Conry of Raheen House, Elfin, County Roscommon

Dear Rian

Welcome to Ireland Reaching Out!

If you take a look at the Landed Estates Database you will likely learn more about the house and its owners. Find My Past might also be able to provide further info through the Encumbered Estates Records HERE 

Rootsireland.ie holds a baptism record for a Luke Conry in Elphin on 6th October 1811. Parents were recorded as Francis Conry and Brigid Dympsey. Sponsors were James Sharkey and Joan Dignan. ​It might be a good idea too, to keep an eye on the Early Birth and Marriage Index. It is updated regularly and if your ancestor doesn't appear now, they may in the future. ​

Feel free to add your ancestor's details to our XO Chronicles. You can learn more about it HERE and it might be another avenue to consider so that your ancestor's details can be seen by others. 

Best wishes

Clare Doyle

Genealogy Support 

Ah Conty ! Now I see the reason for my dead end. Thanks so much for your assistance, I'll see how that all pans out and post a reply after. I had confirmed the details of James Gervé's parents from James's wedding certificate from Dublin, and further details from Luke and his wife Sarah Garvey (sister Anne was the grandmother of 'An Bairéadach' Seán Bairéad, and great-grandmother of Ciarán Bairéad, the writer) from their wedding in Aughrim/Kilmore. But was at a total loss to make it any further as 'Conty' was not coming up in my searches for 'Conry/Conroy' variations. Cheers, thanks again Claire !

Maybe same Brigid (Dympsey) Conry here !

First name(s) Brigida
Last name Conry
Burial year 1865
Death year 1865
Death date 27 Sep 1865
Parish Killinvoy
Alternative parish names Killenvoy, Killenvoy, Kilmain and Rahara, Killinvoy, Killmain and Rahara, Killmain, Kilmain, Kilmaine, Kilmaine and Killenvoy, Knockcroghery, Rahara, St. John's
Diocese Elphin
County Roscommon

Keep us updated on any progress!

Best wishes

Clare

Genealogy Support 

Hi Rian

I grew up in the Elphin (not Elfin) area and hopefully can clarify things a little.  

The house identified as 'Raheen House' on the Ordnance Survey Map was built for the Harken family at the end of the 18th century and passed by descent to the Irwins who owned it until the 1930s when it was sold.  Here is a link to the NUI Galway Landed Estates database: http://landedestates.nuigalway.ie:8080/LandedEstates/jsp/property-show…

There was a family named Conry who lived nearby in a house that was identified on the Ordnance Survey map as 'Runnaruag' (built at the beginning of the 20th century), but for reasons that are not clear they appear to have used 'Raheen House' as their address which must have confused the postman...

Part of Raheen survives in a derelict condition but Runnaruag has been demolished.

I note from the entry in the Dictionary of Canadian Biography that your ancestor's surname was Conroy not Conry.  If that is the case he may not have been connected with the Conrys of Runnaruag, but rather to the Conroys of Cloonahee who were descened from the Gaelic O Maolconaires:   https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/%C3%93_Maolconaire  Here is a link to the Cloonahee entry in the Landed Estates database: http://landedestates.nuigalway.ie:8080/LandedEstates/jsp/property-show…  The Cloonahee estate was sold in the mid 19th century (possibly in the Encumbered Estates Court) to the Hague family who built the current house later in the 19th century.  

The most famous of the Conroys of Cloonahee was the 17th century friar Fearfeasa Ó Maol Chonaire who was one of the authors of the Annals of the Four Masters.  I believe that Sir John Conroy equerry to Queen Victoria's mother the Duchess of Kent and possibly her lover may also have been connected to this family.

Raheen, Runnaruag and Cloonahee are all in the Parish of Elphin and can be seen on Google Earth.  Raheen and Runnaruag are to the west of Elphin between Elphin and Frenchpark.  Cloonahee is to the east of Elphin.  

Hi Michael :

Thanks for your reply.  I only know for certain that my great-grandfather, Charles O'Neill Conroy, named his property on Bonaventure Street after his father's birthplace of Raheen in Roscommon, so your lead on Runnaruag House being their possible home is an extremely good one !

We are definitely not connected with the Conroys of Bettyfield, my family were staunch Roman Catholics.  Also, Fearfeasa of the Four Masters was also not connected with that family.  He had a son named Peadar O'Maolchonaire, who was Ollamh to the O'Roddy's of Leitrim (interestingly there is a Baile O Rodaigh west of Elphin).  Peadar O'Maolchonaire had a son John Conry who inherited the vast libraries of his father and Tadhg O'Roddy.  I am currently typing up a number of articles by James Gerve Conroys father-in-law Charles Henry O'Neill, and one of them gets into numerous details about these Conrys.  I think I saw something about a son Peter of the John and a lawsuit in the time of Charles O'Conor of Belanagare, but in any event he describes trips in great detail between Elphin and Frenchtown gathering information in his series of 8 articles on the O'Conor Kings of Connacht.

