Hanran was born in Limerick, Ireland, the son of Corporal Francis Hanrahan and his wife Bridget (née Hayes). His family came to Australia in 1834 when his father was appointed commandant of the Bowens Hollow Convict settlement and was educated at the Christian Brothers School in Sydney. On leaving school he worked at the family commission agency in Sydney before going gold mining in Victoria, New South Wales, and New Zealand.[1] He was at Eureka during the Eureka Stockade in 1854 where, with the aid of a Catholic priest, jumped over the barricade after the fighting had ceased to pass back bodies of the dead and dying protesters.[2] In 1866 he was a storekeeper in Townsville but was declared insolvent in 1875.[1]
On 17 September 1864 he married Mary Anne Ogle in Townsville and together had two sons and five daughters. Hanran died in August 1916 and his funeral proceeded from his former residence at Melton Hill to the West End Cemetery.[6]
^"The election". The Brisbane Courier. Vol. LV, no. 12, 844. Queensland, Australia. 13 March 1899. p. 6. Retrieved 13 June 2016 – via National Library of Australia.
^"Advertising". Townsville Daily Bulletin. Vol. XXXII, no. 10, 517. Queensland, Australia. 9 August 1916. p. 4. Retrieved 14 June 2016 – via National Library of Australia.