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Family Life
Sheelagh Murnaghan was the eldest of six children of Vincent Murnaghan and Josephine Murnaghan (nee Morrogh). Vincent Murnaghan married Josephine Murnaghan in 1923. Sheelagh’s father, Vincent Murnaghan was the son of George Murnaghan, who was a Member of Parliament in Northern Ireland until 1910, as well as being a high court judge. The Murnaghans were catholic and strongly nationalist. George Murnaghan married Angela Mooney in 1877. They had 9 children. George Junior, Mary and James were born in the United States of America before George and Angela moved back home to Omagh, where they had another six children, Charles, Aloysius, Francis, Vincent and Angela. Many of Sheelagh Murnaghan’s aunts and uncles were very successful. Vincent, Sheelagh’s father was a successful architect in Omagh. He studied engineering at University College Dublin. Francis Murnaghan, one of Sheelagh’s uncles was a highly decorated mathematician and lecturer at University College Dublin. James Murnaghan, another of Sheelagh’s uncles was a celebrated barrister and a scholarship prize was set up in his honor, at the Kings Inns, by his wife Alice in 1973.

Sheelagh Murnaghan grew up at Belle Vue, in Omagh, Co. Tyrone with her family. When Sheelagh’s father Vincent died, a school, Christian Brothers School, was built on the land of the house. This was completed under the supervision of Sheelagh’s brother Alan, who was also an architect. Sheelagh relocated to a house with the address of 5 Windsor Avenue, Belfast, Co. Antrim, when she became an MP. Her house was bombed in 1970 during the Troubles of Northern Ireland, so she moved to Crossgar, co. Down. She died in 1993 and was unmarried, although she had many nieces and nephews. Sheelagh’s brother Alan had a daughter named Fiona, who is a mathematician and lecturer at the University of Toronto. Another notable nephew of Sheelagh’s is Dermot Murnaghan, a Sky News broadcaster and journalist.

Sheelagh Murnaghan