Murnaghan clan honouring their past

A special celebration is being planned by the descendants of John Murnaghan to be held in late August in Fort Augustus.

John Murnaghan arrived on Prince Edward Island from County Monaghan, Ireland, in the year 1838 with his eldest son, Bernard, who was then four years old.

His wife Mary, (Coyle), and others arrived in 1840, and a family of seven was reared on P.E.I. with most were born here. John Murnaghan wife died in 1858 and John later married Margaret Holland in February 1861, and they had one son, William.

John’s family included Bernard, Frank, James, Patrick, Dennis Mary and William. Many of the family settled in Fort Augustus, Tarantum, Donagh, Bethel and Charlottetown, and today many descendants still live in those areas.

The John Murnaghan clan encompass many other names on P.E.I. and across North America. After studying church records of births, baptisms, marriages and deaths, one might conclude that they are all related.

Right now these descendants are donating money to purchase and place a monument on the Murnaghan Family Plot in the St Patrick’s Ancestral Cemetery in Fort Augustus.

The plan is to dedicate the monument on Saturday, Aug 29, 2020, which will be exactly 127 years to the day from when John Murnaghan died.

This date is tentative due to the Corvid-19 pandemic and its impact on travel and physical distancing.

Donations are being made through the Hillsboro Funeral Home in Stratford, Re: John Murnaghan Monument Project. 902-569-5689, hillsborofuneral@eastlink.ca.

Any excess of funds needed to purchase the monument will be giving to the St. Patrick’s Ancestral Cemetery Restoration of Fort Augustus.