John Francis O'Connell was born on July 26, 1890 in Ballern, Garvagh, about eleven miles from the busy marketing centre of Coleraine, in County Derry, Ireland. His father, Patrick O'Connell, was a farmer who was also known as the "Hackler." The term referred to the men who harvested the flax that is used in the making of linen. Patrick married Nancy O'Connell, also of Ballern. Although they both had the same last name, they were not related. Patrick and Nancy had 5 children, 3 boys (James, Hugh, and John) and 2 girls (Susan and Anne).

After working for some time in the coal mines in Newcastle, England at the age of 13, John moved to the U.S. The name of the boat that brought John to America was the Celtic. On July 14, 1914, he started work at the Pittsburgh Railways in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. He started out as a trolley motorman and later worked his way up to District Supervisor. He became a U.S. citizen on December 17, 1919. After 41 years of service at the Pittsburgh Railways, John retired on September 1, 1955.

He was the father of 6 sons and 4 daughters; one of which died in infancy. John liked baseball and was a Pirates fan. He also liked listening to country western music. He would spend his time at home, on Atwood Street in Pittsburgh, on his front porch making unique observations of the neighborhood and its inhabitants. John Francis O'Connell died July 17, 1969 and is buried in Calvary Cemetery in Pittsburgh.

Mary Ann Sweeney was born on January 15, 1895. Her home was in Meenmore, near Dungloe, County Donegal, Ireland, however her birth certificate lists Sheskinroan as the town that she was born in. Meenmore is on the west coast of Donegal between the towns of Burtonport and Dungloe . This is some of the most scenic land in Ireland. Her house overlooked Dungloe Bay. Dungloe is a thriving little town situated in the district known as the Rosses (The Headlands), a remarkable tract of more that 60,000 acres of rock-strewn land, intersected by streams and numerous little lakes. The farming is very difficult there because of the rocky ground and there are only small patches of fertile land. Most of the people have a few cows, some chickens and almost everyone has a pony and a dog. They relied on peat for heat. When Mary was a girl, she worked for a time in Dungloe, as a seamstress, for "Paddy the Cope," a local politician. "Cope" ( a version of  "Co-op" as he was the founder of the Templecrone Co-operative Society in 1906), which was a first step towards people getting a set fair price for their handiwork items.

Mary came to the U.S. as a young woman and met John O'Connell in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. She and John raised together, Neil, Annette, Mary, Susan, John, Robert, James, Dorothy, Edward and Hugh. She loved to knit; every newborn had booties and sweaters knitted for them. She was a kind, warm, thoughtful person who saw good in everyone she met and who had the ability to interact with people at every level, very graciously. Mary Ann Sweeney O'Connell died in Pittsburgh on April 20, 1970 and is buried next to John in Calvary Cemetery.

Click to view  Photos of John and Mary

Family Name History*

The surname O'Connell is an Anglicization of the Gaelic surname O Conaill. The name O Conaill is of patronymic origin, deriving from the first name of a father. In this instance, the name can be traced to the personal name Conall, and the name came to denote 'the descendant of Conall'. The personal name Conaill is said to mean "strong as a wolf". This name was borne by many of the legendary kings and warriors of Ireland. Among its most famous bearers were Conall Cernach, the great Ulster hero; Conall Corc, legendary founder of the kingship of Cashel; and Conall Gulban, ancestor of the O Donnells. Among the saints of the name are St. Conall of Clondallon and St. Conall of Iniskeel. Traditionally, the genealogy of the O Conaill sept is traced back to the Eremonian Aengus Tuirmeach who is said to have been High King of Ireland in 180 B.C. Coming to historical times we find a Connell chief of Magunihy in East Kerry. In the eleventh century their powerful position was being threatened by the O'Donoghues who gained some of their territory and pushed them towards the Atlantic coast. Here they became hereditary castellans of Ballycarberry under the Mac Carthy Mor chiefs. During the Middle Ages the prefix 'O' was frequently used. As regards numerical strength, O'Connell and Connell, taken together, are listed as among the twenty-five commonest surnames in Ireland; in the early 1900's, Connells outnumbered O'Connell's by two to one; since then the resumption of the prefix has been so widespread in the case that Connell without the O today accounts for less than twenty per cent of the total. The most notable bearer of the surname O'Connell was the great Daniel O'Connell, also called "The Liberator".
 

Blazon of Arms:Per fess argent and vert, a stag trippant proper between three trefoils slipped counterchanged.
Crest: A stag's head erased argent, charged with a trefoil slipped vert.

 
Motto     Ciall agus neart.  

Translation: Reason and strength.