The Duane or O’Duane Family

(Crest No. 286. Plate 29.)

THE Duane family is descended from Milesius, King of Spain, through the line of his son Ir. The founders of the family were Fergus, King of Connaught, and his Queen, Maude, A. D. 60. The ancient name was Duane and signifies “The Poet.” The possessions of the family were located in the present County of Meath. The O’Duanes were Chiefs of Cnodhbha, probably Knowth, near Slane.

(Crest No. 149. Plate 30.)

Another clan of this name was located in the Counties of Limerick, Clare, and Galway. These Duanes were of the line of Heber, the founder of the family being Eadrach, son of Bec, seventeenth in descent from Olliol Ollum, King of Munster, A. D. 177.

Among the many martyrs for the Catholic faith in Ireland during the reign of Elizabeth was Cornelius O’Duane, Bishop of Down and Connor, who was first broken on the rack and then put to death for refusing to acknowledge the spiritual supremacy of the Queen.

William John Duane, born in Ireland in 1780, was a prominent member of the American Bar and represented the City of Philadelphia for many years in the Pennsylvania Legislature. He was one of the most active of those who compelled the repeal of the obnoxious “Alien and Sedition Laws.” He labored zealously to increase the efficiency of the public schools and to promote the cause of popular education, and he served for a time as a trustee and director of Girard College. He was Secretary of the Treasury in Jackson’s Cabinet and was displaced from office by the President for refusing to remove the deposits from the United States Bank. He was the author of several able works, among them “The Law of Nations.” He died in 1865.

There are many of the name in the United States, among whom may be mentioned Mr. John Duane, a prominent citizen of Brooklyn, N. Y.