What little we know of Michael Dunn, Michael J. Dunn's father, comes from Francis O'Neill:
"Michael Dunn, a well-to-do farmer of Affaly, near Clonaslee, in the same county, was no less proficient as a performer on the Union pipes. His instrument, a small but neat set made by Maurice Coyne of Dublin, is now in the possession of his son, Capt. Michael Dunn, of the Milwaukee Fire Department who has inherited his father's musical taste and talent."
Francis O’Neill Irish Minstrels and Musicians, Chicago, The Regan Printing House, 1913 page 231.
The modern Dunn family believes that Michael Dunn died in Ireland around 1900. The photo they possess was reproduced by Michael J. Dunn after he arrived in Milwaukee.