James McCONNON 1820 : Short Biography

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James McCONNON 1820

County Meath Slane (Meath) Trim (Meath)

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Place of migration

Migrated to/Born in Australia

I'm interested in finding out more about the McConnon and Curry families.

My 3x Great Grandfather James McCONNON was committed to the Trim gaol on the 27th October 1838 under suspicion of cutting the ear off of a mare, the property of Thomas GAYNOR of Slane. He was found guilty by Chief Justice DOHERTY at the Lent Assizes on the 26th February 1839 and convicted to 15 years transportation to New South Wales, Australia. He was 18 years old.

James was born in Meath circa 1820, son of Nicholas McCONNON and Mary CURRY. Because the RC baptism records didn't start until 1851, I'm unable to verify this. I do note that there are quite a few McConnons living in Slane parish, and I'm particularly interested in the McConnons of Coalpits and The Commons. I also note that there is a contingent of Currys living in nearby Mooretown. There is a Nicholas McConnon who died in Coalpits on 20th October 1894 aged 58 (born circa 1836). His wife Catherine (Flynne) was the informant and stated Nicholas was a Horse Trainer. I wonder, could Nicholas be a younger brother to James?

James eventually went on to marry Roseanna MOONEY in Singleton, New South Wales on the 5th February 1849. They had 7 children. James died in Singleton on 23rd December 1879. A few years after James arrived in Australia, the surname evolved into McCANNON and it's this name that carried on down through the generations to this day. I've attempted to put the McConnon and Curry individuals of Slane and surrounds into their family groups so I can try and work out who Nicholas and Mary were connected to. My mother recently had her DNA done and she has matched to people who are descended from a Nicholas McConnon (Catherine circa 1839 and Agnes circa 1837), so there is obviously something in this. She also matched to a few people who come down through the Curry family, particularly a James Curry who married a Mary GOUGH in 1866. He was a farmer in Mooretown and his father was apparently Bernard Curry. I think James and Mary emmigrated to the US. I'd love to hear any insights people may have on the McConnons and Currys of Slane parish.

Cheers Mel

Additional Information
Date of Birth	1st Jan 1820 (circa)
Date of Death	23rd Dec 1879

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Comments

Great story!

I always understood my GGrandmother was Kate MCCONNELL from Slane (as opposed to McConnon) but looking at various records all her siblings are listed as McConnon on birthcerts.
She was born in 1868 at Woodfarm which is to the east of Slane. Her parents were John McConnon and Ellen Gallagher and they were married in Oct 1863 in Slane.
Siblings are as follows:

Patrick McConnon 1864-1931.
Born Woodfarm, Slane
Married Bridget Brady 1903
1901 and 1911 Census; Newgrange
Died 1931, Slane.

Hugh aka John McConnon 1865-?
Born Woodfarm, Slane
1901 Census; Knowth
1911 Census; Newgrange
Death; ?

Eugene aka Owen
Born 1870 Woodfarm, Slane

Mary McConnon
Born 1870, twin of Eugene, no further info on either of these.

James McConnon
Born 1872 Woodfarm, Slane
No further info.

This family centred around Woodfarm, Knowth, Monknewtown just outside Slane.
Not the Mooretown or Coalpits family but I'm sure there is a link somewhere.

Not sure if this helps but I have definitely come across the name Curry a few times in relation to some other McConnon families in the general area eg. Anne MConnon married Matthew Hughes in April 1860 (Slane) and Edward Curry stood as best man.

So perhaps the link goes further than James Curry/Mary Gough.

Urbwill

Thursday 5th December 2019 06:02PM

Hi Urbwill,

Gee, it certainly makes for interesting research when you have to take all those completely different variations of the surname into account.

I'm glad you mentioned it though, because the Agnes born circa 1837 (as mentioned in original post) was actually born McConnell and not McConnon. I had attributed Agnes to my family line because of a confirmed DNA match with a couple of her descendants.

There is an interestin write-up by a Rosaleen Underwood who explains exactly our problem - https://townlandtours.squarespace.com/s/The-Dos-Donts-of-Surnames.docx

There's probably a good chance you and I are related somewhere in the distant past. I notice that the brother John (born 1865) was living with an aunt Catherine McConnon in 1901 in Knowth. Catherine herself died in 1907 in Knowth at the age of 68 (born circa 1849). Her nephew John was the informant. He then went to live with his brother Patrick.

Your post has definately given me a new line of enquiry. Ill have to go back and look deeper into the McConnon's and McConnell's now to see if there's any new info to be found.

Cheers
Mel

Mel

Thursday 5th December 2019 10:39PM

Hi Urbwill,

Well, I can confirm that McConnon / McConnell was definitely interchangable. I dug up an article about my James McConnon after he had been tried to 15 years transportation and he is named James McConnell. I now enter McConn* when conducting searches.

Cheers
Mel

Mel

Tuesday 16th March 2021 09:04PM

My Great Grandpa 3x, Patrick McConnon, not sure of dob, emigrated to US, married Bridgette Goggins, had a son they named James, whom was born in 1857 in MI, USA. I had formerly thought Patrick was from Monogram County and departed Newry, but not positive. Bridgette's parents said to be James Goggins and Ann Byrne's.