If I called it Elfin sorry I mixed up with Ailfin ;-)

James Gerve Conroy was born and baptised James Garvey Conry, he changed it when he left Roscommon.  Thanks again now to look into this Runnaruag !!!  Much appreciated.

I would not rule out a possible connection on the grounds that a family was not Catholic.  The landowning classes in the west of Ireland were rarely 'staunch' in their religious affiliations and tended to change their religion as and when the need arose, or else tried to keep a foot in both camps so that some members of a family might be Protestant and some Catholic.  The best example of this is the Mahons of Strokestown, who having already lost their estates in the Plantation of Ulster and subsequently compensated themselves by acquiring the estates of the O Conor Roe in the Strokestown area, were determined not to lose their newly acquired lands as a consequence of the dispute between King James II and King William III, and so sent out their two sons to fight in the Battle of the Boyne, one for King William and the other for King James, so that whatever the outcome the Mahons would be on the winning side...  This pragmatic approach was widespread: the Frenchs of French Park were Catholic in the 17th century, Protestant in the 18th century and again Catholic in the 19th and 20th centuries.  When in 1847 over 3000 tenants of the Protestant Major Mahon of Strokestown were evicted, one of the most vociferous critics of the evictions was the local Catholic bishop George Plunket Browne who happened to be Major Mahon's first cousin.  There never was a Plantation of Connaught and although the area was not immune to sectarianism relations between the different denominations were never as polarised as in Ulster.   

I also know that he only used the name Conroy outside of Roscommon, and that his father never used the name Conroy, he was always Luke Conry, save for, after his decease, on the marriage papers of James Gervé Conroy and Elizabeth O'Neill in Dublin.  I'm sure there is a connection, but we would be talking about in the 16th century.  As far a connection with Fearfeasa O'Maolchonaire of the Annals of the Four Masters, I think there is quite a good possibility.  We were always told that our family was literate even when no one else was, so we were never that bad off.  

Well, Rian, if the information in this link this is correct you may even be related to Queen Victoria, who it seems was really an Elphin girl :) http://www.turtlebunbury.com/history/history_heroes/hist_hero_conroy.ht…

Rian,

My mother-in-law, Patricia Conry, was born at Raheen House, Elphin, Co. Roscomm (1910) to Patrick David Conry (1845) & Florence M Flannery. Patrick was the son of Thomas S. Conry (1811-1887) & Bridget Geoghagen (1813-1885).

Your post states that your distant relative, Luke Conry, may be a brother of Thomas Conry.

I forwarded your information to my brother-in-law, Basil Dillon-Malone, who, I'm sure, would like to hear a lot more from you.

Note: Basil, my wife & another sister live in the USA. Other Conry's, living connections, live in the UK.

Thank You!

John F. Davis

[Not sure how you & I converse via email...just joined this link]

Hi John. I have since learned that Luke Conry (born 1811) was the son of Francis Conry and Brigid (Dempsey). There was a Dempsey family in the Baslick parish at the time of Griffith's, which is just north of Raheen townland. I am now quite sure the 'Raheen' we come from is Raheen townland on the way to Belanagare rather than Raheen House in Elphin we come from.

Hello there just joined. My grandmother, Valerie Conry, sister to Patricia Conry (ref to John Davis post - do u remember us John!) lived in runnaruag, Raheen. My mother Grace O Malley said that they never lived in Raheen House which was owned by the Irwin family as per Michael King's post and sold on. The local primary school was in Ballyroddy where they went to school. My brother and sister live in Dublin. I have found some useful information on this message post which should help us in tracing back our roots.

In response to 20 April 2017 post:

Yes, I remember you, John O'Grady, with sisters Anne & Grainne. Ruth & I, with the two boys, Colin & Brendan, stopped in at your parents' (Grace & Kevin) house MANY, MANY years ago...maybe 1980. Your cousin, Basil D-M keeps up with the family tree, too. I'll forward this post to him. Life goes on. Always nice to recall the  lives of those who lived generations before us. Some had a lot (of STUFF) and others had nothing. I'm not sure that STUFF matters all that much in the real world. Stay well John O'Grady. Regards to Anne & Grainne.

John & Ruth (Dillon-Malone) Davis

Sussex, New Jersey, USA

My ancestor Luke was a son of Francis, who held a five acre and seven acre farm at Lisphillip West, and a forty acre farm at Runnacocka in 1824, recorded in the Tithe Applotments, where a John Dempsey, probably brother or father of his wife Brigid, held a twelve acre farm on each of those townlands as well, both are in Kilmacumsy, where the father of Francis, John and grandfather Patrick signed the 1792 proclamation of the O'Conor Don, agitating for Catholic rights. Patrick was recorded there in the 1749 Census of Elphin. He was the son of John Conry, who was noted as a skilled antiquary by my great-grandfather's grandfather Charles Henry O'Neill, who wrote that he compiled the pedigree of our ancestor Con Modera O'Neill, who had fought at the Boyne like his father, and whose mother was the sister of Sir Niall O'Neill, Rose. John Conry was the son of Peter Conry, who wrote several poems for Tadhg O'Roddy, and was himself Ollamh of Fenagh, and Anne O'Conor, the daughter of Cathal Oge O'Conor Don. Peter Conry was the son of Fearfeasa, of Four Masters fame, who was a second or third cousin of Flaithri O'Maolchonaire, Archibishop of Tuam ; the family tree can be seen, I hear, in Paul Walsh's Irish Men of Learning, altough I have seen only Benjamin Hazard's version of it, which may or may not be significantly edited/expanded upon.

