CONDRANs on Facebook

I just checked the number of CONDRANs on Facebook, using the family name search facility at http://www.facebook.com/family/ . It shows 210 entries for CONDRAN. Not all of these entries are unique, and I reckon some CONDRAN Facebook users are missing. Also, of course, this search doesn't find married women who were called CONDRAN but who haven't retained CONDRAN in their married name. From these entries I can readily identify the geographical location of 84 users of Facebook with the name CONDRAN: there are 41 in the USA, 30 in Australia, 11 in Canada, and one each in the the UK and in mainland Europe (France/Portugal). In the USA, the principal location of CONDRANs in this sample is Pennsylvania. In Australia, the principal location of CONDRANs is New South Wales.

A great place on Facebook to connect with other CONDRANs is the Condran Clan group. You can try going directly to it at

http://www.facebook.com/groups/2408036585

and if that doesn't work just search for "Condran Clan" on Facebook.

CONDR*N News - 1881

To continue this occasional series, I turned to the papers in the British Library on-line collection for 1881. It appears not to have been such an eventful year as 1871 for CONDR*Ns, though I did find a new piece of information about my great-grandfather Joseph CONDRAN.

Two CONDR*N policemen testified in court proceedings. In the Leeds police court, Police Constable CONDREN made a report; and in a Dublin coroner's inquest into the death of a policeman during an affray, acting-Sergeant 24C Edward CONDRON testified.

[Leeds Mercury, 9 Aug; Freeman's Journal, 27 Sep]

Another witness in a coroner's court was Joseph CONDRAN, butler, who was called as witness at the inquest into the death of his employer Samuel John TRUMAN, surgeon, who resided at Basford, Nottingham. The jury found that the deceased died from heart disease.

[Nottinghamshire Guardian, 11 Mar]

Private John CONDRON of the 41st Regiment, stationed in Cardiff, was charged with smashing two windows: he was fined 1 shilling for being drunk, and was sentenced either to pay for the glass or else to face seven days' hard labour: it is not recorded which he chose. And in Liverpool, Ann CONNOLLY and Bridget CONDRON were each sentenced to five years' penal servitude for stealing money from the persion of Patrick Kearney.

[Western Mail, 6 Jan; Liverpool Mercury, 21 Apr.]

The British government was engaged in fighting the Boers in the Transvaal War. Many newspapers reported the casualties, which included Private CONDRON of the 58th Regiment who was seriously wounded at Mount Prospect.

[The Standard (London) 22 Feb]

On a more domestic front, Miss F. CONDREN (listed amonst the people of Arklow and Woodenbridge) donated to the Political Prisoners' Sustenation Fund, and J. CONDREN of Avoca donated to the collection for Our Holy Father Pope Leo XIII. Also, D. CONDREN (or J. D. CONDREN) was reported several times as having attended the weekly meeting of the National Land League in Uppers Sackville Street [, Dublin]. And a pupil called CONDRON ("CONDRON II") at the Merchant Taylors' school in Crosby, Lancashire, was commended for English Subjects at the annual school Prize Day.

[Freeman's Journal, 17 Dec; ibid, 2 Aug; ibid, 25 May, 13 Jul; Liverpool Mercury, 30 Jun]

Most mentions in the year are of Caption CONDRON, who is listed in many advertisements in the Liverpool Mercury as caption of the City of Brussels of the Inman Line. This Royal Mail steamer was at this time sailing the route between Liverpool and New York, via Queenstown. I believe this is Capt. Henry Ainsworth CONDRON referred to in my blog post of 23 February 2009 concerning Charles CONDRON, silk manufacturer

CONDR*N News - 1871

As one of an occasional series, today I look at coverage of CONDR*Ns in the newspapers for the year 1871 in the British Library 19th century newspapers on-line collection. This collection comprises full runs of 48 national and regional papers from the UK, including at that time Ireland.

