html

Also, it indicates there is a picture of Alexander Rankin and Lilian Purcell together when they were young. These are Bono's maternal Grandparents according to Donald Rankin.

Now that we have the name of Bono's paternal Grandfather, I sure way to find him and his parents in Dublin would be for someone to look at an index of the 1911 census for Dublin County. Hewson is a rare name so it should be easy to find.

The National Library in Dublin should have the whole thing indexed I think. There may be some index's on the internet somewhere as well.

 

[Laurel Hill]

Just for the record, his mother's maiden name was Rankin.

 

[Maoilbheannacht]

Just for the record, his mother's maiden name was Rankin.

And her parents names were Alexander Rankin and Lilian Purcell.

 

[Miringeltje]

Actually we do have an answer. On Donald's site, it says that Bono's paternal grandfather was "Robert Francis Hewson".

Just click here:

http://familytreemaker.genealogy.com/users/r/a/n/Donald-Mackenzie-Rankin/WEBSITE-0001/UHP-0155.html

Also, it indicates there is a picture of Alexander Rankin and Lilian Purcell together when they were young. These are Bono's maternal Grandparents according to Donald Rankin.

Now that we have the name of Bono's paternal Grandfather, a sure way to find him and his parents in Dublin would be for someone to look at an index of the 1911 census for Dublin County. Hewson is a rare name so it should be easy to find.

The National Library in Dublin should have the whole thing indexed I think. There may be some index's on the internet somewhere as well.

Found this tidbit on the following website:

http://www.andrewlownie.co.uk/articles/2006/march06.shtml

The 1901 and 1911 censuses of Ireland are being digitised and are to be made available free of charge, with the first part of the 1911 census (for Dublin county and city) scheduled to go online in December 2006.

 

[Maoilbheannacht]

Found this tidbit on the following website:

http://www.andrewlownie.co.uk/articles/2006/march06.shtml

The 1901 and 1911 censuses of Ireland are being digitised and are to be made available free of charge, with the first part of the 1911 census (for Dublin county and city) scheduled to go online in December 2006.

6 more months, to bad its not next week or already up online.

 

[GracelandHarley]

I think she (Moo Moo) means she knows the name of someone who's a cousin to both Bono and his cousin Donald Rankin. Perhaps she thinks you're a friend of Donald?

I guess we still don't have an answer to the question that started this whole thing, which was: What's the name of Bono's paternal grandfather? But it's been fun anyway.

I wonder what kind of haircut Bono's grandfather had. Was it long or short?

Excellent thread!! This has been so much fun to read about... saved some links to research further, too!

Thank you!

 

[biff]

Just for the record, his mother's maiden name was Rankin.

 

[BonoFox1]

Excellent thread!! This has been so much fun to read about... saved some links to research further, too!

Thank you!

I agree Im a sucker for ancestry and autobiographies..I too enjoyed this thread much!!!

Can we do reserch on Larry's mom???....or any of the other guys......................Just a suggestion.................

 

[MsPurrl]

I agree Im a sucker for ancestry and autobiographies..I too enjoyed this thread much!!!

Can we do reserch on Larry's mom???....or any of the other guys......................Just a suggestion.................

Do it!!!

 

[Merc]

This has got to be the best pleba thread in a very, very long time!

I'm sorry I don't have anything to contribute with, but I like reading everything you've found out - actually quite exciting...

I wonder what kind of haircut Bono's grandfather had. Was it long or short?

 

[Devlin]

LOL, does Bono know when he himself was born and got married?
And I'd hate to quiz him on his kid's birthdays!

Heh. I bet he knows, unless he wants to face the Wrath of Ali. Who he has frankly said he is terrified of when she's angry.

Can you imagine Ali's tiny self: "Don't make me angry. You won't like me when I'm angry."

:Bono: Help. Me.

 

[biff]

She actually bit him once (that we know of)!

 

[Merc]

Sorry for going off topics, but...

She actually bit him once (that we know of)!

What?!

Got a link to an interview or something where Bono (or Ali) says that, biff?

 

[biff]

Here you go! (From Hot Press, December 2001. This is just a small part of a really great read. It's available in its entirety in the
@u2 archives.)



ON THE BIRTH, IN JUNE 2001, OF JOHN


Niall Stokes: Can you tell me about the role of Chopper in the birth of John?

That was Ali's idea. I just got back from Chicago and everything was...she had a very cool aura about her as usual, not particularly bothered. The worry then started that I'd actually have to go back before the baby was born. So she suggested a scary movie and Chopper is a film made by a friend of ours. Ali doesn't like violent movies. In fact she often becomes violent at them. She bit me once during Scarface. She literally bit my shoulder and I had to leave! When we go to the movies together we don't always agree on what one. But she was up for it this time. So we put on Chopper and halfway through it she did disappear. And I went upstairs and I found her sitting on the bed with white warpaint on and I thought, "This is a bit much." But in fact she'd put a facepack on and I said, "Are you OK?" and she said, "No, it's started now," and I said, "Well, the movie worked then." And I said, "What do we do now?" and she said, "Look, it's going to be hours and hours, you should get some sleep." So I went to bed for an hour or so at about 2 in the morning. So at about four o'clock she woke me up, calm as usual, and said, "I think it's time to go." So I got out of bed and got everything organised and fired up the car and she came down and got in and we were driving along to the hospital, Mount Carmel, and she just quietly turned and said, "I think we should start breaking the lights now." Now Ali is very Protestant. She has a great respect for the law (laughs). So I put my foot on the pedal and 20 minutes after we arrived in the hospital she gave birth.

 

[Merc]

Thank you so much biff!