Owen Tunney

Owen is my 2nd great-grandfather.

1852 ~ 1886

Not much is known about Owen. He was born in Tullymore, County Donegal in Ireland in 1852. 

He emigrated from his home country to the United States some time between his birth and 1882. According to his wife's records, he first entered the U.S. through New York.

He married Anna Brophy on October 26th 1882 in Chama, New Mexico.

They had two sons. William and Joseph. Joe, of course, is our direct ancestor. Joe's middle name was Owen.

While I don't have the dates of when he was working, I discovered from a newspaper article written in 1963, about various aspects of the Tunney family, that Owen was a roadmaster of the Denver and Rio Grande Western Railroad, Southern Division. A roadmaster, or road foreman, was the senior ranking individual over a specific block or section of track and no trains can move without the roadmaster's authority. (1)

Owen was approximately 34 years old at the time of his death. He died in Chama.

Supposition:

He may have fled due to the Potato Famine. However, people also emigrated from Ireland because of religious and political persecution. Coming from Ireland, he most likely was Catholic and Catholics did not fare well in Ireland in the 19th century.

The Meaning of His Names:

Personal Name Meaning: Owen ~ Owen was originally a surname in the U.K. It means "young warrior", "noble" and "well born".

Surname Meaning: Tunney ~ Irish (now rare): reduced form of O'Tunney, an Anglicized form of Gaelic Ó Tonnaigh 'descendant of Tonnach', a personal name meaning either by the sea or by the wetlands.

(1) The information on what a roadmaster was is from American Rails.

Tullymore, County Donegal, Ireland