Charge of manslaughter

The most sensational CONDR*N story of the year was the trial of Mary Condron of Henry Street, Manchester. Mary Condron, aged 26, was charged with having caused the death of her husband Joseph Condron. On Christmas Day, 1870, Joseph, who had been drinking, quarrelled with his wife regarding the quality of his dinner and kicked over the table. His wife told him he couldn't expect to have better food, considering he had not been working for 5 months. Joseph hit his wife, who was stirring the fire with a poker. He was about to hit her again when she turned around and struck him on the temple with the poker. Early in January 1871, Joseph went to Newton-le-Willows in search of work. He got wet through in the rain and soon after fell ill. He was admitted to the workhouse hospital, where he died on 17 Mar 1871. The workhouse doctor declared that he had died from erysipalas caused by a fracture to the skull, which induced one abscess above the eye and another beneath it. The jury acquitted Mary Condron.

[Manchester Times, 25 Mar, 29 Jul 1871; The Preston Guardian, 22 Jul; Liverpool Mercury, 28 Jul]

Other court trials

In a Dublin court, Samuel Condron and fellow defendants Patrick Pidgeon and Michael Toole were cleared by the jury of a charge of having stolen on 17 Dec 1870 a large quantity of barley and flour, the property of the Barrow Navigation Company, from the Dublin Canal stores. During the proceedings, James Murphy, a maltster of Clanbrassil Street, attested that Condron had been delivering corn at his place for many years and that he know Condron a long time as an honest man, whom he believed in these proceedings to have merely been acting as a carrier, as he had been accustomed.

[Freeman's Journal (Dublin), 12 Jan 1871]

A police court in Kingstown and Bray (Co. Wicklow) found one Esther Condron guilty of using abusive language and she was fined 40 shillings, or in default one month's imprisonment. She and fellow defendants John Hosey and wife were summoned in the matter by one Ellen Troy.

[Freeman's Journal, 3 Jul 1871]

Diverse announcements

Several CONDRONs made donations to Irish-French causes: Laurence Condron of Co. Wexford made a donation to aid for the wounded of the French army; Michael Condron of Little Strand Street, Dublin, made a donation to the Irish-France Ambulance Committee; and a Mr Condron won 9th prize - a lady's gold chain and cross - at the Kell's Bazaar for the French peasantry. Also in this same year, Thomas Condron of Arklow donated to the Peter's Pence Collection for the Pope.

[Freeman's Journal, 27 Feb, 4 Mar, 18 Mar, 2 May, 8 Aug 1871]

The Castlebridge Fair was held on St Stephen's Day (26 December). The principal buyers of livestock included a Mr Condron of Wexford.

[Freeman's Journal, 27 Dec 1871]

A mysterious marriage announcement

The final item is a small mystery. The following announcement of a Liverpool marriage between James CONDRON and Augusta KIDD appeared on 30 December:

Condron-Kidd - Dec. 26, at St. Mary's, Walton-on-the Hill, by the Rev. J. Lambeth, James, son of Mr. Thomas Condron, banker, Southampton, to Augusta, youngest daughter of the late Mr. William Kidd, of Cawthorne, Barnsley.

[Liverpool Mercury, 30 Dec 1871]

The mystery is that I can find no other record of this marriage, nor can I identify the banker Thomas Condron or a likely James son of Thomas. The named bride is probably Augusta Maria Kidd whose birth was registered in the first quarter of 1853 in the Wortley registration district. Perhaps the marriage did not in fact take place, though the notice had been sent to the newspaper, or the bridegroom was not in fact who he said he was? It would be good to inspect the parish register of St Mary's, Walton-on-the-Hill, to see whether the marriage actually took place.

Ireland 1911 census complete

The Ireland 1911 census (http://www.census.nationalarchives.ie) is now online for all counties.

The counties with the highest numbers of CONDR*Ns (no. of individuals in parentheses) are:

Co. Dublin (213), Kings Co. (116), Co. Wicklow (94), Queens Co. (66), Co. Westmeath (50), Co. Kildare (34), Co. Carlow (30), Co. Cork (25), Co. Wexford (25).

