Family Album: McMahons (mostly, maybe)

June 20, 2022 by Aine 5 Comments

I need some help from my mom on this one. I know that is my great-grandpa Tom McMahon on the right, with his daughter Agnes (my grandma) standing in front of him. Who are the rest? Could they be Tom’s brother Frank (left), his wife Agnes McGraw McMahon and their children? Their oldest, Richard, was the same age as my grandma. That could be him in the cap by his dad. Three girls followed him in age: Florence, Eileen, and Gertrude, but I can’t quite tell.

And then there is the lady next to Tom. Could it be his sister Kate? She may have still been in Clontarf.

McMahons in Clontarf, Minnesota, ca. 1921 (Private Family Collection)

Subtract about seventeen years from the gentleman standing on the left above and do you get the one standing on the left below?

Tom and Mary Foley McMahon wedding (seated), with Frank McMahon and Margaret Foley (standing), 1904 (Private Family Collection)

I believe this one is from the 1930s. My grandma on the left with her sister Rose and Eileen McMahon, possibly one of the little ones in the first photo.

McMahon Cousins (Private Family Collection)

One more, just because I noticed how my grandma was holding two fingers on her right hand with her left hand and it reminded me of this cute photo.

Agnes and her brother Frank McMahon, 1919 (Private Family Collection)

Mom – please set me straight on dates, identifications, etc.

Author: Aine

I live in Saint Paul, Minnesota. My heritage pretty much covers the map of Ireland: great-great-grandparents from Cork (Crowley, Foley, Regan), a great-great-grandmother from Clare (Quinn), a great-great-grandfather from Fermanagh (McMahon) and his wife's parents from Mayo (McAndrew), a great-grandmother from Connemara (Hannon) married to my great-grandfather from Laois (McCormack), great-grandparents from Sligo (Flannery), and a great-grandmother from Kildare (Hill). All of those people ended up in Minnesota, where my four grandparents were born. Three and four generations after my people left Ireland for America, I retain all Irish heritage. So much for the melting pot...

5 thoughts on “Family Album: McMahons (mostly, maybe)”

nora6
June 23, 2022 at 12:53 pm

I bet the woman standing between Tom and Agnes McGraw McMahon is Agnes’ mother. I only knew her as Grandma McGraw.

- Aine
  June 23, 2022 at 6:27 pm
  
  Great. So we have the adults identified. I am still unsure about the children – do you think it is Eileen with the bangs, Richard with the cap, Gertrude with the curly hair, and Florence in profile, then Agnes McMahon on the end. I think if it is 1921, then the little curly headed one could be Patrick and an older sister is missing. Hmmm….
  
  - Jon Stansfield
    March 29, 2023 at 12:17 am
    
    Good Evening,
    Researching my Grandma’s side of our family tree brought me to this site. My name is Jon Stansfield and my Grandmother is Gertrude Elizabeth McMahon. Married Gerald Francis Stansfield from Osseo. Looking at your photos, I can see some family resemblance amongst Frank, Tom, and my Grandma’s sister Eileen. I would love to know more and appreciate the folks that have documented the families of Clontarf.
    
    Thanks,
    
    Jon Stansfield (jonstansfield@hotmail.com)
nora6
June 21, 2022 at 4:45 pm

Well, I am not positive who anyone is in this picture except the man in back at the right, Tom McMahon, and the girl in front at the right, Agnes McMahon. My grandfather and mother respectively.
It is possible that the family on the left are Frank and Agnes McMahon and four of their kids, but I am not sure. I remember my great Uncle Frank and Aunt Agnes only as quite old.
I think your date is good. I do remember Tom’s sisters and the woman next to Tom does not look like any of them to me..
It is of course possible that Tom and his daughter Agnes just dropped by a neighbor’s for a visit and none of the rest were related.
The condition of the picture, like it has been folded and in a wallet for years, does make one wonder if the others are family.
Annie, what are the birth dates of Frank & Agnes’ children?

- Aine
  June 21, 2022 at 6:35 pm
  
  Here are the children’s dates:
  Richard (1913–1950)
  Florence Agnes (1914–2001)
  Eileen (1916–1973)
  Gertrude Elizabeth (1918–1996)
  Patrick Vincent (1919–1975)
  Joseph Jerome (1921–1972)
  Dominic James (1923–2013)
  Anthony Leo (1926–1999)