So to respond to Michael King, I believe Sir John Conroy claimed descend from a nephew of Flaithri, Muirghuis, and we do share some degree of relation, but their pedigree has been questioned by Irish antiquaries for many years, some of whom believe it to be a work of fiction, others unverifiable.

http://titheapplotmentbooks.nationalarchives.ie/reels/tab//004587462/00…

Hello  I am a new member.  I have recently done a dna test on ancestry, and the results have lead me to a link with the O'Malleys and Conry's of East Galway/Roscommon.  I am keen to explore shared links with members of these families, especially with descendants of Michael F O'Malley and Valerie Patricia Conry. If you think you could help, could you please pm me ephillipsuk@yahoo.co.uk 

Many thanks

Dia dhuit go leir go dti Clann O'Maolchonaire,                                                                                                                                                    

   Up untill recently I thought you were all bastards or illigimate. The reason for this is that while researching the family at a University in Oxford I found this note in the Conroy papers.'' Fearfeasa O'Maolchonaire had six sons with the youngest Johnny being the only ligitimate son.'' I believe the Raheen Conrys as well as many other Conrys from the Cloonyquin Carrowmore Gortnacranagh townlands are descendants of this Fearfeasa who lived in his later years at Rentivolan Elphin. He died in 1746, ( I have a painting of that son Johnny )  This was not  the Fearfasa,  the Fourmasters  scribe.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                 If you have not clicked out by now  please continue.  Maoilin O'Maolchonaire was the last elected chieftan of the clann, lived at Tullen and died in 1636, buried in the family grave in Kiltrustan within the church as chieftans were. He was succeeded by his son Torna who was killed at the battle of Ballintubber, fighting on the Gaelic side in the rebellion of 1641. Then the family lost most of their estates in the Cromwell transplantations. Thorna's son Shane fled to France and was killed at the battle of Tollhuis. 12th June 1672.  Shane had 2 sons, Charles and Fearfassa, who both returned to Ireland in maturity. I have a copy of a regrant of some lands they were given by the newly restored Charles 2nd, Charles was killed at the battle of the Boyne in 1690. We are now down to the Fearfasa mentioned above who was the ancestor of the Raheen Conrys and the others mentioned.                                                                                                                                                                                                                    Were they all illigimate, ? No.  The referancer in Oxford did not know of the " Penal laws " for Ireland, one of which decreed that an estate of a Cathorlic landowner had to devide that estate between all his sons or it would be taken and given to a Protestant. This is known as ' Gravelkind' and was intended to make the Irish poorer rather than have one strong landholder in the family.  In that period an illigimate son could not inherit so in true Conry cuteness Fearfasa got around that law and thus painted you all as referred to earlier. Another Penal law he got around was the decree that a Cathorlic could not inherit land from a Cathorlic so his son, Johnny,  turned Protestant, perhaps in name only. Johnny married Elizabeth Faulke of a Cork family and called the lands leased from the Protestant Bishop of Tuam, " Bettyfield" ( Betty is the same name as Elizabeth ) Johnny's grandson, Sir John Conroy, note the addition of "o ". was indeed equirarry to the Duke of Kent and many contempories (including Lord Wellington of Waterloo fame )  stated he was likely the natural father of Queen Vic. Will the contributer who had his DNA done please stand up.                                                                                                                                                                                          Sir John's grandson Edward held Shankill ( Bettyfield ) and also Killclogherna in Kiltrustan parish untill 1900. Edward states in the Conroy papers in Oxford that he would have inherited more lands in the area if an inscription in Shankill graveyard had not been chiselled off the stone. I have searched for this stone but without success. John O'Grady's sister said that Granny Conry was buried in Shankill and I would dearly like to know where. I understand one of the O'Malleys was buried in Tulsk graveyard but that may have been the O'Malley plot. Any info appreciated.                I trace the divergent O'Maolchonaire clann heraldry back before 1000 AD. Dr Ben Hassard is not always correct and certainly in the birthplace of Flaitri.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                sean_neary@yahoo.co.uk

,There seems to be a lot of confusion in the contributions above. The following may clear up another.                                        The Thomas Conry who was an agent for the Mahons of Strokestown and McCauslands of Derry was born at Cloonahee and was brother to John Conry of the same abode. He died at Dunlaoire, Dublin in 1838 and his wife nee Knok died in 1839, I have both their wills, No issue so their estate went to her family, Knox of Cloonfree Strokestown. Thomas did rent considerable land around the area. He compleatly dis-enherited his nephew Gilbert of Cloonahee who was described by the antiquarian John O'Donovan as a " Rake"  Gilbert lost Cloonahee and the estate was sold by courts to Hague about 1852/3