The English were able to turn away the invaders with superior gunnery, and then, a great storm created further challenges. One of the Spanish ships gets wrecked on the coast of Clare according to the "tale."
The survivors come ashore with "a sword in one hand and a bag of gold in the other." The Irish obviously show no love for the English, and hid them in the hills. They eventually came into town, and married some of the local girls. The premise says Marrinan is "a corruption" of a Spanish name.
On a trip to Ireland by John J. Marrinan, great grandson of the immigrant John J. Marrinan, a local told of the story of the Spanish fleet. The man politely said that was a great story, but it could not be true. "If the Spanish had set foot on Irish soil, they would have been either killed immediately or returned for ransom."
According to a source Ireland, "The derivation from Mannanan is probably far fetched also. In medieval fiants the name Iwarrynawne comes up. The genitive or possessive case is still used in The Irish language as in 'the house of' or 'wife of'." He goes on to say, "If someone was formally addressing me they would say 'a Mhichil ui Mharanain,' phonetically a Viheel ee Varrinawn.
There is a place in Tipperary called lios Varrinawn. In our family, it was always said we were sent to Clare (Brean Tir--Sour land) under the Comwellian edicts of 1660s. We lean towards O Muireanain descendant of little Muireann. Muireann is not an uncommon first name here."
John J. Marrinan was born in Miltown Malbay, County of Clare, western Ireland, 1869. Mary M. Marrinan supposedly was born in 1872. "The Great Irish Famine" was prior the birth of the two individuals, but perhaps the best known of the similar minor crisis events occurred in 1879-80. "Journalists in search of famine stories were back in the west," and "The Daily Telegraph" reported "that people were starving."
A common theme became "send us anywhere, to get us out of our misery," and at the height of the famine, "Dr. Sigerson who compiled the statistics observed that, 'many must have quietly succumbed to their suffering, and silently died out'" according to "The Great Irish Famine" edited by Cathal Poirteir.
John J. Marrinan probably came to the United States in 1885 per the 1920 census, and this is confirmed by his obituary saying he "resided in Dayton 55 years." He and Mary were naturalized in 1892, and he appears for the first time in the "Dayton Directory for 1895-96." He already was listed as a "moulder," and it further states he was a boarder on West Third Street.