Who are the Fannings?

I am slightly perplexed whether I should start from the top and work my down or go from the other end and travel up... I suppose starting from the top may work best and should flow be a bit simpler.

I have not had great success on the Fanning family prior to their travel to America from Ireland. From information gleaned mostly from American census reports, I have found that my great-great grandfather, Peter Fanning (1863-?), was born and raised in Ireland. According to the 1900 census, he married my great-great grandmother, Mary Jane Carroll (1868-?), in 1886. This record also shows that Peter and Mary Jane emigrated to the United States in 1891 with their two eldest children, Joseph Patrick (1887-1948) and Mary Alice (1889-1979).

Although we do not have a copy of the original birth record, my father was able to obtain a record from Rotunda Hospital that confirms a male child born to Peter and Mary Jane on March 18, 1887. The record shows their address as 13 Eccles Lane, Dublin. However, current maps do not show an Eccles Lane, but rather 13 Eccles Street in Dublin which is The Mater Misericordiea Hospital and is only a few blocks from Rotunda. Was Misericordiae Hospital their actual address, perhaps like a shelter, or something they used in birth records for some other reason?

Rotunda Hospital - Dublin

Fortunately, we do have much more information concerning their life in America. In 1900, Peter was occupied as a horseshoer in New York City and Mary Jane kept house. The family lived at 15 Manhattan Street in the Manhattanville-Harlem area of New York. Manhattan Street was roughly in the area of today's West 125 St and Broadway and is now occupied by a public housing development. This building was obviously a tenement style structure as there are many families residing in the building and the surrounding ones, as well.

While living in Manhattanville during this era, they would have witnessed the construction of the tremendous elevated subway bridge erected along Broadway but they had moved downtown by the time the Henry Hudson Viaduct was built. There are some terrific photos of early Manhattanville here.

Modern Day Manhattanville

This census also gives us the initial glimpse of how the family grew since arriving in the states. As I mentioned earlier, Joseph Patrick (listed as on this census as Patrick and according to my grandfather as "Paddy" to family members) and Mary Alice were born in Ireland. Their middle child was a son named George Christopher Fanning (1894-1965). Frances Mary Fanning (1896-1953) and the baby, James Fanning, was born in 1899. I have also been informed that there was a child born Peter Jr. that may have been a stillborn who is buried with parents at First Calvary Cemetery in Queens, but I do not have any confirmation.

In regards to the Carroll family, a birth record mentions that Mary Jane Carroll's parents were Patrick Carroll and Mary White, however, that is the only information I have been able to confirm regarding this branch. I have found references to Mary Jane's birth and baptism on the internet with file numbers confirming her date of birth but no images. I may have to take a trip over the pond to dig up the rest of this family... anyone care to join me?

I will continue with the piece of the Fanning family next time.