John Morahan, the eldest of the Owen and Margaret Morahan's children, was born in 1875 in Cloonfeacle near Carrick-on-Shannon, Co. Leitrim. He married Elizabeth Maguire from Co. Fermanagh and they had six children. The family lived in Barna, Co. Galway where John worked as a policeman. In 1916 he was awarded a bronze medal for bravery from the Royal Humane Society for swimming 100 yards out from Barna pier to save a young man who was drowning.