When James Monaghan was born on 23 July 1913 in Stevenston, Ayrshire, his father, Thomas, was 38 and his mother, Elizabeth, was 38. He had five brothers and four sisters. He died on 22 October 1944 at the age of 31, and was buried in Bergen op Zoom, Noord-Brabant, Netherlands.

Corporal James Monaghan was first buried in a field grave at Zandstraat in Essen (Belgium) and then reburied in Bergen-op-zoom Canadian War Cemetery.