CANADA
Even though the history of the Rooney ancestors in Ireland virtually unknown, what is known is that the Rooneys immigrated to Canada and lived there for many years before moving to Minnesota. One source of information that provides us with a reason the Rooney’s settled in Canada after departing from Ireland is a Works Progress Administration (WPA) interview, given by John Egan, of Minnesota, in 1937. John Egan, grandson of Patrick Rooney and great grandson of Daddy Mick, provided the WPA with an interview, entitled "ORIGIN OF ROONEY FAMILY". All the information contained in the interview may not be totally accurate because the interview occurred about 100 years after the facts had been passed down from the earlier genearations. But, the interview does a story that provides the reason for the Rooney’s settling in Canada.
A portion of the "ORIGIN OF ROONEY FAMILY" interview by John Egan is shown here:
"About the year 1845 there was a great famine in Ireland and the tribe or family of Rooney, to escape death by starvation, boarded a sailboat bound for New York City. When they had reached mid-ocean the old wooden vessel sprang a leak and all hands were forced to man the pumps in order to keep it afloat. After a time, when all hope of ever seeing land again was gone, the captain sighted another vessel and hailed it. When the vessel came alongside the captain explained his situation and asked if his passengers could be transferred from the sinking vessel. The captain agree to do so and the transfer was made. The ill-fated vessel sank in about 15 minutes. After the ship was underway someone inquired as to their destination and the captain answered, "Quebec". The Rooneys had no voice in the matter and were put ashore at Quebec, after nearly 50 days on the water".
This story only seems possible if the date was for the year of 1835, because the 1842 census records indicate that the first Rooneys did arrive in North America about 1835. The 1845 date shown in the written account of the interview may be a typographical error or simply a misstatement by John Egan.
The precise reason the first Rooneys selected to settle in the Gatineau Valley area after disembarking from the ship in Quebec is only a guess. Perhaps, they had learned that other Irish families had located there or that employment in farming or lumbering was possible. Other family members that would immigrate later, no doubt, headed directly to Wakefield, Quebec, to join their family members that arrived earlier, rather than immigrate to New York or some other port.
CANADA - GATINEAU VALLEY
Research has uncovered many records of Rooney family ancestors who once lived in the Gatineau Valley of Quebec, Canada. Some of these records are church records, cemetery tombstones, Canadian census records, and a series of letters written between members of the Martin family, beginning in the late 1860’s. These records show that the first Rooneys began arriving about 1835 to the Gatineau Valley area, which is located about 20 miles north of Ottawa, Canada.
Link to St. Camillus Church Records for 1850-1876 (Rooney only)
Link to Canada Church Records for 1841-1845 (Rooney only)
Michael (Daddy Mick) Rooney Tombstone
Michael (Mickey) Rooney Tombstone
Thomas Egan Tombstone
John Kilroy Tombstone
CANADA - 1842 CENSUS
Link to original 1842 Wakefield Canada Census
The earliest census of the Rooney families is the Canadian census of 1842, for the Township of Wakefield, Ottawa County, Quebec, Canada. This census lists a Michael Rooney, a Patrick Rooney, and a Michael Tracy. Only the names of each head of household are listed, but the number of persons in each family, their gender, and age group is shown. By carefully analysis of the census data, the identity of each family can be determined:
- The Michael Rooney family showed 6 person in the family. This was Michael (Mickey) Rooney and Maria Tracy, three children and one other person.
- The Patrick Rooney family showed 7 person in the family. This was Patrick Rooney and Ellen Tracy, three children and two other persons.
- The Michael Tracy family showed 6 persons in the family. This was Michael Tracy and Ann Rooney, three children, and one other person.
Other information on the 1842 census shows that the Michael Rooney and Patrick Rooney families had been habitants of the Providence for seven years and the Michael Tracy family had been there four years. Therefore, Michael Rooney and Patrick Rooney probably arrived in Canada about 1835 and Michael Tracy probably arrived about 1838. These three families consisted of three Rooney siblings married to three Tracy siblings and that may be why they were the first of the Rooney families to immigrate to North America.
CANADA - 1851 CENSUS
Link to 1851 Wakefield Township, Canada, Census (Rooney only - original not available)
The next Canadian census return of 1851 shows the following seven children of Daddy Mick and Mammy Kitty living within the following five families:
- Michael (Daddy Mick) Rooney and Catherine (Mammy Kitty) Caulfield and three children, (Thomas (widower), Hugh, and Catherine (Killeen).
- Patrick Rooney and Ellen Tracy and seven children.
- Michael (Mickey) Rooney and Maria Tracy and five children.
- Michael Tracy and Anna Rooney and eight children.
- John Rooney and Mary McCool and four children.
CANADA - 1861 CENSUS
Link to 1861 Wakefield Township, Canada, Census (Rooney only - original not available)
The next Canadian census, taken in 1861, also shows seven of the children living in the Gatineau Valley area:
- Patrick Rooney Sr, Elenor, and seven children.
- Michael Rooney, Maria, and five children.
- Thomas Rooney, Bridget, and three children.
- Michael Tracy, Anne, and nine children.
- John Rooney, Mary, and eight children.
- Patrick Killeen, Catherine, and four children, and Catherine Rooney (age 80, widow).
- Hugh Rooney and Anne.
Mary (Rooney) Colahan and her family had lived in Canada for a short time around 1852, but by this time, they had relocated to Iowa and Missouri.
Michael Rooney died on January 12th, 1857, and is buried at the St. Camillus Catholic Cemetery of Farrellton, Quebec, Canada - where his tombstone can still be found. Mammy Kitty was living, as a widow, in the home of her daughter Catherine (Rooney) Killeen.
Michael (Daddy Mick) Rooney Tombstone
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