The full list of numbers of CONDR*N individuals by county is as follows: Antrim (4), Armagh (0), Carlow (30), Cavan (11), Clare (0), Cork (25), Donegal (3), Down (0), Dublin (213), Fermanagh (0), Galway (4), Kerry (0), Kildare (34), Kilkenny (18), Kings (116), Leitrim (0), Limerick (9), Londonderry (0), Longford (11), Louth (0), Mayo (2), Meath (2), Monaghan (4), Queens (66), Roscommon (20), Sligo (7), Tipperary (2), Tyrone (0), Waterford (0), Westmeath (50), Wexford (25), Wicklow (94).

A visit to Offaly

I recently had the pleasure of making a trip to Offaly. Offaly, known until 1922 as King's County, is perhaps where the CONDR*Ns originate. Certainly there is a relatively high density of CONDR*Ns in the county in the Griffiths evaluation (mid 19th century) and again in the 1911 Irish census.

The county town is Tullamore, and just opening a copy of the Tullamore Tribune I spotted several occurences of the name Condron, including one of the reporters! Also just outside the centre of town is the Condron Concrete factory.

One of the high spots of my brief stay in Offaly was to visit the historic holy site of Clonmacnoise which was often known in the 19th century as the Seven Churches (e.g. The Kings County Directory 1890 compiled by John Wright, see also wikipedia). There are some well preserved (and very well displayed) decorated High Crosses there, the oldest dating from c. 800AD.

Beyond the ancient remains lies a modern burial ground, and I spotted three Condron headstones there. Here are photos of them. (Click on any one of them to see a larger image.) I wonder if anyone reading this is related to these Condrons? It would be good to hear from you.

More 1911 Ireland Census

The National Archives of Ireland have put online (http://www.census.nationalarchives.ie/) the transcribed and indexed entries from the 1911 Ireland Census for a further five counties. This brings to a total of nine the counties that can currently be searched online at this site.

I have of course extracted the CONDR*N entries. The statistics of numbers of individuals found by county are as follows:

Antrim - 4

Cork - 25

Donegal - 3

Down - 0

Dublin - 213

Galway - 4

Kerry - 0

Kings Co. - 116

Wexford - 25

It is a working hypothesis that the CONDR*Ns may be traced back to King's County, so it is welcome that this is one of the counties now online. For interest, the districts in King's Co. where there are CONDR*N households in 1911 are: Banagher, Birr (multiple), Broughal (multiple), Cappancar, Cloghan (multiple), Clonmacnoise (multiple), Derrinboy, Derryad, Derrycooley, Dromina (multiple), Dromoyle, Dunkerrin, Durrow (multiple), Eglish, Frankford, Gallen, Killeigh, Lumcloom, Rahan, Screggan (multiple), Shinrone, Srah (multiple), Tullamore (multiple).

CONDR*Ns on the map

There's a Condren's Lane in Arklow, Ireland (view on Google Maps here) and a Condron Lane in Passnic, New Jersey. There are Condron Roads in Liverpool UK and in Throckmorton, Texas, and a Condren Road in Newfane, New York. There's a Condron Hall (named after Christopher "Kip" and Margaret Condron) at the University of Scrafton, Scrafton PA, USA (pictured). There's a commune called Condren in Picardie, north-east of Paris (02700 Condren, France). There are Condron Streets in Valley, Nebraska and in Hollidaysburg, Pennsylvania. There's a Condran Drive in Middletown, Pennsylvania, a Condren Avenue in Spartanburg, South Carolina and a Condron Circuit in Elderslie, New South Wales, Australia.

Do you know which individual CONDR*Ns these streets were named after, and when? Do you know of any other places or streets named CONDR*N? Could you send me a photo of the street sign or similar for any of these places? If so, do please get in touch!