Family History as told through Stain Glass Windows
St. James Catholic Church, Belvidere (click to Enlarge)
This church was built by the early Irish families that lived in Belvidere, Illinois. This is especially evident when you look at the stain glass windows that adorn the walls of this church - the names are all Irish. They include many families that link into our own including McGonigle, Murrin, Brannan (Brennan) and O'Brien. But there are also other prominent Irish names, such as the Kennedys, that also reflect the early Irish influence in this parish. Father Jerry Ryan delivered the homily during Mary Rita's funeral, and he also reflected on our family's connection with this church. Our great-grandfather, Frank McGonigle donated the land that this church was built on. I also learned that Frank McGonigle invested in a lot of property around the Belvidere area, and whenever they needed any money, they just sold another piece of property that he had bought along the way.
We believe that this was donated by Stephen McGonigle. Although we have not documented him yet in our family tree, we believe that he is related to the family. Stephen McGonigle was one of the earliest residents of Belvidere, and appears initially on the 1868 city rolls. Along with Stephen, we find a Mary McGonigle on the rolls, also. It is likely that the rest of the McGonigles came to to Belvidere to join up with Stephen and his family.
Patrick Murrin was a relative to Catherine Murrin, wife of Frank McGonigle. Patrick was married to Elizabeth Hill from Allamakee County, Iowa. Elizabeth was the sister to Liza Hill Ryan, the wife of Batt Ryan of Kimball, SD. A young Frank Ryan visited this family, and through them met his future wife, Adelaide, the daughter of Frank and Catherine McGonigle. An interesting fact - in 1896, he had one of the few telephones installed in Belvidere.
Ed Brannan (Brennan) was married to Katherine Murrin McGonigle's sister, Bridget. This family along with Frank, John and Peter McGonigle moved their families to Leadville, Colorado. Family lore has it that Frank McGonigle helped Ed Brennan in the bar business in Leadville, however, Leadville records show that Frank was the bar owner. Ed Brennan was shown to work in the mines, generally as foreman or manager. Later he worked for several smelting companies.
There are multiple connections that we have with the O'Briens of Belvidere. One connection is through Daniel O'Brien, the progenitor of the main line of the O'Briens. Daniel's wife was Mary McGonigle of Donegal, Ireland; and because his birth county was Tipperary, we can conclude that they met and married in North America. They had four children: Daniel, Elizabeth, Edward and Margaret. Edward was born in 1864. The O'Briens also connect with our family through John O'Brien, who appears in the Belvidere census in 1870. One of his children married a daughter of Peter and Ann (Murrin) McGonigle originally from Belvidere. See related story.
View of altar after Mary Rita's funeral. Click to Enlarge.
Full view of the windows inside the church. Click to Enlarge